You are watching ‘Go Green with Kalkine’. Let us discuss how factory farming has changed the nature of food consumption and how this affects human health. The nature of food consumption in the world has drastically changed over time, thanks to the concept of factory farms. A factory farm is a large-scale industrial set-up that houses animals from cows, to chickens to turkeys and pigs, all raised to cater to the food industry. Farmers can treat them with hormones and feed them antibiotics to maximize their growth and food output. According to 2018 UN figures, about 70 billion farm animals are reared for food each year.
The sweeping change in meat production and consumption and the flood of meat and dairy products across the world has contributed to the growing incidence of chronic diseases and environmental hazards. Housing so many animals can produce more waste than a normal farm, field or open space produces.
Factory farming gives rise to food-related emissions. While there are gas emissions from livestock, massive deforestation needed to clear land for grazing and growing feed-crops also leads to pollution.