This House Believes In Banning Factory Farming

First, the argument of my opponent: "My first main point on Fartory Farming is that we will have to slaughter animals for meat, one way or another. " Although animals will have to be killed, factory farming gives animals a poor quality of life and encourages inhumane treatment of animals. "Being the dominate species of the animal kingdom, human beings have always somehow gathered or hunted animals for their meat. " Humans have always gathered animals for meat, but that is not the issue here. The central issues are environmental impact of large scale farming, impact of methods used to maintain large scale farming, and economic impact of factory farms on the meat industry. "Now we are living in the modern ages, factory farming is a convenient, partical method of distributing meat for low income families on a regular basis. " Factory farming is inconvenient by principle. With centralized production areas, meat must be shipped across the nation to get to customers. Factory farms produce artificially low costs of food and drive out competition of organic and ethically produced food. Lots of local organic farming would not only create jobs, but also reduce the price of organic, ethically produced food. "Meat was and always will be apart of our diet so why ban something that would get the meat at a more affordable and convenient way than free-ranged farming? Factory Farming will be that answer! " Factory farm prices are artificially low to gain a monopoly on the way that meat is produced. Free-range organic farming is demonstrably more ethical and healthy. Opposition: Health Issues for Animals . http://www.pmac.net... As you can explore on your own from links from the EPA's website, there are many reports of indiscriminate anti-bacterial use. The unnatural massive collection of animals forced into cramped environments substantially increases likelihood of disease. Farmers then are forced to give constant amounts of antibacterials to animals. All evidence is cited and linked from journals collected by the EPA. "The antibiotics have been put in U. S. animal feed for decades to speed growth and prevent illness; this practice, controversial in America and elsewhere, has been severely limited in the European Union. In accordance with the EU's position, the American Medical Association recently began a sorely needed campaign to encourage the federal government to restrict the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock. The AMA fears that the inappropriate use of these drugs in animals and humans is contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. " - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel October 19, 2001 "Antibiotics are an integral part of swine production being used in all production phases, by all sizes of groups, through various routes for various reasons, according to initial conclusions of a soon-to-be-published study… The researchers reported that the most common antibiotic used was procaine-penicillin (30.2% of sites with grower/finishers). Others commonly used, they said, were oxytetracycline (16.1%), ceftiofur (14.5%), tylosin (13.8%) and penicillin benzathine (15.5%), which is not approved for use in swine… Antibiotics included in the feed only for disease prevention or treatment, the researchers said, were CSP, tiamulin, tylosin and sulfamethazine. The number of days antibiotics were included in the feed varied for each antibiotic and also depended on the primary intent for including that antibiotic in feed, the researchers said. In general, they explained, an antibiotic was in the feed longer for growth promotion and shorter for disease treatment…Antibiotics are an integral part of swine production. " - Antibiotic, feed additive use in swine examined, December 3, 2001 "Gaseous emissions from swine manure storage systems represent a concern to air quality due to the potential impacts of hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane, and volatile organic compounds on environmental quality, human health, and wellbeing. " –USDA study, Air Pollution From Swine Production Facilities Clearly, the scale of operations greatly intensifies problems that are minimal on smaller scaled operations. As the USDA study goes on to describe, the sheer intensity of emissions centralized into one facility is the main source of the problem. Antibiotics are needed on large scale operations, which are detrimental to human and pig health. Unethical Treatment of Animals (Watch video at the top) . http://www.youtube.com... "The majority of the world's farm animals currently live in miserable factory conditions, raised using 'production line' methods. High output is achieved by subjecting the animals to intense and prolonged suffering. They live short, barren lives, spent in cages, crates, overcrowded sheds and narrow stalls. There is no guarantee of a humane death. " –WSPA The cruelty on factory farms in clear. Animals are taken out of their natural environment to be put into an assembly line to maximize production. Animals are often confined in cages that do not allow them to move, and are force fed large amounts of food with growth hormones and antibiotics. Free range animals are allowed to roam free, and are ethically killed by hand. . http://www.wspa-international.org... . http://www.farmsanctuary.org... Economic Issues "Cheap industrial food, the organic movement has argued, only seems cheap, because the real costs are charged to the environment (in the form of water and air pollution and depletion of the soil); to the public purse (in the form of subsidies to conventional commodity producers); and to the public health (in the cost of diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease), not to mention to the welfare of the farm- and food-factory workers and the well-being of the animals. " –Michael Pollan, New York Times Food produced by factory farms is artificially cheap, and cuts costs by harming the environment, the animals it kills, and the people that eat them. Environmental Impact EPA list of environmental issues from factory farming: . http://cfpub.epa.gov... -Air and water pollution from manure -Pesticides and other industrial chemicals killing the surrounding environment -Breeding of highly resistant bacteria -Unsustainability of land and water use Many others included Health Issues for Humans "Farms on which animals are intensively reared can cause adverse health reactions in farm workers. Workers may develop acute and chronic lung disease, musculoskeletal injuries, and may catch infections that transmit from animals to human beings (such as tuberculosis). Chemical, bacterial, and viral compounds from animal waste may travel in the soil and water. Residents near such farms report problems such as unpleasant smell, flies and adverse health effects. A number of pollutants have been found that are associated with the discharge of animal waste into rivers and lakes, and into the air. The use of antibiotics may create antibiotic-resistant pathogens; parasites, bacteria, and viruses may be spread; ammonia, nitrogen, and phosphorus can reduce oxygen in surface waters and contaminate drinking water; pesticides and hormones may cause hormone-related changes in fish; animal feed and feathers may stunt the growth of desirable plants in surface waters and provide nutrients to disease-causing micro-organisms; trace elements such as arsenic and copper, which are harmful to human health, may contaminate surface waters. " -Source from CDC, through Wikipedia, www. cdc. gov Conclusion The facts are clear. Factory farming is unnecessary, and is detrimental to animal rights, the environment, and human health.