For instance, the U.S. government's meat and poultry inspection program, which has been weakened and essentially privatized in the last decade, is being exported to the rest of the world through trade agreements. Giant agribusiness is using ecologically sensitive land all over the world to produce food for export. Pesticides and herbicides that are outlawed in the industrialized world are still produced and exported for use in other countries. These same corporations are responsible for environmental degradation ranging from the destruction of rain forests to widespread water pollution. Animals in factory farm environments are often subjected to inhumane treatment and unsanitary conditions, resulting in animal suffering, food-borne illness, and environmental degradation.
Animals also suffer increasingly inhumane practices at slaughterhouses.
A large body of evidence shows that the Humane Slaughter Act is being routinely violated as slaughter line speeds increase. And poultry, though constituting the majority of animals slaughtered in the U.S., are not even covered by the Humane Slaughter Act. Large meat processors increasingly rely on irradiation and chemical treatments to mask contamination caused by unsanitary conditions and increased slaughter line speed. Several strong coalitions of public interest groups have emerged to address specific issues of industrialized agriculture, such as antibiotic use in animals, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms. In contrast to the current trends of corporate control and globalization, the GSFA advocates a less consolidated agriculture system that is capable of producing safe, wholesome food.