Factory farming damages livelihoods, threatening local residents, economies and farm workers.

Real story:

How factory farms are cutting job opportunities

Factory farming is clearly a global problem, but it also has more localized impacts; farm workers and those people living in the vicinity of factory farming operations can also be affected.

A lungful of pollution

Dust and toxic gases, such as sulfur compounds and ammonia, arise both from the animals as well as their feed and waste, and can reduce air quality and create breathing problems¹. This can be particularly problematic for farm workers, children and the elderly. In the case of pork production, it has been claimed² that '…at least 25% of [industrial-style farm] workers suffer from respiratory diseases including bronchitis, mucus membrane irritation, asthmalike syndrome, and acute respiratory distress syndrome'. The materials used to grow feed for factory-farming operations can be hazardous too, particularly in developing countries where laws can be weaker³. The chemicals that are sometimes used to grow soy, for example - pesticides, herbicides, fungicides - reportedly cause regular acute and chronic health problems in several South American countries⁴.

There are regular reports of poisoning in soy-growing areas in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Brazilian farmers union FETAG-Piauí reported 65 cases of poisoning in the state of Piauí in 2005 alone, of which fifteen were fatal.

The Dutch Soy Coalition (2008)⁵

Bad news for farmers

With its significant focus on mechanization, factory farming is putting the European farming sector under enormous pressure; there has been a long-term decline in both the numbers of EU farmers and agricultural workers. In 2010, it was announced⁶ that employment in the EU agriculture sector fell by 25% between 2000 and 2009.

In Europe it has been estimated that one farmer quits agriculture almost every minute.

Share the World's Resources (STWR) (2005)⁷

And local economies can suffer

The vitality of local communities can also suffer at the hands of factory farming. There is evidence that the consolidation of smaller farms leads to the deterioration of rural communities. According to the Pew Commission⁸, the 'social fabric' of communities changes significantly when factory farms replace family farms. This is partly because factory farming relies more on technology than on labor, which has led to an increasing preference for temporary or migrant workers who are prepared to accept lower wages⁹. In 2007, scientists wrote that the '[e]conomic concentration of agricultural operations tends to remove a higher percentage of money from rural communities than when the industry is dominated by smaller farm operations, which tend to circulate money within the community'¹⁰. In some developing countries, the impacts can be even more devastating, with land being grabbed from its owners to grow animal feed crops such as soy. In Paraguay, mile upon mile of soy plantations can be found, the majority of which are owned by large landowners and multinational companies. The planting and harvesting of this land is carried out using machines, which means that fewer people are employed, and many have to leave rural areas to look for work in cities. In the worse case, people are actually forced from their own land to make way for the crops (The Ecologist¹¹).

The number of land conflicts in Brazil rose by 10% between 1997 and 2005. In Maranhão, where soy cultivation has expanded rapidly within the same period, the number of violent incidents rose from 19 incidents in 1997 to 146 in 2005.

The Dutch Soy Coalition (2008)¹²

But don't just take our word for it

Fifty years ago, a…farmer who raised pigs or chickens might be exposed to several dozen animals for less than an hour a day. Today's confinement facility worker is often exposed to thousands of pigs or tens of thousands of chickens for eight or more hours each day.

Pew Commission (2008)¹³

…the air at some factory farm test sites in the US is dirtier than in America's most polluted cities and exposes workers to concentrations of pollutants far above occupational safety guidelines.

Environmental Integrity Project (2011)¹⁴

There are…growing inequalities in the scale of production units in all regions of the world, with increased concentration in larger industrialised production systems… Small…household production systems are marginalised and disadvantaged... Land ownership is becoming more concentrated…with economic and political elites in wealthy countries buying land for both speculative…purposes. People of colour, who may be the ethnic majority where the land is located, are further excluded from access to land for the production of food that can be consumed locally or regionally. This differentially impacts women farmers, who are the majority of the small agricultural producers worldwide.

Government Office for Science (2011)¹⁵

So what?

Factory farming breaks communities. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also creating a more prosperous, just world for ourselves.

Our sources

1. Pew Commission (2008), Putting Meat on the Table
2. EHP (2007), Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
3. Friends of the Earth (2008), What's Feeding our Food? The Environmental and Social Impacts of the Livestock Sector
4. The Dutch Soy Coalition (2008), Soy - Big Business, Big Responsibility. Addressing the social and environmental impact of the soy value chain
5. The Dutch Soy Coalition (2008), Soy - Big Business, Big Responsibility. Addressing the social and environmental impact of the soy value chain
6. Eurostat (2010), News Release: Employment in the Agriculture Sector Down by 25% Between 2000 and 2009
7. STWR (2005), Farm Subsidies: The Report Card
8. Pew Commission (2008), Putting Meat on the Table
9. Pew Commission (2008), Putting Meat on the Table
10. EHP (2007), Community Health and Socioeconomic Issues Surrounding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
11. The Ecologist (2009), Killing Fields: The True Cost of Europe's Cheap Meat
12. The Dutch Soy Coalition (2008), Soy - Big Business, Big Responsibility. Addressing the social and environmental impact of the soy value chain
13. Pew Commission (2008), Putting Meat on the Table
14. EIP (2011), Hazardous Pollution From Factory farms: An Analysis of EPA's National Air Emissions Monitoring Study Data
15. Government Office for Science (2011), The Social Structure of Food Production