Factory Farming And Its Effects On The Environment

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Pages: 2

The average American consumes up to two-hundred and seventy pounds of meat a year (“Nation,” 2012). This excessive consumption poses major consequences for the global environment in similar ways as does the production of meat. Beef consumption accounts for a high proportion of the ecological footprint; that is, it raises the amount of of waste, water shortages, and land degradation (Vries & Boer, 2010). Annually in the United States, factory farms produce three times as much waste as America’s total population; this is about five-hundred and seventy five billion pounds of antibiotics, nitrate, and hormone-infested manure exposed to the environment yearly (Vadim, 2009). Also, it is estimated that one ton of water is utilized for the production