A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Animals

The industrialized production of livestock, poultry and fish, also known as “factory farming,” has many of the same benefits and harms associated with intensive farming. The benefits include efficiency, high yields, availability, low prices, and contributions to local and national economies. The harms of factory farming are animal welfare, environmental hazards, and health risks to farm workers and food safety risks to consumers.

Critics of intensive farming methods used in the production of eggs, poultry, pork, beef, dairy, veal and fish maintain that the practice is cruel and causes unnecessary suffering. Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) maximizes production by confining large numbers of animals indoors, limiting their space and movement. The diet of an animal in a CAFO is typically supplemented with hormones and antibiotics, and is unlike its natural diet, diminishing the health of the animals and of the food products. Livestock processing plants are notoriously hazardous workplace environments and are the most common source of foodborne illnesses and food safety risks.

CAFOs require large amounts of energy and water; they produce large amounts of animal waste and are among the principal causes of air pollution and water contamination.