... no concern for damage caused by its practices, especially when it comes to factory farms. Most meat, poultry, eggs and milk produced in the U.S. come from (Concentrated animal feeding operations) or CAFOs. These structures are built to confine mass numbers of livestock usually in the thousands into the smallest amount of space possible where they stay until slaughtered ... the manure is applied faster than soil can process the nitrogen and phosphorous it creates unsafe levels of nitrates underneath the soil and in groundwater. A shift from industrial farm production to organic is the onl...

• Word Count: 3733
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... been seen to overcrowd their chickens in cages that lead to the hen's entire life to be torturous. According to L. Murray, an animal journalist on animal care states, "Hens are usually kept eight or nine to a cage; long tiers of these cages are built one upon ... however, might say that chickens have no feelings and are just farm animals and must be treated like a farm animal because is why they are on the Earth, to be eaten. Some people might view chickens as just farm animals and property that they own which entitles them to treat ... their animals however they want whether putting th...

• Word Count: 2131
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is controlled and there are limits to what genes can be combined but in genetic engineering, there are no restrictions. Any gene from any animal, plant, virus, or bacterium can be inserted into the DNA in reproductive cells and if the organism lives, it will be able to genetically ... would be significantly reduced because the resistant genes produce enzymes that can degrade the antibiotics. In addition, the resistant genes could be transferred to human or animal microorganisms, making them unreceptive to antibiotics. If such a transfer happened, it could worsen the already existing heal...

• Word Count: 3317
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... clinical antibiotics have been used. A company called Novartis developed a marker gene that contained an ampicillin resistance, and a potato developed by Avebe contained a gene for amikican resistance. These were intended for animal feed where the genes were under the control of a bacterial promoter. According to Karen Hopkin of the Scientific American concerns arose that the antibiotic resistance gene might be transferred to ... the bacteria in the animal's gut (including human pathogens), that might then acquire resistance to clinically useful antibiotics. The Advisory Committee on Nov...

• Word Count: 2153
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... they have been taken for a ride by these big agricultural companies since they have had to pay more money for the new herbicide and pest-resistant seeds (Hsu, K). "The farm has moved from being the centerpiece of agriculture to become but one part of an integrated multilevel industrial process including production, storage, processing, distribution, marketing, and retaining" (Knox and ... Marston 342). Agriculture has become more than planting and harvesting. It is now a food assembly line where each scale, from the private farm, to the commercial business, to the global market, is part...

• Word Count: 1992
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... minimal tiling. In order to see the benefits of using GMOs, it is important to understand what they are and where they come from. Agricultural products such as crop plants, farm animals, and soil bacteria have been genetically engineered to breed only those with specific traits that are better than others. These are examples of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Through selective ... breeding, crops are able to be bred to grow in a low-till plot, and with the ongoing demand for meat, GMOs can help increase production in farm animals. The truth is, most of the food we have been consu...

• Word Count: 2358
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... became sterile after consuming GM corn varieties". Some of the pigs had "false pregnancies" while "others gave birth to bags of water". Not only have animal been affected, but humans as well; Smith's research shows that, in the Pacific Northwest, about "five-hundred people reported allergy or flu-like symptoms", and some of those ... same people "had to go to the emergency room" because the effects were so severe. These same symptoms were repeatedly reported in India in 2008 by farm workers who worked around GMO cotton containing Bt, or a self-produced herbicide built inside the enginee...

• Word Count: 1708
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... stomach. My primary concern would be the preservation of the democratic process against manipulation and invisibility." (Wall Street Journal, 12/22/99) On the flip side you have the California Farm Bureau Federation's Cynthia Cory, director of marketing and labor for the 85,000-member state farming organization, saying, "We're not against consumer information if it tells you something. But ... when the first products were ready for market, all developers of biotech plant varieties have consulted extensively with FDA and all such varieties commercialized have been safe for human and anim...

• Word Count: 1011
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... keys to organic farming. In organic livestock farming, animals are given organic food to eat and are maintained without the use of any antibiotics, hormones or other substances unless the animal is sick or injured. Also, they are usually given plenty of open area outdoors to graze in. The Soil Association also states that there are many benefits to eating organic ... the Danish Government to decide how much food production would be diminished if the country used purely organic methods to raise crops and livestock. This study was based on organic farm output compared to conventional farm...

• Word Count: 3158
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... when a plant modified to be resistant to a herbicide or pesticide spreads and cross-breeds, creating plants that are also resistant when they shouldn't be. For instance, modified plants planted at a farm can spread and grow in an unwanted area, taking over (since they are resistant and therefore better adapted) and possibly killing the original plants in that area. This could lead ... unaware and put into danger. A perfect example is when "Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. developed a genetically engineered soybean using a gene from a Brazil nut to increase the protein content of its a...

• Word Count: 1935
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate