In the United States it was recorded that adult citizens consumed close to 275 pounds of meat per person this past year. With new shows like BBC’s “Kill It. Cook it. Eat it,” Americans are starting to see many reasons why paying attention to this country’s methods of factory farming might be in their best interest.
As the current population grows to rates previously unimaginable, the issue of food production and food consumption is one that has gained large amounts of attention recently. This is especially true concerning the production of edible products on a mass scale.

Unlike the conjured mental images of years past, the term “farm” means something very different now then it would have ever meant before. Consider that most food in the nation, specifically meat products, do not come from the free roaming fields as they once did.
For years, organizations such as the Humane Society and PETA have fought for the better treatment of animals subject to many terrible procedures and conditions produced by the modern factory farm.
Rampant among these facilities are conditions such as restricted cage sizes, limiting the natural movement and behavior of the livestock, unnecessary castration of pigs, and the amputation of tails from cows and beaks of chickens.
Providing sub-standard, unnatural living conditions for these free roaming grazing animals would be enough to concern even the most idle animal lover. In many studies pigs have been documented to be more intelligent than the domesticated dog.

Still many of the atrocities committed in these factories go unnoticed, or ignored by a large percentage of meat-eaters in this country. Considering that these farms produce meat with such efficiency and ultimately keep the price of products low, it is no wonder that many people would rather not think about where their food comes from.
For some, not even the worst conditions inflicted upon these creatures are enough to drive the point home. But there is a side to the issue that most would agree affect them daily: their health.

In order to maintain the weight and health of these animals in their confined accommodations it is necessary to heavily medicate cows, pigs, and chickens with antibiotics to prevent diseases from killing them.

This precaution might seem like a sound idea if it wasn’t for the fact that these heavy doses of immune boosters and growth hormones were making their way into our burgers, wings, and ribs every day.

With generations being exposed to these chemicals in their food daily, the full effects of factory farm produced food and meat products can’t be fully predicted. With the correlation between an increase in American obesity and the amount of meat consumed yearly by individuals, now is the time to really consider the true price we pay for eating cheaper.
Equally as important is the price that these farm animals pay for our need to eat cheaper.