Research Activity

For human life: "Factory farm production is intensifying worldwide, and rates of new infectious diseases are rising. Of particular concern is the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant microbes, an inevitable consequence of the widespread use of antibiotics as feed additives in industrial livestock operations...antibiotic resistance is a clear and present danger, already killing thousands of people in the United States each year" (Sayre 77).
This quote says that antibiotic resistance is rising with the use of antibiotics as feed additives in CAFOs. This is useful in my essay because it shows factory farms wasting so many useful vaccines to keep animals from dying because of the conditions they are subjected to, and how the antibiotics make them unusual.

For animal life: "...Factory farms are terrific incubators for disease. The stress of factory farm conditions weakens animals' immune systems; ammonia from accumulated waste burns lungs and makes them more susceptible to infection; the lack of sunlight and fresh air--as well as the genetic uniformity of industrial farm animal populations--facilitates the spread of pathogens" (Sayre 78).
Factory farms are a perfect place for diseases to run rampant amongst living creatures- The stress of overcrowding and the dirty conditions leaves animals vulnerable to get diseases. This quote is good because it provides an example as to why factory farms are bad for animals.

For environment: "Confined livestock operations in the United States produce three times as much waste each year as our country's entire human population--and yet all that manure is much more loosely regulated and handled than human waste. Antibiotic-resistant microbes, as well as the antibiotics themselves, are now widely present as environmental contaminants, with unknown consequences for everything from soil microorganisms to people" (Sayre 79-80).

For government apathy towards regulations: "The pending approval of an antibiotic called cefquinome to treat respiratory diseases in cattle offered a recent test case. Cefquinome is similar to cefepime, a last-resort antibiotic used to treat serious infections in people.The FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association, recommended against approval, warning that using cefquinome for animals would almost certainly render cefepime less effective for humans. But the FDA has apparently caved to industry pressure, claiming it lacks the authority to deny the drug companies' request" (Sayre 82).

Sayre, Laura. "The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms and Human Illness". Mother Earth News Feb./Mar. 2009: p76-83, 8p. Print.