Farms

Centralization and Intensification

Scale and use of technology are quite evident in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which centralize the production of animal foods like never before in the history of humanity. In CAFOs, intensive methods rely heavily—if not exclusively—upon the consumption of outside resources in order to grow animals in the most cost-effective manner possible. In essence, this heavy reliance upon outside sources as well as mechanized facilities allow for even less labor investment. Labor is a key component in the cost of food production; with increased intensification in mechanized, industrial agriculture, there are fewer farmers who are responsible for the majority of foods produced. These CAFOs are ideal sites for the spread of diseases, as animals live in very close proximity to one another, often living in a number of waste products including feces, bodily fluids, and sometimes corpses. CAFOs raise several ethical questions about the consumption of their products. In CAFOs, animals themselves become waste, sometimes as mistakes are made (downer animals), and sometimes as a part of the normal course of operations. An extreme example of the animals as waste mentality is evident in examination of egg production facilities where live male [Page 250]chicks have literally been disposed of in plastic garbage bags.

The intensification of agriculture in mechanized industrial agriculture farms brings with it several challenges in terms of waste and inefficiencies. Large monocultures of crops are incredibly vulnerable to disease and pest infestations. Oil, fertilizers, and pesticides are necessary inputs into these mechanized, industrial systems of food production. Increasingly, genetic modification of plants as well as animals also contributes to these systems. Most of the research and development in terms of genetic modification has been toward developing herbicide-resistant plants.

In this strategy, broad-spectrum pesticides can be utilized to control for undesired plant species, ideally wiping out all competition for water, sunlight, and nutrient resources. In reality, these interventions continue the technology treadmill as weeds and other agriculture pests adapt to these chemical control regimes, leading to a continuous cycle wherein further development of agricultural technologies is needed in an attempt to combat pests and increase food production. There is a particular philosophy of separation from and control over nature that goes along with these industrial systems of production: its (bio-)technologies and techniques are not neutral; rather, they are the result of a particular way of looking at the world.

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