In America alone, over 48 million people become victims of food related illnesses each year, and about 3,000 of these victims die as a result (Katel 1).
Yes, you read that right, people DIE everyday as a result of bad food. Now, you may ask, why is this happening? Why are these numbers so high?
Well, one of the main causes of these illnesses and deaths lies within the scandalous practices of oversized and overcrowded factory farms. For many years, our nation's farms have grown an overwhelming amount, but our farming and food regulations have failed to grow along with them. As a result of these out-of-date regulations, industrial farms continue to use risky practices that endanger our society.
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Here are just a few of these shocking, life threatening practices:
1) Improper Waste Disposal
Who would've guessed that on a farm with over a thousand chickens or cows that there would be a lot of shit lying around? Apparently, not factory farmers.
According to Food and Water Watch, many factory farms do not treat animal waste; instead this waste is washed into cesspools. Until the waste is "washed away," animals are free to walk in it, roll around in it, etc. If this waste gets in an animal's hide, it could contaminate the meat. The disgusting truth is that this contaminated meat can result in a variety of illnesses, such as salmonella, in humans (Food 24).
According to Food and Water Watch, many factory farms do not treat animal waste; instead this waste is washed into cesspools. Until the waste is "washed away," animals are free to walk in it, roll around in it, etc. If this waste gets in an animal's hide, it could contaminate the meat. The disgusting truth is that this contaminated meat can result in a variety of illnesses, such as salmonella, in humans (Food 24).
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2) Unsanitary Conditions
In addition to being a waste-filled wonderland, many factory farms fail to maintain sanitary conditions. For example, on two Iowa eggs farms, that had been found guilty of many hazardous practices, like removing waste improperly, the FDA reported that they also found "live and dead" flies and maggots that were "too numerous to count" (Katel 1).
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So basically, factory farms maintain conditions much like a city dumpster. I don't know about you, but I don't think these are the kind of conditions that I want my food to be raised in.
3) Antibiotics in Feed
In order to lower the chances of disease outbreaks in factory farms, many farmers mix low doses of antibiotics in animal feed. Sounds like a great idea, right?
Actually, when humans eat meat exposed to antibiotics, it can cause resistance to a variety drugs. Food and Water Watch states that this a huge health concern in the United States because some illnesses have gone completely resistant to common drugs, such as penicillin (Food 20).
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If this trend continues, more people will become sick, and we will have to develop new, more effective drugs.
New Regulations
Now that I have made you sick to your stomach and concerned about everything you have ever eaten, let's talk about some solutions. The easiest way to prevent these food borne illnesses and deaths is through new and improved regulations that fit today's food system.
Here are some examples of new regulations:
Here are some examples of new regulations:
- More frequent and thorough inspections
- Improved waste removal
- High sanitation requirements
- Removal of antibiotics in feed
LET'S SAVE LIVES!
A change is necessary in our food system. If we can take a stand now and improve regulations in factory farms, we could revolutionize our food system and save thousands of lives.
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Works Cited
Katel, Peter. "Food
Safety." CQ Researcher. December 17, 2010: 1037-60. Web.
October 28, 2014.
Food & Water
Watch. "Food Safety Consequences of Factory Farms." Food,
Inc.: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer -- And What
You Can Do About It. Ed. By Karl Weber. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. 19-25.
Mikayla,
ReplyDeleteI think your blog was absolutely hilarious and a great read! You did a wonderful job of starting it out by stating the issue in a manor that is serious and draws the readers attention right off. I think the way you bold the words you really want your readers to notice helps as well. You do a good job of adding humor all throughout your blog which made it an easy read and fun! It was entertaining and the pictures added so much to your blog. I think you will easily appeal to the readers logos, ethos, and pathos. As your reader will be able to understand the way you feel, find the logic behind all of your points and connect with the same angry emotions you are writing through your blog. Your reader will in return want to make changes you then do a wonderful job of listing out 4 major changes that could be made and this will help your argument that you have found a solution! I think in improving your blog you really don't need much maybe just a way to appeal more just towards college students or young adults. But I think you do a wonderful job and it was a great read!
Mikayla,
ReplyDeleteI think your blog was well written. You had good organization because you explained the problem and offered a solution. The visuals help add some humor to the serious issues you explored. You used logos and pathos very well. Logos was used to explain the evidence of improper food regulations and how it relates to the audience. For example, when you talk about how eating animals that are resistant to antibiotics can be harmful to us. We would have to find other solutions to some diseases. Pathos is used a lot throughout your blog and it helps reflect how you feel about food practices and allows the audience to make the decision as to whether they agree with you or not. The list really helped keep the blog focused on the specific issues that you wanted to talk about. The first and second practices seem really similar. It would help to explain how they differ from one another. Maybe try to relate to a college age audience. It was relatable, but it could be improved to create a connection with the audience.
Mikayla,
ReplyDeleteI had no idea how gross factory farms could really be until I read your blog. Your first statement really grabs the audience's attention and draws them in to continue reading about the dangers in factory farms. Your images provide humor and supports your serious points. Who doesn't love a good Cleveland Brown picture. Your use of pathos was effective for the audience by invoking emotion. Your logos gave you credibility as a writer and made your points even more reliable. The facts you provided were supported with the points you made. To improve your blog, I suggest providing more information on your concluding solution points, maybe even provide links that support those points so the audience can look further into the topic. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post!
Mikayla, you did a great job with this article especially in terms of organization and picture usage. Immediately to start off you article you use a statistic to capture your audience and provide credibility. You include plenty of related images to further improve your article and retain the attention of your audience. You bold the important messages and include a short list of points for the audience to use a guide throughout your article. The element of pathos is strongly expressed in the article and quite successfully too. You also successfully appeal to the audience sense of reasoning in your use of logos. Together these two form a strong persuasive argument that can really effect and audience's viewpoint. In my opinion you have successfully achieved your rhetorical purpose, although I think there is room for improvement within your article. For example, you start of with the use of ethos and establish credibility, but as the article continues on you start to lose your sense of credibility due to the lack of ethos usage. You also seem to lack in the article a way to relate to your age group of peers. In conclusion, the article is well written and your point is clearly expressed, although there is room for improvement.
ReplyDelete