Factory farming is clearly a global problem, but it also has more localized impacts. Farm workers and those people living in the vicinity of factory farming operations can also be affected.

A lungful of pollution

Dust and toxic gases, such as sulphur compounds and ammonia, arise both from the animals as well as their feed and waste. This can reduce air quality and create breathing problems¹². The pollution is particularly problematic for farm workers, children and the elderly. In the case of pork production, it has been claimed¹³ that '…at least 25% of [industrial-style farm] workers suffer from respiratory diseases including bronchitis, mucus membrane irritation, asthma-like syndrome, and acute respiratory distress syndrome'. The materials used to grow feed for factory-farming operations can be hazardous too, particularly in developing countries where laws can be weaker⁵. The chemicals that are sometimes used to grow soy, for example - pesticides, herbicides, fungicides - reportedly cause regular acute and chronic health problems in several South American countries¹⁴.

Bad news for farmers

With its significant focus on mechanization, factory farming is putting the European farming sector under enormous pressure: there has been a long-term decline in both the numbers of EU farmers and agricultural workers. In 2010, it was announced¹⁵ that employment in the EU agriculture sector fell by 25% between 2000 and 2009.

And local economies can suffer

The vitality of local communities can also suffer at the hands of factory farming. There is evidence that the consolidation of smaller farms leads to the deterioration of rural communities. According to the Pew Commission¹², the 'social fabric' of communities changes significantly when factory farms replace family farms. This is partly because factory farming relies more on technology than on labour. This has led to an increasing preference for temporary or migrant workers who are prepared to accept lower wages¹². In 2007, scientists wrote that the '[e]conomic concentration of agricultural operations tends to remove a higher percentage of money from rural communities than when the industry is dominated by smaller farm operations, which tend to circulate money within the community'¹³. In some developing countries, the impacts can be even more devastating, with land grabbed from its owners to grow animal feed crops such as soy. In Paraguay, mile upon mile of soy plantations can be found, the majority of which are owned by large landowners and multinational companies. The planting and harvesting of this land is carried out using machines, which means that fewer people are employed, and many have to leave rural areas to look for work in cities. In the worst cases, people are actually forced from their own land to make way for the crops (The Ecologist⁶).

But don't just take our word for it

Fifty years ago, a…farmer who raised pigs or chickens might be exposed to several dozen animals for less than an hour a day. Today's confinement facility worker is often exposed to thousands of pigs or tens of thousands of chickens for eight or more hours each day.

Pew Commission (2008)¹²

…the air at some factory farm test sites in the US is dirtier than in America's most polluted cities and exposes workers to concentrations of pollutants far above occupational safety guidelines.

Environmental Integrity Project (2011)¹⁶

So what?

Factory farming breaks communities. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also creating a more prosperous, just world for ourselves.