In this Blog I will discuss about the introduction to the CAFO system by Daniel Imhoff.
Daniel Imhoff raised an important issue He said in the first page of the introduction " Our domesticated livestock have never been as cruelly confined or slaughtered in such massive quantities in all of history." notice when he said confined, meaning enclosed, trapped , which leads to believing that there is a system which needs to be questioned. For instance, a high number amount of animals are being massively slaughtered , as we speak. nearly 10 billion animals ( livestock's ) are being slaughtered. Even more alarming this concept is being spread through out the globe, Daniel Imhoff mentions in the introduction that " The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that global consumption of both meat and dairy products will double by 2050." ( Henning Steinfeld , Pierre Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, Maurice Rosales, and Cees de Haan, Livestock's long shadow: Environmental Issues and options [ Rome: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006],xx .Which leads to acknowledging a new farming system called The CAFO ( Concentrated Animal Feeding operations ).
The idea Factory Farms comes into mind, because the animals are being mistreated far worst then one can imagine. The pace of killing is relentless, the animals are being held in a assembly line as if they were meant to be purposely ill-treated. These animals are being assembled in a factory like concentrated camps, in other words concentrated animal feeding operations ( CAFO ). A CAFO is a feeding operation, that feeds animals unusual foods in order to gain weight in a rapid pace. As it is mentioned " Animal density and weight gain are the primary objectives." by Daniel imhoff. These operations are causing numerous issues such as environmental pollution , medicine abuse. They use lands for fertilizing or you can say " spray-fields " for the animals, but by doing that while cramped up and no natural farming doings they produce a lot of waste which is a problematic concern. As it is stated " The intensive concentration of animals produces obscene amounts of waste. It is not uncommon for a CAFO on 100 acres to generate the same amount sewage as a city of 100,00 inhabitants." by Daniel Imhoff ( Introduction ) xv. Also its becoming a toxic social and ecological liability, because the fact that it will spread to other places and very fast. Another point being, concerning medicine over usage, inside the CAFO the animals are rapidly growing fast,why, because of the antibiotics they receive daily, whether they need it or not. As mentioned by Daniel Imhoff " Inside the CAFO, animals are routinely administrated antibiotics whether they need them or not." And by doing that they are creating more forms of diseases such as Salmonella E. coli and other disease forms.
The CAFOs makes us believe that what they are doing is legal and right. By saying that they are trying to feed a " hungry planet " , deceiving us by their professional business appearance. But as you read in the introduction Daniel Imhoff mentions a lot of profound illegal/unlawful actions, ideas (i.e concepts). That the " hungry planet " must take actions against what they are doing. As he said : " Clearly, they ways in which we produce our food define us as a culture and as human beings. The subject forces us to ask big questions: How did we arrive at this place where they very foundation of human society-secure and sustainable food production- has become so far removed from caring farmers and cycles of nature?." ( Daniel Imhoff ). The CAFOs arises a lot more concerns and issues , that we must take into consideration ,and hopefully come to an conclusion.
Daniel Imhoff raised an important issue He said in the first page of the introduction " Our domesticated livestock have never been as cruelly confined or slaughtered in such massive quantities in all of history." notice when he said confined, meaning enclosed, trapped , which leads to believing that there is a system which needs to be questioned. For instance, a high number amount of animals are being massively slaughtered , as we speak. nearly 10 billion animals ( livestock's ) are being slaughtered. Even more alarming this concept is being spread through out the globe, Daniel Imhoff mentions in the introduction that " The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that global consumption of both meat and dairy products will double by 2050." ( Henning Steinfeld , Pierre Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, Maurice Rosales, and Cees de Haan, Livestock's long shadow: Environmental Issues and options [ Rome: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2006],xx .Which leads to acknowledging a new farming system called The CAFO ( Concentrated Animal Feeding operations ).
The idea Factory Farms comes into mind, because the animals are being mistreated far worst then one can imagine. The pace of killing is relentless, the animals are being held in a assembly line as if they were meant to be purposely ill-treated. These animals are being assembled in a factory like concentrated camps, in other words concentrated animal feeding operations ( CAFO ). A CAFO is a feeding operation, that feeds animals unusual foods in order to gain weight in a rapid pace. As it is mentioned " Animal density and weight gain are the primary objectives." by Daniel imhoff. These operations are causing numerous issues such as environmental pollution , medicine abuse. They use lands for fertilizing or you can say " spray-fields " for the animals, but by doing that while cramped up and no natural farming doings they produce a lot of waste which is a problematic concern. As it is stated " The intensive concentration of animals produces obscene amounts of waste. It is not uncommon for a CAFO on 100 acres to generate the same amount sewage as a city of 100,00 inhabitants." by Daniel Imhoff ( Introduction ) xv. Also its becoming a toxic social and ecological liability, because the fact that it will spread to other places and very fast. Another point being, concerning medicine over usage, inside the CAFO the animals are rapidly growing fast,why, because of the antibiotics they receive daily, whether they need it or not. As mentioned by Daniel Imhoff " Inside the CAFO, animals are routinely administrated antibiotics whether they need them or not." And by doing that they are creating more forms of diseases such as Salmonella E. coli and other disease forms.
The CAFOs makes us believe that what they are doing is legal and right. By saying that they are trying to feed a " hungry planet " , deceiving us by their professional business appearance. But as you read in the introduction Daniel Imhoff mentions a lot of profound illegal/unlawful actions, ideas (i.e concepts). That the " hungry planet " must take actions against what they are doing. As he said : " Clearly, they ways in which we produce our food define us as a culture and as human beings. The subject forces us to ask big questions: How did we arrive at this place where they very foundation of human society-secure and sustainable food production- has become so far removed from caring farmers and cycles of nature?." ( Daniel Imhoff ). The CAFOs arises a lot more concerns and issues , that we must take into consideration ,and hopefully come to an conclusion.
