The Truth about Factory Farming

Sources

1. 10 billion animals are slaughtered each year in the U.S.
   Livestock & Meat Domestic Data.” USDA ERS - Livestock & Meat Domestic Data, 28 Apr. 2020, www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/livestock-meat-domestic-data/livestock-meat-domestic-data/#Livestock%20and%20poultry%20slaughter.
2. Globally, animal agriculture uses about 77% of the world's farmland, but only produces 18% of our calories.Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992. doi:10.1126/science.aaq0216
3. Animal agriculture is a leading cause of deforestation and climate change.Ritchie, H. (2020, September 18). Sector by sector: Where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from? Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector
   
   Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992. doi:10.1126/science.aaq0216
   
   Springmann, Marco et al. “Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits.” Nature (2018).
4. Producing one gallon of cow's milk requires 166 gallons of water, while soy milk uses just 7 gallons of water.Hannah Ritchie (2022) - “Dairy vs. plant-based milk: what are the environmental impacts?” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impact-milks'
5. Black and Latino communities are disproportionately affected by water and air pollution from factory farms.Inaki. “San Joaquin Valley Residents Express Their Concern over Drinking Water Contamination.” El Tecolote, 9 July 2010, eltecolote.org/content/news/san-joaquin-valley-residents-express-their-concern-over-drinking-water-contamination/.
   
   Chakraborty, Jayajit & Collins, Timothy & Montgomery, Marilyn & Grineski, Sara. (2014). Social and Spatial Inequities in Exposure to Flood Risk: A Case Study in Miami, Florida. Natural Hazards Review. 10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000140.
6. 99% of all animals raised for food in the U.S. are raised on factory farms.Anthis, J. (2019, April 11). US factory Farming Estimates. Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/us-factory-farming-estimates
7. 80% of dairy cows in the U.S. are bred through artificial insemination. While cows can live naturally for 20 years, the lifespan of farmed cows is shortened to 5 years.Colazo MG, Mapletoft RJ. A review of current timed-AI (TAI) programs for beef and dairy cattle. Can Vet J. 2014 Aug;55(8):772-80. PMID: 25082993; PMCID: PMC4095965.
   
   Moreira LC, Rosa GJM, Schaefer DM. Beef production from cull dairy cows: a review from culling to consumption. J Anim Sci. 2021 Jul 1;99(7):skab192. doi: 10.1093/jas/skab192. PMID: 34125214; PMCID: PMC8281100.
8. The amount of water used to make one hamburger is equivalent to a month of showering.Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2012). A global assessment of the water footprint of farm animal products. Ecosystems, 15(3), 401-415. doi:10.1007/s10021-011-9517-8
   
   Krider, J., Rickman, J., Barth, C., Powers, T., Herbert, N., Stettler, D., . . . Hickman, D. (2008, March). Chapter 4 agricultural Waste Characteristics. Retrieved May 3, 2021, from https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=31475.wba
9. A dairy cow produces 120 Ibs of manure daily leading to water pollution in rivers, lakes and streams.Porter, S., & Craig Cox. (2020, May 28). Manure overload: Manure plus fertilizer overwhelms Minnesota’s land and water. Environmental Working Group – Concerned about contaminants in your tap water? https://www.ewg.org/interactive-maps/2020-manure-overload/
10. By replacing half of meat and dairy consumption with plant-based options, we could cut agricultural GHG emissions by 31%.
    Kozicka, M., Havlík, P., Valin, H. et al. Feeding climate and biodiversity goals with novel plant-based meat and milk alternatives. Nat Commun14, 5316 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40899-2