Rabon 1 Sloan Rabon Mrs.

Hensel English III April 2, 2014 Agribusiness If you are a meat eater, it might interest you to know that over twenty-nine million pounds of antibiotics are fed to commercial farm animals each year. When companies feed antibiotics to the animals they raise, the bacteria will eventually become more resistant to the antibiotics needed to treat sick people (Antibiotic). Under the contradictory growth of globalization, half of the children in India suffer from severe malnutrition (Shiva). Agribusiness has many negative effects that range from health, economic, and environmental. Agribusiness is a major contributor to the climate instability that we face today. Because of the drive to sell chemicals, pesticides and costly seeds to farmers, the greenhouse emissions have dramatically risen over the years (Shiva). The long distance trade of food and supplies between countries adds on to the carbon emissions because of the extra food miles (Shiva). With climate instability another major consequence is water privatization and scarcity. According to Shiva, industrial agriculture requires ten times more water to produce the same amount of food that ecological farming does. Because of the increased water needs for agribusiness, depletion of water sources, an increase for large dams, and the mining of groundwater has become more prevalent (Shiva). Farmers are now unable to make a living due to increased industrial farming and globalization. Farmers have lost billions in markets because the food transported has

Rabon 2 either been contaminated or buyers refuse to purchase genetically altered commodities (Kupfer). After fifteen years, globalizations regulations have led to 200,000 farmers committing suicide because they cant make a living anymore all their money goes to make profit for Monsanto and Cargill (Shiva). Along with farmers unable to make to a living, genetically modified crops can contaminate home-grown crops and cause massive economic losses. Communities from ten states around the United States are in the process of passing legislation that bans the contamination of the food supply with genetically engineered seeds and crops (Kupfer). In lab reports commissioned by the UCS, over two-thirds of 36 conventional batches of corn, soy, and canola seed stock contained traces of genetically engineered crops (Kupfer). The excessive use of non-therapeutic antibiotics in animals has led to drug resistant strains of bacteria. Medical researchers at the University of Minnesota took more than 1,000 food samples from many retail stores in the area and more than ninetytwo percent of the chicken samples had the presence of e coli (Antibiotic). There is a substantial amount of evidence of the health consequences related to the use of antibiotics in farm animals including infections that would not have otherwise occurred, increased frequency of treatment failures in some cases death, and increased severity of infections (Antibiotic). E coli infections are responsible for 36,000 deaths each year in the United States (Antibiotic). Not only does industrial farming have negative consequences to human health, they have negative effects on the animals as well. Many chickens contract painful leg and joint deformities because of growth promoting drugs and selective breeding for faster growth (Antibiotic). They grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs

Rabon 3 arent developed enough to support their body which ends up causing congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses (Antibiotic). According to Shiva, the more agriculture is liberalized, the greater the food scarcity, the higher the food prices, and the more people will go hungry. Many countries around the globe are increasingly phasing out feeding antibiotics to farm animals to promote faster growth to protect the health of the people (Antibiotic). Based on the facts and evidence, it is clear that the risks far outweigh the benefits associated with agribusiness.

Rabon 4 Works Cited "Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous and Unnecessary." An HSUS Report: Human Health Implications of Non-Therapeutic Antibiotic Use in Animal Agriculture. Humane Society of the United States, 2009. Rpt. in Antibiotics. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. Kupfer, David. "Genetically Modified Food Damages Trade with Other Nations."Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Nancy Harris. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. At Issue. Rpt. from "The Genetic Resistance: 'Mendocino Is the First GMO-free County in the Nation, and I am Sure It Will Not Be the Last." Earth Island Journal 19 (Summer 2004): 42-44. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2014. Shiva, Vandana. "Biotechnology and Agribusiness Create Cultural and Economic Devastation." The Global Food Crisis. Ed. Uma Kukathas. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Current Controversies. Rpt. from "Vandana Shiva: Why We Face Both Food and Water Crises." Alternet. 2008. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2014.