How do sustainable animal farming and industrial style animal farming affect the environment on different scales?
2006-11-27 15:26:02 · 2 answers · asked by Ryan H 2 in Environment
Industrial animal rearing is a major issue. There are so many things that can go wrong...
Animal waste (poo):
Industrial - keep animals in confinment and produce huge "lagoons" of waste
Sustainable - give animals access to pasture so the mainly poo outside and that is reclaimed by the soil, any collected in the barn can be composted
Antibiotics:
Industrial - Animals are kept in such bad conditions that they have to be given antibiotics just so they don't die - passing resistance of the antibiotoics to other animals and people
Sustainable - animals are noy kept in close confinment so they are less likely to get sick and are only treated when needed
Food:
Industrial - Feed in close confinment, as much corn and soybeans as possible as they are subsidized by the goverment. Since these are not what animals were designed to eat they have to eat more mass to get nutriuents
Sustainable - Suppliment pasture when needed with mixed grains and grasses, needing less land and less petroluem per animal.
Humanity:
Industrial - Animals live in horrible conditions
Sustainable - Animals live better lives
There are lots more, but that's a good start...
2006-11-29 04:48:34 · answer #1 · answered by heather k 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well, its probably a matter of scale, and also the end product of the waste produced. Industrial farming seems to usually be larger therefore producing more waste and consuming more products, usually of a more hazardous type. With sustainable farming the waste can be reused safely, industrial has all kinds of poison that pollutes.
2006-11-27 23:47:54 · answer #2 · answered by tomhale138 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋