Bacon

Bacon                                                                                                                         Massey

                                                                                                                                    5-9-12

This morning I sat down to enjoy my breakfast of eggs, hash browns and bacon. It was about as delicious as Sodexo can offer, the eggs being a little under cooked as usual. The ingredient in this meal that really caught my attention was the bacon. Everybody loves bacon. I have never met someone that doesn’t like sweet and smoky bacon for breakfast and my vegetarian friends relate that it was one of the hardest meat to give up. With so many people consuming bacon I chose it as the focal point of my research. Pork is the most widely consumed meat in the world accounting for 43% of total meat consumptions (EPA 2012). Swine also provide many by products that include

“insulin for the regulation of diabetes; valves for human heart surgery; suede for shoes and clothing; and gelatin for many food and non-food uses. Swine by-products are also important parts of such products as water filters, insulation, rubber, antifreeze, certain plastics, floor waxes, crayons, chalk, adhesives and fertilizer” (EPA 2012).

These facts make my limp piece of bacon seem insignificant in the scheme of production, yet such a heavy demand for these products is what created the modern animal production industry and pulled it away from its humble farming roots. 

Hogs have long been a preferred livestock for farmers across America. They are hardy creatures that require minimal attention and will eat almost anything. When they were first introduced to America farmers forgoed fencing preferring instead to let the hogs roam the forest and eat fruit, nuts and roots before they were slaughtered. This practice has led to many hybrid species of wild pig as free-range livestock mated with wild boars (Seward). As the United States expanded west hogs were brought along due to their resiliency and ease to care for. Eventually the small homesteaders in the Midwest began to raise hogs for a living in states such as Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. Swine were raised on outdoor farms well into the 20th century; however consolidation and industrialization of pig production happened quickly, during the 1980s and 1990s. “For example, in Iowa, the number of pig farms decreased from 65,000 in 1980 to approximately 10,000 in 2002. In the same period, the size of the average Iowa swine farm increased from 200 pigs in 1980 to 1,400 pigs in 2002” (Honeyman et al.). Hog farms also began to move to North Carolina which is now the 2nd largest producer of swine in the United States behind Iowa (EPA 2012). These new “farms” that started cropping up in the mid-20th century are a far cry from the pastures of 100 years earlier.

Today almost all pork is raised inside giant production plants able to accommodate thousands of head of swine. These complexes are referred to as AFOs or CAFO (Animal Feeding Operations and Confined Animal Feeding Operations) in the United States. The move towards this type of system was driven by several factors. First predators and weather could be avoided by keeping animals inside instead of in a pasture. Second the owners of pork farms shifted from single families and community based farms to the centralized food-industry that rules supermarket shelves today. The ideology became, “how can I raise as many animals as possible with the least amount of money”. The move to large production facilities was largely due to a change is business model to increase production and profits.

Conditions inside AFOs and CAFOs vary with each site. Some allow animals to be weaned outside in nearby pastures while others confine animals inside for their entire existence. The livestock are grouped based on age and moved between different rooms as they mature. “Most swine today are raised in “all-in, all-out” (AIAO) systems, where each room or building is completely emptied and sanitized between groups of pigs” (EPA 2012). Many modern facilities use grated floors which allow the waste from multiple levels of animals to fall into a single containment area below.

The issue of equality for animals has become polarizing in recent years. While conducting research I found many organizations denouncing the pork industry for crimes against animals as well as coalitions of farmers justifying the processes they use. Finding unbiased sources proved to be more difficult than I originally thought, I stuck mainly to journal articles and government agencies for citations. What I found was interesting and struck a chord with my morals, yet it was far from profound. I like so many Americans am well aware to the source of my pork, poultry and beef and the fact that these animals are mistreated and imprisoned. Yet it is kept inside of a multi-story CAFO in North Carolina, out of site and out of mind. I am not ready to change my eating habits yet; especially when it comes to bacon. But I am sure that if the walls of the animal industry were to become both literally and figuratively transparent, I would have a quick change of mind, along with millions of Americans. 

Sources

M S Honeyman, R S Pirog, G H Huber, P J Lammers, and J R Hermann. "The United States pork niche market phenomenon1. " Journal of Animal Science  84.8 (2006): 2269-2275. Career and Technical Education, ProQuest. Web.  8 May. 2012.

EPA's Ag Center, . United States. EPA. Pork Production. 2012. Web. <http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/pork.html>. Seward, Liz. "Pig DNA reveals farming history." BBC News. 04 09 2007: n. page. Web. 8 May. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6978203.stm>.