the effects of business on consumers and the environment case study perdue farms
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PHI445 Week 4 Discussion, The Effects of
Business on Consumers and the Environment:
Case Study Perdue Farms
Perdue prides themselves in the freshness of their chicken, stating that “we go beyond
what the USDA requires with extra inspections in American family-owned farms,
refrigerated trucks that deliver daily, and everywhere in between” (PerdueChicken, 2014).
Out of all the chicken consumed in the United States, Perdue produces the most. They
have approximately 9,900 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) which
produce approximately 80% of the meat consumed by Americans- averaging 270 pound
per person every year (Fieser, 2015). Hoover (2013) explains that these massive facilities
that confine large numbers of animals have taken over independent farms as the primary
source of not only meat, but eggs and dairy as well in the U.S.
Craig Watts debated taking action against Perdue concerning chickens being raised in
inhumane conditions. He spoke up for the greater good and demonstrated moral freedom
of not participating in practices that produced suffering. He states that “over the course of
six weeks, in a house of 30,000 chickens, it's considered normal for more than 1,000 birds
to die in every flock due to illness, genetic problems or other issues including injuries”
(CompassionUSA, 2014). He even says that under his contract with Perdue, he is not
allowed to give the chickens fresh air or even sunshine. The chickens are forced to sit in
the feces of tens of thousands of birds; their litter containing the feces isn’t changed
between flocks and sometimes not changed for years (CompassionUSA, 2014). These
CAFOs also cause environmental concerns. Hoover (2013) states that they compare more
to industrial manufacturing than farming because they emit large amounts of air
pollutants that are harmful. Not only are they damaging the environment, but are causing
public health distresses. “The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization finds
the livestock sector to be one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the
most serious environmental problems worldwide” (Hoover, 2013, p.5). He also goes on
to explain that the primary cause of the pollution is the decomposing animal manure,
“nitrous oxide results from microbial processes in manure, and has 296 times the global
warming potential of carbon dioxide” (Hoover, 2013, p.7). A two year EPA study found
levels of pollutants at some CAFOs whose levels were far higher than federal health
based guidelines recommend for human exposure. These undoubtedly cause negative
effects for the surrounding environment and residents.
As far as the regulations surrounding factory farming, “since animals raised for food
production receive virtually no protection under federal law and only ineffective
protection under state anti-cruelty laws,18 the regulation of their treatment is left to the
farm industry itself” (Stathopoulos, 2010, p. 411). The FDA has the authority to regulate
activities on farm sites to prevent unsafe food products; however the USDA doesn’t have
authority to regulate the safety of food products on a farm level (Stathopoulos, 2010, p.
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