Owen Walsh
Don’t let marketing schemes or tricky labels fool you.
It’s always been hard to discern what’s true and what’s not about the things we eat. Food is inherently a broad, sensitive subject. With the internet making it easier for disinformation to reach more people than perhaps ever before, informed dietary choices require some research and fact-checking.
Fortunately, we can look to science to confirm and debunk many of the things said about the mega “factory farms” (aka CAFOs)—which produce more than 90% of the world’s meat supply. Unfortunately, the corporations behind factory farms are quite adept at muddying the waters. I’m not just referring to their penchant for water pollution, but specifically their use of tricky marketing and deceptive labeling to befuddle consumers. Here are eight major lies about factory farming to stay ahead of this corporate deceit.
1. “Our animals are happy”
You see it in commercials, on packaging. Happy animals with space to roam, play, and graze. For nearly all farmed animals, that’s merely a fantasy. These are sentient creatures who have been packed into spaces too dense to spread their wings, never mind walk. Who are subjected to painful mutilations without anesthesia. All before getting lined up, waiting to be slaughtered. They are not “happy” animals.
2. “It’s organic”
Meat certified as organic by the USDA should help consumers avoid products that come from unsustainable, inhumane farming operations. An organic label should assure folks that the animal they’re eating was at least spared the cruelties of factory farming mentioned above.
For example, USDA organic guidelines state that “ruminant” animals must be out on pasture for no fewer than 120 days. These animals must also receive at least 30% of their feed from pasture. All organic livestock and poultry are also required to have access to the outdoors year-round.
Unfortunately, groups like the ASPCA have found that due to insufficient guidelines and enforcement, many larger USDA Organic-certified producers are “virtually indistinguishable from factory farming.”
3. “It’s safe”
If you look at the websites of any major factory farm food corporations, there’s bound to be language about how safety is a top priority. You might question this claim, given the links between factory farming methods and foodborne illness outbreaks. But even more pressing, I’d argue, is if an industry’s flagrant abuse of antibiotics on animals is fueling a global public health crisis of antibiotic resistance, that industry shouldn’t get to tout itself as “safe.”
4. “Our chickens are steroid-free”
Okay, this one isn’t technically a lie, but it’s another example of deceitful marketing. It’s like if a peanut butter brand advertised, “Contains no human body parts!” It’s probably true, but it (hopefully) doesn’t make that brand unique. Thanks to FDA regulations, factory farms cannot use steroids on chickens. Even if they could, they likely wouldn’t, because doing so would be too costly and time-consuming.
5. “It’s sustainable”
From op-eds to internet-star collaborations, factory farmers have long claimed that CAFOs are acting in the best interests of the environment. It’s not difficult to debunk these claims. Livestock farming is responsible for about 14% of greenhouse gas emissions, occupies about a third of the habitable earth, and requires hundreds, even thousands, of gallons of water just to produce one pound of product. This is not sustainability.
6. “It’s healthy”
Every few years, some sort of “scientific” study or other publication— inevitably with corporate ties to Big Ag—gets published touting the health benefits of eating animals, even if produced on an industrial scale. These blips don’t do much to confront the immense body of evidence to the contrary. So much evidence in fact, that the World Health Organization lists processed red meats as carcinogenic (cancer-causing) to humans.
7. “It’s humane”
Factory farming corporations know that if more people knew the horrors and cruelty of industrial animal agriculture, many would refuse to buy factory-farmed meat, dairy, and eggs. One way companies dupe public perception is by slapping a label on their product that claims it was produced “humanely.” Unfortunately, as Vox reported, the USDA’s bar for what can labeled “humane” is “incredibly low, and often nonsensical.”
8. “It’s the cheapest way to produce food”
The whole point of factory farming is to maximize efficiency (which means minimizing animal welfare) in order to keep production costs low. While this may equate to a relatively small number on the price tag at the supermarket, if you take stock of how much factory farms cost us in greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, land-use, public health crises, and more, factory-farmed meat is far from cheap.
Stay ahead of the lies
The factory farming industry knows how to spin, dodge, and deny negative press. In a time when top environmentalists, public health officials, and animal welfare advocates are calling for change, Big Ag would have you believe that factory farming needs to be expanded.
That’s why The Humane League is working so hard to move the needle on animal agriculture and get major companies to take a first step and commit to going 100% cage free. Campaigns like these go beyond empty promises, and instead provide real, tangible improvements to animal welfare on farms.
To stay vigilant against the marketing ploys of industrialized animal agriculture, consider getting involved with The Humane League and make a world of difference for animals, humans, and the planet today.
