A Beginner's Guide - What Is Factory Farming, and Why Does It Matter?

If you’ve ever felt uneasy or unsure about where your food comes from, you’re not alone.

Let’s start with a simple truth: factory farming is the dominant way meat, dairy, and eggs are produced today. It’s the system behind the vast majority of what ends up on supermarket shelves, restaurant menus, and dinner plates across much of the world.

In fact, some estimates suggest that around 99% of animal products in the U.S. come from factory farms. Similar figures are reflected in many parts of Europe and beyond. So unless you’re specifically sourcing from small-scale farms, if you eat meat or dairy, it almost certainly came from a factory farm.

But here’s the thing: most people don’t know that.
And even when we do, it’s easier not to think about it.

And that’s understandable.

Many of us care deeply about animals. We don’t want to imagine them in pain. So we turn away, avoid the footage, or trust the label that says “free-range” or “humane”, even if the reality behind those words tells a different story.

That’s not your fault.
The animal agriculture industry spends billions to keep factory farming invisible. Through advertising, lobbying, and misleading labels, we’re sold an image of rolling green pastures and happy cows. But behind the scenes, animals are often confined in overcrowded sheds, mutilated without pain relief, and slaughtered at a fraction of their natural lifespan.

This isn’t about judgement.
It’s about bringing to light what’s been hidden, and asking: is this the food system we want to support?

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So, what is factory farming?

Factory farming (also called industrial animal agriculture) is a method of raising animals for food that prioritises maximum output at the lowest possible cost.

This often means:

• Chickens crammed by the tens of thousands into dark sheds, bred to grow so fast they can barely walk

• Pigs kept in crates so small they can’t turn around, biting the bars from stress

• Dairy cows forcibly impregnated and separated from their calves, again and again, until their bodies give out

It’s efficient. It’s profitable. And it’s everywhere.

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Why does it matter?

Because factory farming doesn’t just harm animals. It affects everything.

• 🌍 The Planet: It’s a leading cause of deforestation, water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions

• 👥 People: It exploits low-paid workers, harms communities near farms, and increases the risk of antibiotic resistance and pandemics

• 🐄 The Animals: It subjects billions of sentient beings to lives of intense confinement, mutilation, and suffering

This post is just the beginning. In future articles, I’ll be diving deeper into each of these areas, how factory farming fuels climate breakdown, the ethics of farming animals, why factory farming thrives despite public discomfort, and what we can do about it.

But for now, just knowing that factory farming exists, and dominates, is a powerful first step.

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If any of this feels overwhelming, I get it.
But you don’t have to change everything overnight.
You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to be willing to ask: what if I started with one less bite?

Follow me to understand why people are going plant-based, in a non-judgmental and supportive way.