factory farming (FAK-tuh-ree FAHR-ming) noun An industrialized system of producing meat, eggs, and milk in large-scale facilities where the animal is treated as a machine.
[From the idea of operating a large-scale farm as an efficient factory.] Some of the characteristics of a factory farm include intensive crowding of animals, trimming of birds' beaks, cutting pigs' tails, force-feeding of ducks, injecting artificial growth hormones, restricting mobility, etc. A factory farm is also known as a CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operation). "'When you look at environmental problems in the U.S.,' says [geophysicist Gidon] Eshel, 'nearly all of them have their source in food production and in particular meat production. And factory farming is 'optimal' only as long as degrading waterways is free." Mark Bittman; The Meat of the Matter; The Dallas Morning News; Feb 10, 2008. This newsletter is made possible in part by these sponsors: See a map of your word in the Visual Thesaurus. Wordsmith readers save 10%. Try it free! http://www.visualthesaurus.com/?ad=aw&code=h7q Free! Extra issue of any of Champs-Elysees Audio Magazines in French, German, Italian and Spanish. Subscribe at: http://web.champs-elysees.com/wsmith7 ............................................................................ There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. -Sun Tzu, general (6th century BCE) Send your comments to (words AT wordsmith.org). To unsubscribe, update address send gift subscription, etc., visit http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/factory_farming.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/factory_farming.ram Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/factory_farming.html This message was sent to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]".
