Ariana A. Rivera
3/23/20
Inquiry-Based Essay Proposal
The question I will be basing my Inquiry-Based Essay on is “How does factory-farming contribute to climate change?”. This question interests me because climate change is such a huge issue nowadays and will continue to affect me as I get older especially as things seem to take a turn for the worse. Our carbon footprint only continues to increase and as the population increases so will the amount of carbon dioxide and waste we produce. Factory farming has long since been controversial because of the abrasive practices farmers often use towards their animals to maximize the number of profits they produce. In addition to the abuse and suffering animals who are raised on factory farms endure, factory farming also puts a strain on the environment. The amount of waste produced by raising so many animals in one place pollutes the air, land, and water that surrounds them. This question not only allows me to get a better understanding of both the detrimental effects factory farming has on the environment but also the cruelties animals who are raised on factory farms endure from the moment they are born up until they are eventually slaughtered for their meat. This question is relevant to social justice because if factory farms are both detrimental to the animals and to our own well-being as humans then action should be taken to get rid of factory farmers or at the very least reduce them. Farming itself is necessary to sustain the human population, however, if there are healthier alternatives to factory farming that still meet the demand for meat and bring in the same amount of profit for the farmers then factory farming should be replaced as a farming practice for a more environmentally friendly alternative.
My audience is the farmers who practice factory farming because my research paper will explain the negative effect factory farming has on the environment and healthier alternatives to factory farming that will meet the demand for meat while still producing the same amount of profit. Though anyone who is interested in what contributes to climate change and how we can replace it with a healthier alternative the people who really can make a change for the better are the farmers who use the practice of factory farming currently. I plan on finishing my research and planning by April 4th and completing the essay itself by April 18th. The model essay I will be basing my inquiry-based essay on is “Meat and Morality: Alternatives to Factory Farming” by Evelyn Pluhar because not only does it explain the severe effects on the environment the practice of factory farming causes but also includes an in-depth explanation of alternatives to factory farming from different ethical perspectives. The layout of the academic journal is easy to follow and each subsection is very descriptive. In addition, Pluhar uses a variety of sources to back up her claims within the article and explains the information she presents from both an ethical standpoint and a scientific standpoint. Her writing is very thorough and though it is two pages more than the requirement for this assignment I will make my work concise so that it is not too drawn out. Overall I strongly feel like my topic is relevant to the current times because of how it related to climate change, which is still an issue we have yet to completely resolve, and because there are millions of factory farms in the US to this day. Which is why factory farming contributes to climate change because it produces a large number of greenhouse gases and raising livestock requires the use of an abundance of natural resources
Works Cited
Pluhar, Evelyn B. Meat and Morality: Alternatives to Factory Farming. Springer Science Business Media , 30 Nov. 2009,
https://link-springer-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s10806-009-9226-x.pdf
Schulman, Scott. “From Farm-to-Table to Lab-to-Table.” Natural Resources & Environment, vol. 33, no. 1, Summer 2018, p. 31+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A588473485/ITOF?u=cuny_ccny&sid=ITOF&xid=b891c380
Hunter, Erik, and Elin Röös. “Fear of Climate Change Consequences and Predictors of Intentions to Alter Meat Consumption.” Food Policy, Pergamon, 27 June 2016, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691921630077X.
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