The health of our planet’s water and soil systems is intimately linked to agricultural practices, and industrial animal farming exerts an outsized negative impact. Large-scale livestock operations generate enormous quantities of waste, which often seep into rivers, lakes, and groundwater, contaminating water sources with nitrogen, phosphorus, antibiotics, and pathogens. This pollution disrupts aquatic ecosystems, threatens human health, and contributes to the proliferation of dead zones in oceans and freshwater bodies.
Soil, the foundation of global food security, suffers equally under intensive animal farming. Overgrazing, monoculture feed crops, and improper manure management lead to erosion, nutrient depletion, and loss of soil fertility. The degradation of topsoil not only undermines crop production but also reduces the land’s natural ability to absorb carbon and regulate water cycles, intensifying both droughts and floods.
This category emphasizes that protecting water and soil is crucial for environmental sustainability and human survival. By highlighting the impacts of factory farming on these vital resources, it encourages shifts toward regenerative agricultural practices, responsible water management, and diets that reduce the strain on our planet’s most essential ecosystems.
Antibiotic resistance and pollution from animal agriculture waste are urgent global challenges with far-reaching consequences for public health, ecosystems, and food security. The routine use of antibiotics in livestock farming to boost growth and prevent disease has contributed to the alarming rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, undermining the effectiveness of essential treatments. At the same time, poorly managed waste from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) introduces harmful pollutants—including antibiotic residues, hormones, and excess nutrients—into soil and water systems. This contamination threatens aquatic life, compromises water quality, and accelerates the spread of resistant bacteria through environmental pathways. Tackling these issues demands sustainable farming practices that prioritise ethical approaches to antibiotic use alongside robust waste management strategies to protect human health and preserve ecological balance