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Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--factory farming 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. "'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. X-Bonus There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. -Sun Tzu, general (6th century BCE)

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