My Journey From The Horrors of Factory Farming to a Plant-Based Lifestyle... In One Day.

Two documentaries, hours of research and one trip to the supermarket transformed my life... in one day.

Watching the scenes of factory farming on a documentary three years ago was so horrific and traumatizing, I stopped the film and flew into hours of deep research on current factory farming practices. And in less than 24 hours, my view of animals, of their suffering, of what I needed to do to live in this world had been completed transformed. My journey took one day.

Factory farming represents one of the most pressing ethical and moral challenges of our time. The modern factory farming system, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs),  is the dominant method of intensive livestock production worldwide, and accounting for over 99% of farm animals in the United States. What does this mean? It’s the industrial approach that’s enabled cheap meat production on an unprecedented scale; yet, there is indisputable evidence of its devastating consequences for both animal welfare and our very own human welfare.

Inside factory farms, animals endure conditions that would be considered torture if inflicted on any other species. Despite industry assurances about humane treatment, investigations by animal welfare organizations, academic researchers, and journalists have documented systemic practices that inflict severe physical and psychological trauma on livestock and poultry.

Over 70 billion land animals annually and stripped of their most basic natural behaviors. Dairy cows are repeatedly impregnated and separated from their calves within hours of birth, causing documented distress in both mothers and offspring, their natural lifespan of 20 years is cut to 4-6 years of relentless milk production. Breeding sows, intelligent creatures capable of solving puzzles and forming deep social bonds, spend their lives in gestation crates —metal enclosures just two feet wide— for nearly their entire 16-week pregnancies. Unable to turn around or lie down comfortably, these highly intelligent animals develop repetitive behaviors like bar-biting and head-weaving, clear indicators of psychological distress. They are denied the ability to root, nest or socialize normally. Pregnant pigs are confined in gestation crates—metal enclosures just two feet wide—for nearly their entire 16-week pregnancies. Unable to turn around or lie down comfortably, these highly intelligent animals develop repetitive behaviors like bar-biting and head-weaving, clear indicators of psychological distress.

Chickens are crammed into windowless warehouses with as little as 0.6 square feet per bird—less space than a sheet of paper. They are bred to grow so rapidly, yanked from their cracked egg at birth, cast into a dark, unclean shed so laden with ammonia their small eyes and lungs burn and forced to grow rapidly and painfully that in two months, their legs cannot handle the strain of their own weight. They die of infection, heart attacks and dehydration. Many become lame and spend their final days lying in their own waste, unable to reach food or water.

To prevent injuries in overcrowded conditions, factory farms routinely perform painful procedures without anesthesia. Chickens undergo debeaking, where portions of their sensitive beaks are cut off with hot blades to prevent pecking-related injuries. Research shows this causes both acute pain and chronic discomfort, as the beak contains numerous nerve endings essential for feeding and exploring.

Pigs face equally traumatic procedures. Tail docking, teeth clipping, and castration are performed on young piglets without pain relief. Male piglets' testicles are cut out with a scalpel, while their tails are cut off with side-cutters to prevent tail-biting in cramped conditions. The screams of piglets during these procedures, captured in undercover footage, provide audible evidence of their distress.

These aren't isolated incidents or unfortunate exceptions—this is standard industry practice, affecting 99% of farm animals in the United States. These conditions cause severe physical and psychological suffering, as documented by veterinary scientists and animal behaviorists. And the routine use of antibiotics—not to treat illness but to promote growth and prevent disease in overcrowded conditions—has created antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health.

Despite regulations requiring animals to be stunned unconscious before slaughter, investigations by the Humane Society and PETA have documented animals being skinned, dismembered, or scalded while still conscious. Former slaughterhouse workers have testified to the psychological trauma they experience from witnessing and participating in these events daily.

While the destruction to animals, land and water is irrefutable, the impact of factory farming on human lives is equally patent. The factory farming system creates trauma that extends beyond animal suffering to human communities. Workers in these facilities face dangerous conditions, including exposure to toxic gases, repetitive stress injuries, and psychological trauma from constant exposure to animal suffering. Studies have documented higher rates of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress among slaughterhouse workers.

Rural communities bear the environmental burden of concentrated animal feeding operations through air and water pollution, decreased property values, and health impacts including respiratory problems and increased cancer rates. The industrialization of agriculture has also displaced millions of small farmers, concentrating economic power in the hands of a few multinational corporations.

Unsustainable and ethically indefensible, the factory farming system causes immeasurable suffering while threatening our planet's future. As consumers become increasingly aware of these hidden costs, alternative approaches are emerging, for example plant-based proteins, promising new pathways toward a food system that respects animals and humans alike.

Factory farming’s footprint extends far beyond the farm gates turning production into a dark secret that affects animals, humans and our world–the environment. This aggressive form of production accounts for approximately 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That's more than the entire transportation sector combined. Methane from ruminants and nitrous oxide from manure are particularly potent greenhouse gases, with methane being 28 times more warming than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.

Natural resources like quantities of water are both consumed and polluted by factory farms. It takes roughly 1,800 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef while a pound of vegetables requires only 39 gallons. When a single large dairy farm produces as much waste as a small city and is often left untreated, the water pollution is catastrophic. Nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from factory farms creates massive dead zones in waterways, including the 8,000-square-mile dead zone in the Gulf of America (previously known as the Gulf of Mexico).

Land use presents equally concerning statistics. Animal agriculture uses 77% of agricultural land while providing only 18% of global calories. Globally, this inefficient land use drives deforestation, particularly in the Amazon rainforest, where cattle ranching is the leading cause of habitat destruction. The conversion of natural habitats not only destroys biodiversity but also releases massive amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere.

The moment of reckoning came within 24 hours–after two documentaries, doing hours of internet research and a visit to my local grocery store. Standing in the meat aisle, surrounded by packages of what I now understood to be the products of immense suffering, I felt physically ill, emotional, filled with grief. The disconnect between my values and my actions became crystal clear. I couldn't continue to participate in a system that contradicted everything I claimed to believe about compassion, love, environmental stewardship, and health. Thus, my journey began, and I dare say it was not a journey, it was an abrupt right turn.

That day, I made the decision to go vegan. The leap to change wasn't always easy, but every plant-based meal felt like a small act of rebellion against a system that normalizes suffering. It wasn't motivated by judgment of others or a desire to feel superior—although at times I understand I sound this way when I get preachy at a cocktail party—it was simply the only choice that aligned with my understanding of the world and our collective future.

The industrial efficiency that brings cheap meat to grocery store shelves exacts a terrible price in animal suffering. Research in animal cognition continues to reveal the complex emotional lives of farm animals—their capacity for pain, fear, joy, and social bonds—making their treatment in factory farms increasingly difficult to justify on ethical grounds.

While industry groups maintain that modern farming is humane and necessary to feed growing populations, the documented evidence of systematic animal suffering in factory farms tells a different story. Behind the walls of these industrial operations lies a reality that millions of animals experience daily: lives reduced to mere production units in a system that prioritizes profit over the fundamental welfare of sentient beings.