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| How does the treatment of livestock impact food quality?
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Isabella, ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴄᴛ-ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋᴇʀ
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Sep 26, 2025 03:35PM
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i'm pretty sure the better the treatment, the higher quality the products. i may be wrong, but i think letting your cows or smth roam around and eat grass and flowers to their liking is better for the milk or whatever
Food quality is a large part of our health whether we acknowledge it or not, and doing some research a couple years ago, and working at a butchery with professional butchers, I found interesting findings.(If anything I state does not have a link after, the information can be found in the topic links!)
First of all, every mass produced animal is raised somewhat differently and I have not found a single one kept in proper conditions to allow food to be to a proper standard.
Beginning with birds, there are many types of abuse they withstand. Layer hens are in many types of cages, conventional (5-6 hens crammed into a small cage), which causes cramming which can restrict the movement and muscle mass hens have, as well as such close proximity encourages cannibalism between hens. cage free(a warehouse filled with hundreds of chickens) also encourage cannibalism and henpecking to an even greater extent. Along with this, the warehouses are typically poorly kept and commonly cause lung disease. There is also organic eggs, whose hens have it better but not by much. They are almost the same as cage free, but with the freedom to go outside during specific seasons.
Most feed is typically the same, protein and nutrient packed, corn and soybean based.
https://www.southlandorganics.com/blo...
How does this affect our eggs?
Studies show that cage free chickens have the least amount of production, and the worst quality. Conventional cages had the most egg mass and best quality, others were in between. This could be caused by a verity of things, however the most likely reason is that depressed hens, or ill hens lay less. If a hen is constantly being pecked on, shoved around, or is having a hard time getting food they will lay less. This can affect prices and impact people buying eggs, especially since cage-free sounds a lot better than ‘conventional cages’ and are more likely to be bought from.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
Eggs are also often a large source of protein, and therefore must have a large amount of protein in their food. Unfortunately, a chickens protein is steadily decreased as it ages, and because mass produced hens have little to no access to other means of protein, store bought eggs may not have as much protein as you’d assume. Theo feed being corn and soy based is also not only bad for their health but makes less nutrition filled eggs, and eggs of lighter yolk coloring. Chickens are naturally supposed to have a large variety of foods and nutrients, and are often severely deprived of those, which in turn leave slack in our eggs.
https://www.dineachook.com.au/blog/wh...
As for meat chickens, they are typically housed in warehouses similar to cage free chickens, and fed food of a higher protein and culled at 10-12 weeks. Exception of Cornish hens, who are culled prematurely at 6 weeks. First off, the Cornish cross, leading breed of meat bird is an extremely faulty chicken and should not have been developed. They were developed to put on weight so fast that they don’t always grow properly and their meat lacks necessary nutrients. Cornish crosses are culled before any additional issues arise, but their unnaturally fast development makes them especially prone to injury, disease, and heart attacks. When meat is overdeveloped or developed too quickly, it commonly gets tougher, and can be more fat than muscle, which is not desired. While meat still offers a good amount of protein, the flavor, quality, and overall nutrition lacks to their development flaws and their feed, which is also corn based.
https://www.arls.ro/storage/posters/2...
Moving on from chickens(I was gonna do turkeys too but that was way longer than I intended), pigs are also mistreated to an insane extent. Like birds, they are commonly kept in cages with one to two other pigs, or by themselves, but because of their higher intelligence and stubbornness are also subjected to repeated tasing. Pigs are extremely cannibalistic and this(tasing to the point of wounds) has shown to be an issue and damages the end product. There are multiple studies showing that the more stress put on a pig, the tougher and paler the meat is. There has been direct correlation connecting pigs dopamine and serotonin levels to meat quality, which also leads to the lack of nutrients we would originally gain from consuming pork. Pigs are also injected with a large amount of steroids, which causes unnatural and unhealthy growth in muscle, again leading to tougher and less nutrient packed meat. Organic pork pigs tend to have it slightly better, without steroids and grazing opportunities, yet due to feed and handling their meat still suffers similar consequences.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles....
Beef has a lot of similar drawbacks as pigs between feed and handling, however beef particularly steaks are known to be well ‘marbled’ and leading to a more tender cut of meat. Cows kept in containment lack the necessary exercise to get the desired amount of marbling in the meat. This also means the meat overall will be less lean, and more fatty and is more detrimental to our health, as beef isn’t already good for us(outside of moderation), exception of the protein levels. Again the stress levels put on cows affect the texture of the meat, as well as the feed affects the nutrient value necessary for beef. It’s also been shown, not specifically in beef but more so, that rough handling around the time of harvest, and an inhumane harvest lead to an exceptional amount of stiffening on the muscle, due to the stress. I believe the statistic was stiffening over 40%.
https://www.lazyt.com/blogs/journal/t...
Milk cattle suffer what could be considered a more intense amount of stress. I’d like to add that in all mass produced mammals their babies are separated at or soon after birth, and this commonly leaves the parents in a postpartum depression that also affects future pregnancies. Milk cattle face the worst of this, since they are repeatedly impregnated to ensure the steady flow of milk. This adds additional stress to wha they already endure, which leads to lower quality of milk. One of the biggest issues in milk cows is their genetics. They have been bred to milk their entire lives, and all they eat is going into the milk, making it harder for them to fight off disease and similar things, which of course impacts the milk greatly. Mass produced milk cows are more likely to get mastitis than farmers milk cows, and we believe it is because of genetics and their breed.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
In meat, eggs, and milk we stand to gain mainly calcium and protein from these. If we continue with improper genetic engineering and breeding, as well as poor feed quality and treatment the amounts our food has of these will continue to go down. With a lack of calcium, we face osteoporosis, muscle cramping, effects of bone density through generations, etc., which may become more common or likely. Without proper protein levels, our muscle mass growth will suffer, our immune system weakens, our food satisfactory levels drop, which can increase levels of overweight and obese individuals, as well as brittle hair and nails. Both of these are essential for our bodies to function properly.
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Cal...
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/artic...
In conclusion, the treatment and food given to mass produced animals greatly impacts their meat quality and in turn, our health.
(Sorry this was so long and sorry it took me so long to actually post this lol)
