In 1800s America, when life was far more rural for most, backyard chickens were a common sight in many households. Families would keep birds outside, regularly collecting their eggs to eat, and only occasionally slaughtering them for the dining table. This image of a picturesque free-range life, in harmony with humans, is what many still envision when they think about where animal products come from. But sadly, in the modern-day US, and indeed most of the world, this is no longer the case.
In the 1920s, broiler farming—raising chickens specifically for meat production—was introduced for the very first time. Farmers started raising birds in their thousands to maximize profit, and the era of industrialized factory farming began. Now, research suggests that most farm animals, not just chickens, but also cows, sheep, pigs, and turkeys, are raised on factory farms for the food…
Read the full article originally published at news.google.com.