What the hell is "industrialized" meat?

It seems that people's interest has been piqued by organic and sustainable food these days.  However, I've also noticed that there is a lot of confusion about what constitutes "organic" and "sustainable."  Furthermore, I've heard a lot of talk about "evil," "cruel," and "unhealthy" methods of food production, especially in the meat industry.  It seems that the most natural foods are the best, whereas the most industrialized foods conjure grotesque and unhealthy impressions.  The average American, however, may be so far removed from the processes that make food that they may not even know what's "natural" in food.  For instance, does the average American know the importance of biodiversity in a farm?  Would he or she know that pigs will eat virtually any flesh-- animal, plant, or fungal?  Does the average American know how to kill and dress meat?  Probably not.  Therefore, many Americans can't accurately visualize natural and healthy conditions for livestock.  Although it's a complicated issue, industrial meats tend to be exposed to some common phenomenon which include use of antibiotics, concentrated confinement, and monoculture.  These three factors indicate that meat has not been produced in a naturally healthful way.

Antibiotics are medicines that control bacterial infections by killing off bacteria.  Usually this involves disrupting a cellular process, protein, or structure within the bacteria.  Not all bacteria cause disease; some are beneficial and necessary.  Farmers found that using antibiotics to treat livestock increased survival rates, because fewer were dying due to infections.  They also increase growth rates, because juvenile animals can invest more energy in growing that into their immune system.  However, this means that livestock genetics with naturally weaker immune systems survived and reproduced.  Using antibiotics prevents natural selection from ensuring that the hardiest animals lived to reproduce.  Simultaneously, bacteria that evolved methods and structures to survive antibiotics were naturally selected.  Today, antibiotics are an ingredient in most commercial livestock feeds.

Animals are often housed in CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations.  These are structures which contain animals at the highest density that is both legal and profitable.  Diseases spread more readily in crowded conditions, but animals in CAFOs typically eat antibiotics in their feed.  CAFOs range from cruel to grotesque.  They are associated with unsanitary conditions and poor mental health of both the employees and livestock.

Monoculture exists when only one species of plant of animal is cultivated in an area.  The nature of farming economy today makes it profitable for farmers to specialize in one (or at least very few) products.  Diverse farm ecosystems cycle nutrients and waste which minimizes the impact on the surrounding environment.  Monocultures cause waste to accumulate.  Most CAFOs are monocultures of one type of livestock.  Because they are contained in such high densities, their manure literally piles up inside the building as well as in manure lagoons outside.

Different states in the US have different definitions of organic, and some of them are neither environmentally conscious, healthy, nor humane.  If these are priorities to you, seek meat that is free of antibiotics, has been openly pastured, and comes from a diverse farm.  The easiest way to ensure that these criteria have been met is to buy meat from farmers in your community.