Good article on factory farming and its consequences from the NYTimes:

"A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store — something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5124&en=a9d80925d175d1b2&ex=1359090000&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink