Think that you would noticed a huge increase in foster farms across out countryside? The fact that you haven’t does not mean that they aren’t happening, in fact it could mean the opposite.

When proposals were put forward for new mega farms in England a few years ago, the general public protested and shut them down. One proposal made for a farm in Lincolnshire was planned to house more than 8,000 cows, but had to be abandoned after local opposition. Another in Foston, Derbyshire, for more than 24,500 pigs was successfully derailed after protests.

Instead of stopping mega farms from emerging in the country, these victories only made plans sneakier and more difficult to stop. By taking working farms and extending them, the farms began to appear around the country without opposition and the amount of animals reared in the UK’s countryside silently rose.

The current largest mega farm in the country is capable of holding 1.7 million chickens. The smell, noise and risk of disease that these huge farming structures bring, has cause locals in many parts of the UK to start waking up and fighting back against the appearance of mega farming, however much of the UK’s population are still unaware that these farms exist.

These type of farms are cruel and unnatural places to keep living animals. The average animal raised by a mega farm will never step outside. They are likely to catch disease and experience intense discomfort and pain for the entirety of their short life, before being slaughtered for food, or in the case of dairy cows, dying prematurely from exhaustion.

While the culture and culinary tastes of the UK are moving towards embracing vegetarian and plant based options, and away from such a meat heavy diet, the farming industry, clearly focused on profit, is determined to move in the opposite direction.