Industrialized farms are threatening the well being of rural communities throughout the U.S., and citizens are increasingly working to block their construction in order to prevent pollution and protect the quality of life.

Various studies have shown the benefits of traditional farm economies and the negative consequences of factory farming. Among the first to study this problem as it emerged in the 1940s was social scientist Walter Goldschmidt, who found that "Communities with absentee-owned industrial farms are less developed economically and socially than similar communities composed mainly of family farms." Goldschmidt's findings have since been replicated by others.

Family farms have been the core of agrarian culture for thousands of years, providing the opportunity to connect with the land and to live in tune with the seasons and the weather. Traditional farmers don't produce more than the carrying capacity of the land. They understand the condition of the soil and its ability to sustain various crops from season to season. They commonly produce and save their own seeds, a practice that has helped small farms maintain the integrity of crops, and allow hardier, diverse strains of plants to prosper. Contrasting this, industrial farms use a few strains of high yielding crops, an approach that threatens genetic diversity and often leads to chemical dependency.

Small farms help to create close-knit communities and thriving local economies. Various rural institutions, ranging from banks to equipment and feed suppliers, are created to support farming, and family farmers support the local community by hiring and buying inputs locally rather than contracting to an outside supplier. Family farm dollars paid to equipment dealers, grocery stores, and gas stations re-circulate throughout the local economy, strengthening it.

Large scale factory farms tend to bypass the local economy, buying their inputs and marketing their products largely outside of the community. Industrialized farming also negates the traditional sense of community - a place where people share values, interests and work. Rather than creating healthy, sustainable employment, these operations tend to create dangerous, low-paying jobs. The rise of factory farms, along with the decline of family farms, often signals the degradation of rural communities.

Short term efficiency and profitability, rather than long term sustainability drives the factory farming model. It externalizes costs, such as pollution clean up and health care services, onto others in the community. Neighbors of industrial operations have experienced health problems ranging from chronic asthma to neurological damage, and they have watched property values plummet.