Something is wrong with our food. Last summer, the United States saw its spinach supply tainted with deadly E. coli bacteria. In February, two brands of peanut butter were recalled due to salmonella contamination. Now, America's pet owners are witnessing the largest-ever pet food recall, as cats and dogs face risk of kidney failure due to wheat gluten said to contain the chemical melamine, used in plastics and fertilizer.

Am I suggesting that the bad pet food is somehow related to the contaminated spinach and peanut butter? Absolutely. In fact, each of these instances points to an ugly problem facing us today — that of a dysfunctional food production system, both for pets and for people.

The food processing and manufacturing practices in place today are so out of step with the idea of "natural," it is hard to know where to start. The major element missing from our diet today is an awareness of the factory farming industry, which is responsible for all sorts of unseen horrors that are ultimately purchased in sterile plastic- and Styrofoam-wrapped packages.

As the pet food industry is in much worse shape (worse being a relative term), it seems an appropriate place to begin.

According to Ann N. Martin's book Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, foods marked as "unfit for human consumption" make it into commercial pet food. By "unfit for human consumption," this industry means meat byproducts like spleens, lungs, trachea, blood — basically, the scrapings from the slaughterhouse floor.

These bits are all poured into a giant grinding machine that cooks them down to tallow, which is used as animal fat in pet foods.

The rest of the material is squeezed dry and becomes meat and bone meal.

Even disregarding the contaminated wheat gluten, it's a wonder pets don't get sick more often. As Martin puts it, "...when we purchase these bags and cans of commercial food, we are in most cases purchasing garbage."

One would imagine the human side of the meat industry is more refined. Wrong. Unfortunately, the meat that reaches the dinner table is almost as disgusting as that in pets' bowls.

Low doses of antibiotics are given to animals to ward off the diseases bred by the unsanitary conditions the animals live in, and the animals are also fed hormones and antibiotics to promote faster growth, according to www.sustainabletable.org. Animal waste is often mismanaged and can trickle into the groundwater, contaminating the drinking supply.

The reasons for today's food problems are numerous, and all are intertwined to create the mess we see today.

First, and perhaps most importantly, is the concern of overpopulation. With the world housing six billion people today, and each of those individuals needing to be fed, food and land on which to grow food is at a premium. It's no wonder factory farms cram animals together — after all, the more cows you can fit on one acre, the more profit you make when selling your beef. Never mind that the animals get so stressed from overcrowding, they start to attack each other as chickens do — the solution to this is to just sear off their beaks or take other such drastic measures.

Another problem is when and how Americans like their food. We feel the need to consume seasonal products year-round, disregarding the fact that it takes much more effort and environmental stress to grow and ship a cantaloupe in winter than in summer.

We also like our food to look pretty and fresh when we buy it, which is why some people still prefer a wax- and pesticide-coated apple over an organically grown one.

Thankfully, the solution to these problems begins at the individual level, and the steps one needs to take to improve the situation are easy.

Supporting sustainable farming is the key — shop at farmer's markets when possible, or buy seasonal, local and organic produce from the grocery store.

Take the time to get educated about today's food economy. What's really needed is a change in viewpoint — animals and plants are not commodities to be produced in factories.

To learn more about factory farming, log onto themeatrix.com to view an award-winning flash animation video about the horrors of today's slaughterhouses.

Reach Amy Korst at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.