INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE & SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Why is it that we often find it harder to do what is right? Perhaps it's laziness or indifference, but it isn't our intent to do wrong. Just one example of this is our support of industrial agriculture, as opposed to sustainable agriculture.

In short, industrial agriculture aims to produce as much crops for as little time, space, and cost as possible. However, there are other (non-monetary) costs that come with this. It has the potential to erode, contaminate, and/or damage the soil it grows on since it uses chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Animals (i.e. pigs, cows, and chickens) are factory farmed, where they are confined in a small, unkempt space, fed with growth hormones, abused, and very prone to infection of other animals’ illnesses. Plants are subject to artificial fertilizer and are genetically enhanced. Corn, rice, and wheat are called high-yielding varieties, which have been altered to grow faster, produce more usable content, and resist diseases. Also, many conflicts have risen from seed patenting, particularly from the company Monsanto. They create many genetically modified seeds and growth hormones, among other things. They sell seeds that can only be used for one season and can contaminate other non-Monsanto plants, which the farmers will have to pay for, or else they receive one of Monsanto's infamous lawsuits.

Moreover, biodiversity will decrease, traditional family farms will be rendered useless, the quality of crops and livestock will decrease, and the overall condition of the Earth will worsen. Industrial agriculture promotes selfishness, ‘superiority’, and dominance among humans. Those who support this type of agriculture claim that it is efficient, convenient, cheaply priced, healthy, and necessary to feed a rapidly growing population. It uses monoculture (where only one kind of productive crop or animal is farmed) and has caused the extinction of some species. What once consisted of a simple life on a modest farm has now become a corporate-fuelled, vapid business.

On the other hand, sustainable agriculture works to have a somewhat symbiotic relationship between nature and humans. Through sustainable agriculture, farmers are paid fairly, animals are treated properly, food quality is better, and soil is healthier (due to planting different crops on it, livestock grazing, and natural crop-protecting organisms).

Going back to the issue of the need to provide for a rapidly growing world, some people predict that there will be a food shortage in the near future if we don’t use industrial agriculture. This is false because there is a way to maintain sustainable farmlands so they gradually become as productive as those of the industrial kind. 

All this being said the majority of us continue to support industrial agriculture when we buy food from grocery stores and supermarkets. Until corporations and politicians make a change, things will continue going downhill. We can start supporting sustainable agriculture by purchasing responsibly (i.e. from health food stores, farmer's market, etc.). The food may cost slightly higher, but what’s a few more dollars when it’s for the sake of our planet and well-being?

Works Cited

• "Sustainable Agriculture." NationalGeographic.com. National Geographic. Web. 09 May 2011.  <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/sustainable-agriculture/>.
• Cohen, Benjamin. "Industrial Agriculture v. Sustainable Agriculture : The World's Fair." ScienceBlogs.com. Science Blogs, 12 May 2009. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/05/industrial_agriculture_v_susta.php>.
• "The Seven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture: Myth One | | AlterNet." AlterNet.com. AlterNet, 22 Aug. 2002. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.alternet.org/story/13900/>.
• "Industrial Agriculture: Features and Policy." UCSUSA.org. Union of Concerned Scientists, 17 May 2007. Web. 9 May 2011. <http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_industrial_agriculture/industrial-agriculture-features.html>.
• Grover, Sami. "Diversity Is Key to Sustainable Farming, So Why's It So Damn Hard?" TreeHugger.com. Tree Hugger, 6 May 2011. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/diversity-key-sustainable-farming.php>.
• Broder, John M. "Prince Charles Speaks Out Against Factory Farming - NYTimes.com." NYTimes.com. New York Times, 4 May 2011. Web. 09 May 2011. <http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/04/the-sustainable-prince/?partner=rss>.

Images from:

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090316120846.htm
• http://www.thickeforagriculture.com/2010/09/13/how-industrial-agriculture-differs-from-a-natural-ecology/
• http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/places/red_clay

Blogs I commented on:

• http://whatisthislucysbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/domination-of-nature-vs-harmony-with.html?showComment=1304984032891#c4828887541441777906
• http://marysbioblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/biodiversity-vs-agriculture.html?showComment=1304988519751#c2345125466214032958