Sustainable Agriculture is what most people would call a natural and original way of doing things. Where farmers are actually doing the farming manually, and cows are seen in a lush, green, pasture. As much as we thought that they are still the majority of today’s farms, it’s not true. On the contrary, they are pretty obsolete.
Beautiful, isn't it? |
These days, most of the agricultural process has been mostly taken over by Industrial Agriculture, which focuses on mass production, to feed all of the humans of the world. Industrial Agriculture is much faster, efficient, and probably more economic friendly than the old fashioned method.
Some differences between Industrial and Sustainable methods:
- Pesticides are used in industrial agriculture to maximize outputs, whereas sustainable agriculture produces organic products.
- Livestock are more prone to diseases due to many animals being cooped up into a small space in industrial agriculture. This fact is supported by the recent outbreak of diseases (H1N1, H5N1, etc.)
- Biodiversity is encouraged with sustainable agriculture, but it is not encouraged with industrial agriculture, as a mass production method usually requires the same crop or livestock to be grown every year.
- The farmland doesn’t get a chance to restore itself to its original richness due to mass production.
As one can clearly see, sustainable agriculture is obviously much better for our environment than industrial agriculture, but the problem doesn’t lie in the benefits of sustainability, but what it lacks compared the industrial method.
The popular saying, “Money makes the world go round,” can be easily incorporated into the reason why we, as people, rather disturb nature for our food. It is simply more efficient to mass produce products, rather than get small amounts of multiple crops, and it costs less as well. Ever since industrial agriculture was introduced, the job opportunities for farmers have been steadily dropping, as their experience is not needed anymore, because they are replaced with high-tech machinery. Also, what is the point of making so much food, if most of the world’s population are suffering from starvation?
Industrial Agriculture is already chosen over nature and human needs, let alone biodiversity. “Who needs animals when we have money?” is what I feel the people who run this industry thinks. They may make some publicity stunt to make them seem environment-friendly, but honestly, do they really care? They should. After all, animals, like us, just want to survive.
I think that the true evil behind this deviated method of agriculture originates from money. Everything in this world is all about money now. Why is industrial agriculture preferred over sustainable agriculture? It’s because it provides a higher income. Why do people support industrial agriculture rather than sustainable agriculture? That’s because the organic products are more expensive compared to the inorganic. People need to put aside money for once, and think about the bigger picture. Don’t take nature for granted, especially because it is so fragile.
Sources:
Picture Sources:
http://www.strandtea.com/shop/images/uploads/inline-images/sustainable-agriculture.jpg
http://www.treehugger.com/Pesticides_Farming_Cancer_Potatoes.jpg
http://www.gardenvisit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/factory_organic_farming.jpg
Comments:
It is unfortunate that our world revolves so much around money. It is even more unfortunate that our very own health has been put at risk in exchange for farmers making profit out of mass production of their selected crops and animals. It is obvious that sustainable agriculture helps our environment rather than hurting it, which also touches base on conserving biodiversity.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the reason why people "support" industrial agriculture over sustainable is because in the end, it provides consumers with cheaper products. Organic food is relatively more expensive to buy. Perhaps it is more of a convenience issue.
I thought your comparisons between Sustainable and Industrial were distinct. Your blog entry gave me a lot to think about as I read through it. Very thought-provoking in other words!
Great blog Patrick!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you outlined the major differences between sustainable and industrial agriculture. It was very easy to read and to understand.
I agree with you when you said that the reason why we choose industrial food over sustainable food is because of money. The sad truth is that our society is very dependent on money.
As you stated, some industries uses publicity to make them seem environmentally friendly. It’s true – once the consumers get smarter and learn the truth behind the production of food, the companies use advertising techniques to make their products to seem healthier and better. Did you know that when a product is labelled ‘organic’ it’s not necessarily 100% organic?
I also think that if consumers understand what is at stake (eg, pesticides can lead to cancer), they would be more convinced to buy sustainable, organic food.
Overall, your blog included some interesting points as to the reasons why we choose sustainable over industrial agriculture.
I really liked how you incorporated “money makes the world go round”, because apparently, that is true for most people. It’s really terrible how most people care more about money than their own health. With all of the industrial farming happening around the world, not only will people suffer, but the Earth, they call home, will suffer as well. Global warming will get worse and worse until disasters like “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” happen. Then we really won’t have a home to live on. I think that it’s obvious that our planet is suffering, especially with popular movies like these are produced. These movies tell us that we should love and respect our home more, not to benefit ourselves but others as well. Unfortunately, people ignore it. The result, industrial farming is still here. I believe we can change this problem. We could support local farms by buying their produce instead of going to supermarkets. It may be a bit more expensive, but at least it’s better for our health and environment. Once again, great blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Patrick,
ReplyDeleteIndustrial agriculture may be beat by sustainable agriculture in terms of positive and negative impacts on the environment, but is industrial agriculture really "economic friendly" as you said? Yes, the industries do use the crops produced from industrial agriculture as high-priced exports, but this doesn't mean that the global economy is benefitting. The farmers and labourers in both industrialized and third world countries are often paid very little income to make up for the competitive sales market. But that also doesn't mean cheaper foods for us consumers, because of high middleman prices. So really, the price of organics produced from sustainable agriculture as opposed to non-organics from industrial agriculture don't end up varying much. If industrial agriculture then, isn't as good as some may say in terms of economic efficiency and is already poor in keeping the environment safe, then it would seem like sustainable agriculture is the only satisfactory way of getting food.