Healthy happy world vs. manure in your water (The answer to whether less genetic diversity is worth it).

If you were to ask me what my favourite hobby was, and I might say something like reading or listening to music, but I would be lying. My favourite pass time probably has to be eating. I eat when I am bored, I eat when I am stressed, I eat when I am hungry and I eat because I simply love eating.

The reassuring fact is that I am not the only person who enjoys a love of eating. Or perhaps this fact isn’t so reassuring. Our population is expanding pretty quickly and everyone else needs to eat too. So what are we going to do?

Well many businesses think industrial agriculture is the answer. Industrial means having anything to do with the manufacture of products; which is exactly what industrial agriculture is.(10) Industrial agriculture is the manufacture of meat, eggs or diary done on a massive scale. This type of farming is fairly new since it only came into existence in the 20^th century.(7) Sustainable agriculture is a tried and true method of agriculture. It is a form of agriculture that is socially just, humane, economically viable, and environmentally sound” (2). Sustainable agriculture sounds great, but what’s the problem with the new type of agriculture? Everyone still gets to eat, right?

These are statues in Ireland that commemorate the Potato Famine.  

Well, not quite. Take the potato famine that occurred in Ireland during the 1840’s as an example. (1) A disease struck that killed all of the potato crops. What you need to understand is that within a species of crop there are thousands of different varieties of that crop; each variety having its own unique genetic instructions. In sustainable agriculture, pretty much every farmer grows their own variety of the same crop. However industrial agriculture greatly reduces the genetic diversity of crops since only a few varieties of the crop are mass produced. What happened in Ireland was that the farmers were all growing the same variety of potato. This variety of potato was unable the disease that struck, killing all of the potatoes. Other varieties of potato might have been resistant to the disease, but all the potatoes were the same. Since 1900, industrial agriculture has caused the genetic diversity of crops to reduce by 75%. (1) A scary fact indeed, but this is not the only scary consequence of industrial agriculture.  

This is a picture of the inside of an industrial farm where cows are being raised.

Remember those story books you read when you were a kid about all the animals living on a green farm, in the wide open space. Well, those were a lie. For example, on sustainable farms cows live and work outside. But on industrial farms, the cows would die if they lived outside. Industrial farm cows must live in climate controlled environments where they eat special high fibre feed and receive regular doses of antibiotics. Most of these cows were purposely bred to be genetically identical since it’s the fastest way to produce a food product. This means disease spreads like wild fire.

               Still unsure whether sustainable agriculture beats industrial agriculture. Consider the fact that the amount of manure created on industrial farms is so great that the manure seeps into the ground water, our water supply. Pesticides used on industrial farms contaminate our water supply and surrounding ecosystems as well. According to sustainable table, 90% of all human food comes from fifteen plant species and eight animal species. (1) What happens if one of these species is killed off by something like, oh I don’t know, disease? But I am not going to worry about that because I have a full fridge….for now.  

Works Cited

"Biodiversity, Biodiversity and Mass Production - The Issues - Sustainable Table." Sustainabletable. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/biodiversity/>.

(1) Bixler,, Catalina. "Definition of Industrial Agriculture | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/about_5161645_definition-industrial-agriculture.html>.

(2)"CUESA Sustainable Agriculture Glossary of Terms." CUESA, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture :: Ferry Plaza Farmers Market :: San Francisco, California. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.cuesa.org/sustainable_ag/glossary.php>.

(3) Druidry, Following. "THE CAMPAIGN FOR ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY :: OBOD :: The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids :: Druid Grove :: Druidism & Druidry as a Spiritual Path, Druid History, Bards, Ovates & Druids Ancient and Modern." Courses in Druidry, Druidry Training, Druidry Courses, Druids, Druidism :: The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.druidry.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=2&page_id=81>.

(4) "Factory Farming: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions." IDEA: International Debate Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=301>.

(5) "Factory Farming: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions." IDEA: International Debate Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=301>.

(6) "Factory Farming." European Environment Information and Observation Network - Eionet. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept?ns=1&cp=3103>.

(7) "Industrial Agriculture Law & Legal Definition." Legal Definitions Legal Terms Dictionary. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://definitions.uslegal.com/i/industrial-agriculture/>.

(8) "Sustainable Agriculture | Define Sustainable Agriculture at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sustainable agriculture>.

(9) "Sustainable Agriculture - Definition." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - WordIQ Dictionary. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Sustainable_agriculture>.

(10) Videopedia, 5min Life. "What Is the Definition of Industrial | Directhit.com." Ask.com Search Engine - Better Web Search. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <http://www.directhit.com/ansres/What-Is-the-Definition-of-Industrial.html>.

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