Thursday, January 20, 2011

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 20th 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>.
Blogs I commented on: 
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3 comments:

  1. Sarkis:DFebruary 8, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    You brought up a lot of great points in your blog on sustainable vs. industrial agriculture. It is actually unbelievable that in today's world we have come to the point where we need to give hormones and antibiotics to animals and raise them differently in order to obtain sufficient amount of food to feed the growing world population. I totally agree on your opinion and also believe that industrial farming is not a great choice compared to sustainable farming. Ultimately we are receiving cheaper prices but in turn are polluting our earth and harming ourselves and the animals.

    I also like how you mentioned that the farms of today are nothing like the ones we read about in story books when we were younger. It's so true and come to think of it is degrading.

    Evidently industrial agriculture is causing problems and will continue to do so until changes are made. Like you said this type of agriculture reduces biodiversity, sooner or later these plants or less productive breeds can potentially be extinct, what's the world to do next?
    Great job on your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MeganFebruary 16, 2011 at 9:50 PM

    Hi Angela, I really liked your blog. It was very engaging because you related it to personal experiences while also explaining the real truth behind industrial evolution.

    It's very sad how candy-coated society makes food seem. We think that everything is grown naturally on farms and everyone is happy. But when you hear about things like the potato famine (or even more recently the swine flu) it makes you cringe and want to knowck some sense into whoever feels the need to continue industrial agriculture.

    By the rate our population has been growing since 2005, in 50 years we will have grown 50%! Obviously, the questions that your blog naturally stimulates are very important because something major has to be done in the next 50 years or we may not even have a half a fridge full of food!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Catherina A.February 19, 2011 at 2:18 PM

    Hey Angela! I loved your blog! Another thing we have in common, besides Harry Potter among many things things, is our love of food!!!

    I really like how you took the potato famine as a means to explain susatainalbe vs industrial agriculture. It was interesting and informative. But thanks to you my fear of another famine has just sky rocketed. Well at least know I won't be clueless if anything does happen.

    WOW,90% of all human food comes from fifteen plant species and eight animal species! So much for the spice of life being variety! You did an awesome blog entry, and I look forwad to your next one! Now I'm heading off to my full fride!

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