Industrial Vs. Sustainable

Industrial Farming vs. Sustainable Farming

Commercial or Industrial farming has become part of an increasingly global economy that turns anything it touches into a commodity, reaching its tentacles wherever in the world a food can be produced cheaply and then transporting it wherever it can be sold most dearly. The basic strategy of a commodity is to produce for less.  The classic way for commercial farmers to lower costs of their products is by substituting capital, mechanization, new technology, and fossil fuel energy for skilled labor—–and then stepping up production exploiting the economies of scale to compensate for shrinking profit margins. In a commodity business a producer must grow ever bigger or be crushed by a competitor who does.

Important Agricultural Facts:   

The United States is the world’s leader in industrialized farming yet, the U. S. has the biggest gap between rich and poor than any other industrialized nation. .  (tft)

Next to automobiles, the U.S. food system uses more fossil fuel than any other sector of the economy — 19 percent. And while the experts disagree about the exact amount, the way we feed ourselves contributes more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than anything else we do — as much as 37 percent, according to one study. Whenever farmers clear land for crops and till the soil, large quantities of carbon are released into the air.

But the 20th century industrialization of agriculture has increased the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the food system by an order of magnitude; chemical fertilizers (made from natural gas), pesticides (made from petroleum), farm machinery, modern food processing and packaging and transportation have together transformed a system that in 1940 produced 2.3 calories of food energy for every calorie of fossil-fuel energy it used into one that now takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to produce a single calorie of modern supermarket food.

Put another way, when we eat from the industrial food system, we are eating oil and spewing greenhouse gases. This state of affairs appears all the more absurd when you recall that every calorie we eat is ultimately the product of photosynthesis — a process based on making food energy from sunshine. But there is hope and possibility in that simple fact.

Health

• Industrial crops contain more nitrates.

• Heavy use of pesticides is associated with elevated cancer risks.

• Unsanitary conditions in factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses cause high levels of meat contamination which has resulted in recurrent epidemics of food borne illness. In the US, food borne illness sickens 76 million people, causes 325,000 hospitalizations, and kills 5,000 people every year.

• A 1998 study by Consumer Reports revealed that 71% of store-bought chicken were contaminated with Campylobacter and/or Salmonella; bacteria responsible for thousands of deaths and millions of sicknesses.

Environment

• Industrial agriculture practices are responsible for a host of environmental problems, including erosion, the reduction of genetic diversity, and pollution of our air, water, and soil with hazardous gasses, toxic chemicals, and harmful pathogens.

• Industrial farms cause $34.7 billion worth of environmental damage in the US each year.

Animal Welfare

• Factory-farmed animals are crammed together in tightly confined areas. Unsanitary conditions in animal confinement units cause widespread disease and aggressive behavior.

• Most animals never see sunlight and their feet never touch the ground.

Waste

• Since factory farms concentrate an enormous amount of animals in a very small area, the farms generate far too much manure to be absorbed by the land. Excess manure is stored in huge holding tanks or manure lagoons, and is often over-applied to fields. Not only does all this manure create an overwhelming stench, it also releases hazardous gases into the air, and often contaminates local groundwater and surrounding waterways with pathogens and excess nutrients.

• A Factory Farm containing 5,000 hogs can produce as much solid waste as a human city of 20,000 – unlike cities, these industrial farms are not required to have a sewage treatment plan.

Pesticides

• Industrial agriculture operations use huge amounts of toxic pesticides to eliminate pests. These chemicals are known to damage the environment and human health.

• According to the EPA, over 1 billion tons of pesticides are used in the US every year.

• In 2002, 69,000 children suffered from pesticide related poisoning or exposure to poisonous pesticides.

Antibiotics

• Every year, approximately 25 million pounds of antibiotics and related drugs are administered to animals for non-therapeutic purposes. This is more than 8 times the amount used to treat disease in humans.

• Overuse of antibiotics is contributing to antibiotic resistance, making human medicines less effective and causing US health care costs to increase by $4 billion each year.

Hormones

• Hormones are given to beef cattle in order to speed up their growth, and they are administered to about two-thirds of American cattle. This widespread use of artificial hormones is concerning, because no comprehensive studies had been conducted to determine whether hormone residues in meat can be cancer-causing.

• Industrial dairy farms also use a hormone called rBGH to increase milk production. Cows injected with rBGH have been known to develop an udder disease called mastitis, hoof diseases, open sores and internal bleeding.

• rBGH has been proven to damage the health of cows and is banned by the EU and Canada.

Genetic Diversity

• Large-scale industrial farms rely upon monoculture crop systems, thereby reducing genetic diversity. They also reduce genetic diversity in animals because they only raise a few selected breeds.

• The use of genetically engineered crops further impedes genetic diversity.

Fossil Fuel

• Energy-intensive production methods are used to produce food. Large amounts of fossil fuel are required to plow fields, produce fertilizers, process foods, and transport foods.

• As a result of industrial farming practices, 17% of all fossil fuel used in the US is currently consumed by the food production system.

Transportation

• Large-scale, centralized production requires extensive food transportation.

• Conventional produce, for example, is shipped an average of 1,500 miles before reaching consumers.

• In order to facilitate long distance shipment, foods are highly processed, supplemented with preservatives, and require excessive packaging.

Economic Development/ Rural Communities

• Factory farms hire as few workers as possible and typically purchase equipment, supplies, and animal feed from companies outside the region. This causes economic stagnation in struggling rural communities.

• Local governments are often forced to pay for expensive infrastructure development projects, such as paving roads for large trucks.

• A 1996 study determined that the value of homes in Iowa located within ½ mile of a CAFO were reduced by 40%, within 1 mile by 30%, 1.5 miles by 20% and 2 miles by 10%.

• The focus is on gaining short-term profit, with minimal concern for the environment or the well-being future generations.

Workers

• Factory farm laborers often endure dangerous and unhealthy working conditions.

• Among the most serious hazards faced by workers is routine exposure to dust and gases emitted from concentrated manure.

• 58% of swine confinement workers suffer from chronic bronchitis – this is three times higher than the incidence of chronic bronchitis among workers in conventional swine housing units.

Industrial Farming vs. Sustainable Farming

Have you ever wondered exactly how sustainable agriculture is better than industrial? Sustainable farming aims to produce something special; healthy food in an environmentally friendly manner. Organic or natural food production relies as much as possible on free solar energy rather than on costly fossil fuels, animal and food waste for fertilizer, and organic materials for compost and mulch. Sustainable farming requires numerous skills and is far more labor intensive.  (tft)

Health

• Sustainable farms produce foods without excessive use of pesticides and other hazardous chemical inputs. Research indicates that sustainable foods are often healthier than industrially produced foods.

• Organic foods contain higher levels of antioxidants, which help fight certain types of cancer.

• Organic crops contain significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Environment

• Sustainable farmers recognize the importance of protecting the natural environment. These individuals manage their farms in a responsible manner, maintaining the fertility of the land and preserving resources for future generations.

Animal Welfare

• Sustainably-raised animals are treated humanely and are permitted to carry out natural behaviors such as rooting in the dirt and pecking the ground.

Waste

• Sustainable farms do not raise more animals than the land is capable of sustaining. Farmers are able to use manure as fertilizer for their crops. This eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers and avoids the pollution problems associated with manure lagoons.

Pesticides

• Sustainable farms often rely upon alternative pest control methods such as habitat manipulation, biological control, and use of pest-resistant plant varieties.

• Chemical pesticides are either excluded from production entirely, or used only in small amounts when other pest-control methods are ineffective.

Antibiotics

• Animals are raised without routine use of antibiotics, and antibiotics are administered only if an animal is sick. Some farmers (such as organic farmers) do not give any antibiotics to their animals.

Hormones

• Hormones are not administered to animals on sustainable farms. This protects human health, animal health, and the natural environment, which is otherwise polluted with hormone residues contained in manure.

Genetic Diversity

• Sustainable farms help preserve genetic diversity by raising a wide range of animal breeds and crop varieties.

• These farmers raise animal and plant varieties that are adapted to the surrounding environment, thus avoiding reliance upon large quantities of chemical inputs or genetically modified crop varieties.

• They raise animal and plant varieties that are adapted to the surrounding environment, thus avoiding reliance upon large quantities of chemical inputs or genetically modified crop varieties.

Fossil Fuel

• Sustainable farms minimize fossil fuel consumption through techniques such as no-tillage or low-tillage farming, efficient application of manure, and crop rotation.

• Small-scale, organic farming operations have been shown to use 60% less fossil fuel per unit of food than conventional industrial farms.

Transportation

• Rather than shipping food thousands of miles away, sustainable farms sell produce locally through farmers markets, farm stands, or community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. This prevents environmental damage and human health problems caused by transportation-generated pollution.

• Foods purchased locally are also fresher, and therefore contain more nutrients.

Economic Development/ Rural Communities

• Sustainable farms support local economies by providing jobs for members of the community and by purchasing supplies and materials from local businesses.

• Studies have shown that small farms spend a much larger portion of their income within the local community than large farms do.

• Owners of small, sustainable farms are actively involved in their communities, boosting the level of civic participation and helping to build resilient rural communities.

Workers

• Sustainable farm owners provide a safe working environment and treat their employees with dignity and respect.