The three problems of food which
most negatively affect the environment are the practice of Confined Animal
Feeding Operations, the change in agricultural practices over the last century,
and the conversion from farming as a family oriented operation to what today
exists as a corporate expedition into agriculture.
Confined Animal Feed Operations, or
CAFOs, are a plague on the animals, the consumers, and the local and extended
environment. From the animals’
perspective it is the harshest and least humane of lives. They are crammed in to spaces much too small
for them and prohibited from exercise of any sort. “The livestock industry has increased cows’
milk and meat production by giving them intensive, high-protein feed
concentrate, an inappropriate diet since cows need roughage” (Shiva 62-63). These drugs are meant to prevent the disease
which spreads so easily in their close quarters, but as a “bonus” to the
producer also boost the speed of growth and overall girth of the
livestock. The size to which some of
these animals can grow is entirely unnatural to the species. These drugs have two major negative
consequences: their overuse in animals which are not ill causes the rapid
evolution of diseases, rendering them useless in a matter of years, and laces
otherwise consumable food with possible carcinogens and toxins, and can create
useless antibodies in the consumer (Kimbrell 12). The cattle which are raised in such a
sedentary manner do not develop the type of fat and muscle which our bodies are
accustomed to. Finally, the matter of
what to do with all the excess waste from keeping so many animals in such a
small area is a concern. Most often the
sewage is irrigated out from slats in the animals’ cages and pumped into large
poo lagoons. The massive amount of fecal
matter is too much to be used by typical agricultural methods and often just
sits in the pools. There have been many
cases of lagoon leaks, especially in the event of a flood, whereby it pollutes
local water sources.
CAFOs, in their current form, need
to be eliminated from the plane of livestock raising. In order to facilitate this movement we need
to limit our purchases of meat from known CAFO operations; looking for products
that state free-range or hormone free is a good method. Using our democratic rights we should force
our beliefs on the local, state, and federal governments via letters and calls
to representatives, community petitions, and public demonstrations. Society as a whole needs to become better
educated on the effects that CAFOs have on the environment and on the food we
consume. Through this educational
movement people will become more aware of the negative consequences that CAFOs
can have, thereafter inciting movements such as protests, bans on purchasing,
and the founding of anti-CAFO organizations.
The government should outlaw CAFOs and CAFO-like practices such as antibiotic
overuse and the installation of sewage lagoons, as well as enforcing a standard
for the ethical treatment of animals.
The CAFOs will have no place to operate, at least within the United
States, should such laws be enacted, because an confined operation surely falls
under unethical, inhumane treatment, thereafter blessing the population with a
healthy, guilt-free meat industry.
Beginning with the
industrial revolution, and the subsequent movement of the masses from the rural
areas into the cities, people began to become dependent on others for their
food. Whereas previously people grew
their own food or at least were able to get food from such a place nearby, now
the food had to be shipped in from other places. Through this developed an entire industry
where there had not ever been before, the industry of agriculture. The commercialization of food began
innocently enough, with the exchange of money or goods for crops. Not much happened in the way of change to the
practice of actually growing food however, until technology began making its
appearance known. First on the scene
were the tractors that allowed for greater areas to be covered in less
time. Then came the chemicals, meant to
aid in the fight against pests, and then followed most recently and
dramatically the manipulation of the plants themselves. Through all of the
technological advances something has been lost in the practice of agriculture:
the personalization of the plants.
Before the revolution a there was a great diversity in plant species and
the methods of planting them. However,
now it seems as though the once great diversity has been dwindled down to a
select few such as the grains and cash crops, and the practice of crop rotation
has been replaced with monocroping fence row to fence row. Plant diversity is a necessity not only
because it provides a wide array of flavors to our palate but also because it
is a failsafe against crop failure. Had
the Irish been privy to more than a singular type of potato in the 19th
and 20th centuries, it is likely that not nearly so many would have
died or immigrated from the famine that raged there (Manning 77-79). The practice of crop rotation and other
similar, long gone, practices keeps the soil nutrients balanced as well as
prevents local pests from becoming accustomed and adapted to a particular
plant. Pesticides have been overused to
the point that many of them no longer work against their targets and their run
off has created millions of unintended victims.
“Huge algae blooms, caused in good part by pesticides and other agricultural
runoff from the Mississippi River, are choking the life out of the Gulf of
Mexico’s northern coasts” (Cook 158).
The key to fixing the problem of
today’s agriculture practices is in making the local farmer the gateway to our
food supply again: in doing so we will encourage good, environmentally safe
methods. To make this change happen in
the most expedient manner will require an effort to purchase locally first,
directly from the farmer if possible, using modern trade methods such as
Community Supported Agriculture and Farmers’ Markets, “food with a story”
(Stafford). Food should only be
purchased from those farmers who practice an eco-friendly form of
agriculture. The trap that many people
fall in to without even realizing it is the purchasing of out of season
foods. Crops which cannot be grown
locally at the time can only come from outside sources, often being even
outside the nation’s borders. Socially,
the support of Natural Foods and Organics stores with monetary contributions
and purchases will further bring farming back to its native roots. The banking industry can help out the most by
favoring farmers who grow in an environmentally friendly manner with less
strict loans and credit requirements.
And because a farmer will be able to get a larger, better loan by
growing with the Earth in mind, it will cause many “traditional” farmers to
change their ways. We need to encourage
variety in our food supply; restaurants and grocers need to incorporate the
less used fruits and vegetables in to their menus. The government can help out with tax breaks
or government subsidized loans for those who grow organically or sell organic
foods. Most importantly, however, more
research must be done into the effects and potential disasters of biologically
engineered foods, because “it [is] ‘scientifically unjustifiable’ to presume
that GM foods are safe” (Smith 137).
Food became a business and with it
came the industrial and corporate structure of American capitalism. Farming has gone from a family run operation
to a large company enterprise in a matter of decades. There are the farming subsidies which were
originally meant to help the struggling farmer in years of poor market prices
and crop failure, but that now benefit only the rich conglomerates. The Green Revolution was perpetuated as a
movement to grow enough to feed the world, but has really just ended up as food
that the poor either cannot afford or cannot consume (Manning 105). The cause of peoples’ hunger is simply greed:
“The industrial system has, over centuries and in virtually every area of the
globe, ‘enclosed’ farmland, forcing subsistence peasants off the land, so that
it can be used for growing high-priced export crops rather than diverse crops
for local populations” (Kimbrell 7). Most
recently vertical monopolization and contract farming has been the scourge of
the family farm. Farmers are unable to
get a reasonable price for their crops because a single company controls
everything from the seed production and equipment to the processing and
distribution houses. Being on both sides
of the farmer allows the company to charge as much and pay as little as it
wishes; they have complete control over prices, while the end consumer usually
sees no benefit from this selling high and buying low. Contract farming is not a new development,
but rather an age-old practice, otherwise known as serfdom, sharecropping, or
tenant farming. It has merely been
updated to the 21st century: like founding a franchise business, the
farmers must follow everything to the company specifications, investing his own
money for a meager paycheck. And if the
crop should fail he is entirely liable and the company has turned a profit
regardless. “They quickly find
themselves deep in debt, their fates hitched entirely to the company” (Cook
134).
In order to best solve the problem
of the corporate structure the small, self-owned farm needs to be brought back
as a viable option for the farmer. To
achieve this will require that the industry be taken down. By hurting big agriculture, small agriculture
will be given the room to grow and prosper.
The individual can most easily aid this cause by limiting their
purchases of frozen and processed foods, especially fast-food. This is a drastic step for most, but one
which can most easily be accomplished through many small steps such as have
been outlined in The Eco-Foods Guide
by Cynthia Barstow. We must recognize
that the need for more food in order to feed the poor and starving of the world
is a myth perpetuated by the large agricultural conglomerates in order to sell
more seed and create new dangerous technologies. In fact there is sufficient food produced in the
world for each person on Earth to consume over 3500 calories per day (Kimbrell
7). Finally the government can best aid
the case, though it is likely that the pocketbooks of most will not allow so,
by investigating and prosecuting the monopolies which exist in industrial
agriculture: the kind of monopolies which do not exist in any other industry,
anywhere in the world. Stopping the
payments of farm subsidies to large corporations should of primary concern in
the budgeting centers. Not only do these
subsidies go to people who do not need them, but the money comes from those who
are more in need. The rich get richer
while the poor are the ones who fill their houses with vanity. Finally there needs to be a great overhaul of
the feudal system that has developed in recent decades, either by enacting some
sort of enforcement in its operation or by completely outlawing it.
Agriculture can never return to its
glorious state with nature prior to urbanization, as we have long passed the
point of no return. However, in its
current state agriculture will destroy the world which we inhabit, perhaps not
alone but it will play a great role.
There is still time for reform in the ways that are causing the spiral
downward, but they will require a great effort on all parties. The consumer, the politician, the
corporation, and especially the farmer: for we are all custodians of the land.
Works Cited
Cook,
Christopher D. Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food
Crisis. 2nd. New York: The New Press, 2006. Print.
Kimbrell,
Andrew ed. The Fatal Harvest Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture.
Washington: Island Press, Print.
Manning,
Richard. Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization.
New York: North Point Press, 2005. Print.
Smith,
Jeffrey M. Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About
the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating. 6th.
Fairfield, IA: Yes! Books, 2003. Print.
Stafford,
Jim. Cooperative Shoppers Get Food With a History." Sunday Oklahoman
20 Apr 2008 Print.
Shiva,
Vandana. Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply.
Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000. Print.
This article originally written May 13, 2009 as the final paper for OU IPE 3913 - Food, Agriculture and the Environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment