With that being said, you would wonder why people would practice a method of farming that has so many negative affects. Well, it is because our world’s population is increasing every day. We needed to come up with a way to maximize crops in a short amount of time. Industrial farming is believed to be the answer to that problem because it practices monoculture, the intensive production of one type of crop or livestock breed. It enables us to have cheap and plentiful food in a fraction of the time than “traditional farming.” Chickens, cows, pigs have become the highly productive breeds grown in concentrated livestock operations. Practicing monoculture however reduces the diversity of our plants and animals. With more and more farmers producing just the same ‘one’ kind of highly productive breed of livestock and/or crop, other varieties of crop and livestock breeds will eventually go extinct.
Additionally, the animals as well as humans will suffer various consequences. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, farms on which animals are intensively reared can cause acute and chronic lung disease and may catch infections that transmit from animals to human beings such as tuberculosis. Furthermore, intensive farming produces unhealthy livestock and provides the optimum conditions for viral mutation and transmission. This is because the animals are crowded together in a closed, warm, and dusty environment. This leads to the transmission of contagious diseases.
In contrast, sustainable agriculture is a method that acknowledges how important it is to have harmony between what we eat and our environment. They are evidently not the favourable farming industry, and this is because their food cost more compared to the cheap and affordable foods the industrial agriculture organization are producing. However, this method of farming encourages diversity, community and its primary emphasis is on permanence, quality and beauty. Moreover, this method does not distort the organisms of our environment.
The bottom line is, though industrial agriculture was introduced because it is believed to be he best way to feed everyone, humans need to stop thinking we have meddle with everything for our benefits. We need to open our eyes and see that relying on a few highly productive breeds of livestock and crops is doing more harm than good. Biodiversity is so important because variety and growth is what will keep up with the world’s ever growing population. With farms practicing monoculture, producing thousands of similar products will just cause more trouble down the road. They are highly prone to disease and extinction if natural disaster occurs. We must live in harmony with nature and choose to use sustainable agriculture. In doing so, we would be doing the environment, animals and ourselves a huge favour!Word Count: 488
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_farming#Human_health_impact
http://eap.mcgill.ca/sustain.htm http://www.economywatch.com/agriculture/types/industrial.html
http://www.alternet.org/story/13900/ http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/05/industrial_agriculture_v_susta.php http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/impacts_industrial_agriculture/industrial-agriculture-features.html
http://knol.google.com/k/effects-of-industrial-agriculture-of-crops-on-water-and-soil#Monoculture_of_Crops
BioBlogs I have read & commented on:
Mary J. Abucejo:
http://marysbioblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/biodiversity-vs-agriculture.html#comments
Lucy Abikian:
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