Biological Farming Omnivores Dilema
Biological Farming is Nature’s Way
Melissa Hollingsworth
DeVry University Advanced English Composition
December 16, 2012
Biological Farming is Nature’s Way “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt- Letter to all State Governors on a Uniform Soil Conservation Law (26 February 1937). It is a shame that industrial farming has taken over the world and that small farmers no longer stand a chance of being truly profitable or significant. It is impossible for a small farmer to be competitive in today’s market. Industrial farms with their monoculture can pack thousands of animals onto a relatively small piece of land, but at what cost. The animals are injected with antibiotics to prevent infection, and hormones to help them grow bigger. They never once get to see a pasture or graze freely. Pharmaceuticals and pesticides are needed to maintain a single species animal farm on an industrial scale. (Pollan, 2006) That is why these chemicals were invented in the first place, to keep these shaky monocultures from collapsing. A biological farm does not need to rely on all these agrochemicals. When the animals are able to behave and eat in the way they were meant to, the farmer will find he does not have any of the sanitation problems or diseases that result from raising animals in a crowded monoculture. When biological farming is done correctly the result is health, for the land, the animals, and the people who eat the yield of these crops. Industrial farming is destroying our land and poisoning the people who eat the food produced by this method, biological farming is a safer and healthier alternative that is environmentally friendly. First, industrial farming is destroying our land by over processing the soil and robbing it of vital nutrients. Monocropping causes a number of negative environmental impacts. Soil deterioration results from the common practice of not rotating crops in monoculture farming. Crop rotation, the
Melissa Hollingsworth
DeVry University Advanced English Composition
December 16, 2012
Biological Farming is Nature’s Way “A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt- Letter to all State Governors on a Uniform Soil Conservation Law (26 February 1937). It is a shame that industrial farming has taken over the world and that small farmers no longer stand a chance of being truly profitable or significant. It is impossible for a small farmer to be competitive in today’s market. Industrial farms with their monoculture can pack thousands of animals onto a relatively small piece of land, but at what cost. The animals are injected with antibiotics to prevent infection, and hormones to help them grow bigger. They never once get to see a pasture or graze freely. Pharmaceuticals and pesticides are needed to maintain a single species animal farm on an industrial scale. (Pollan, 2006) That is why these chemicals were invented in the first place, to keep these shaky monocultures from collapsing. A biological farm does not need to rely on all these agrochemicals. When the animals are able to behave and eat in the way they were meant to, the farmer will find he does not have any of the sanitation problems or diseases that result from raising animals in a crowded monoculture. When biological farming is done correctly the result is health, for the land, the animals, and the people who eat the yield of these crops. Industrial farming is destroying our land and poisoning the people who eat the food produced by this method, biological farming is a safer and healthier alternative that is environmentally friendly. First, industrial farming is destroying our land by over processing the soil and robbing it of vital nutrients. Monocropping causes a number of negative environmental impacts. Soil deterioration results from the common practice of not rotating crops in monoculture farming. Crop rotation, the
References: Carozza, S., Li, B., Elgethun, K., & Whitworth, R. (2008). Risk of childhood cancers associated with residence in agriculturally intense areas in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(4), 559-565. Grace Communications Foundation. (2012). Industrial vs sustainable agriculture. Retrieved from www.sustainabletable.org/issues/environment/ Pollan, M. (2006). The omnivore’s dilemma: A natural history of four meals. New York, NY: Penguin.