Hi Oral! It's nice to see you over here.
The statement you made about how if pesticides were responsible for topsoil erosion there would have been no dustbowl in the '30's is correct. When I said "pesticide agriculture" I was referring to what is usually called conventional agriculture, which is the more recognized term but just seems weird to me because there is nothing really conventional about it. So my misuse of terminology was confusing. Sorry!
What I meant was that large scale intensive farming causes erosion. There is a really cool table at this site that shows side by side the differences between sustainable agriculture and large scale intensive farming. Sustainable agriculture does not cause erosion. It also makes small- and medium-sized family farms productive enough to support a family. Agribusiness and the move to huge amounts of technology and chemicals has almost destroyed family farms in America. Sustainable farming is a way to get them back.
I tried to copy the comparison table to this post but it does not really come out very well. So here is the url, a much better way to look at it, really:
sustainabletable.org
Have you ever wondered exactly how sustainable agriculture is better than industrial? The chart below is an easy reference that quickly and easily shows how sustainable farming is much more beneficial than industrial agriculture.
Sustainable Industrial
Health Sustainable farms produce foods without excessive use of pesticides and other hazardous chemical inputs. Research indicates that sustainable foods are often healthier than their industrially-produced counterparts.
Organic foods contain higher levels of antioxidants, which help fight certain types of cancer.1
Organic crops contain significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.2
Industrial agriculture operations strive to increase production and maximize profits without regard for human health.
Heavy use of pesticides is associated with elevated cancer risks. 3
Industrial crops contain more nitrates. 4
Unsanitary conditions in factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses cause high levels of meat contamination which has resulted in recurrent epidemics of foodborne illness. In the U.S., foodborne illness sickens 76 million people, causes 325,000 hospitalizations, and kills 5,000 people every year.5
A 1998 study by Consumer Reports revealed that 71% of store-bought chicken were contaminated with Campylobacter and/or Salmonella, bacterial contaminants responsible for thousands of deaths and millions of sicknesses.6
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.
Industrial agriculture practices are responsible for a host of environmental problems; in addition to causing massive topsoil erosion, aquifer depletion, and the reduction of genetic diversity, factory farms pollute 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 U.S. each year.7
Animal 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. 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 CAFO containing 5,000 hogs can produce as much solid waste as a human city of 20,000 – unlike cities, CAFOs are not required to have a sewage treatment plant.8
Water Sustainable farms conserve scarce water resources and protect local aquifers from being contaminated with harmful pollutants. Industrial agricultural practices contaminate groundwater and surface water with toxic pesticides, fertilizers, hormone residue, antibiotics residue, and harmful pathogens contained in manure. This damages aquatic ecosystems and poses a serious threat to human health.
According to the EPA, agricultural practices are responsible for 70% of all pollution in U.S. rivers and streams.9
Many operations consume water at an unsustainable rate, causing aquifer depletion and ground subsidence.
Soil Sustainable farms conserve our valuable soil resources through erosion-prevention methods such as windbreaks, use of cover crops, continual addition of organic matter to the land, and no-tillage or low-impact tillage techniques.
Minimal use of chemical pesticides and elimination of excess fertilizer ensures that existing soil remains uncontaminated. Industrial farming causes chronic erosion due to extensive plowing, lack of cover crops, and failure to replenish soils with organic materials.
Excessive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers causes soil contamination.
Pesticides Chemical pesticides are either excluded from production entirely, or used only in small amounts when other pest-control methods are ineffective.
Sustainable farms often rely upon alternative pest control methods such as habitat manipulation, biological control, and use of pest-resistant plant varieties. 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 U.S. every year.10
In 2002, 69,000 children suffered from pesticide related poisoning or exposure to poisonous pesticides.11
Antibiotics Animals are raised without routine use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are administered only if an animal is sick. Other farmers (such as organic farmers) do not give antibiotics to their animals at all. If sick, the animal is pulled from the herd and treated, but the meat is not sold as "no antibiotics used."
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.12
Overuse of antibiotics is contributing to antibiotic resistance, making human medicines less effective and causing U.S. health care costs to increase by $4 billion each year.13
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. Every year, 24 million cattle in the U.S. are given hormones in order to make them grow faster.
As a result of human safety concerns, the European Union has banned the use of growth hormones in cattle and has prohibited the import of hormone-treated beef since 1988.
U.S. dairy cows are given rBGH, a genetically engineered hormone used to artificially increase milk production.
rBGH has been proven to damage the health of cows and is banned by the EU and Canada.
Genetic Diversity Sustainable farms help preserve genetic diversity by raising a wide range of animal breeds and 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.
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 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. 14
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 U.S. is currently consumed by the food production system.15
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. Large-scale, centralized production requires extensive food transportation.
Foods are 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.
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. Factory-farmed animals are crammed together in confined areas without access to sunlight, fresh air, or open pasture. Unsanitary conditions in animal confinement units cause widespread disease and aggressive behavior.
Most animals never see sunlight and their feet never touch the ground.
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.
A study by the University of Minnesota Extension Service revealed that small farms with gross income of $100,000 made almost 95% of total expenditures within their local communities. Large farms with gross income greater than $900,000 spent less than 20% locally.16
Owners of small, sustainable farms are actively involved in their communities, boosting the level of civic participation and helping to build resilient 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%.17
Focus on gaining short-term profit; minimal concern for the environment, the health and safety of future generations, or the long-term security of rural communities.
Workers Sustainable farm owners provide a safe working environment and treat their employees with dignity and respect. Farm laborers often endure dangerous working conditions which cause significant damage to their health.
Among the most serious hazards faced by workers is routine exposure to dust and gases emitted from sources of 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.18
1 organicconsumers.org How Sustainable Ag Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture
2 Nutritional Quality of Organic Vs. Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains (PDF)
Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine 2001;7;2:161–173
"Organic crops contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates than conventional crops. There were nonsignificant trends showing less protein but of a better quality and a higher content of nutritionally significant minerals with lower amounts of some heavy metals in organic crops compared to conventional ones." organicts.com
3 ehp.niehs.nih.gov
4 Nutritional Quality of Organic Vs. Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains (PDF)
Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine 2001;7;2:161–173
"Organic crops contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates than conventional crops. There were nonsignificant trends showing less protein but of a better quality and a higher content of nutritionally significant minerals with lower amounts of some heavy metals in organic crops compared to conventional ones." organicts.com
5 David Brubaker, Industrial Animal Production in the United States : Shelton , D "Sources of Pathogens in a Watershed: Humans, Wildlife, Farm Animals?" USDA/ARS position paper, April 2000.
6 Consumer's Union . “Press Release: Consumer Reports Finds 71 Percent of Store-Bought Chicken Contains Harmful Bacteria” February 23, 1998. consumersunion.org
7 Norberg-Hodge, Helena , Todd Merrifield,; and Steven Gorelick. Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness. Bloomfield , CT : Kumarian Press, Inc. 2002.
8 Walker, Polly and Robert Lawrence. “American Meat: A Threat to Your Health and to the Environment” Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics. Vol IV:1 Winter 2004.
9 Horrigan, Leo, Robert S. Lawrence, and Polly Walker. “How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture.” Environmental Health Perspectives Vol 110, 5 May 2002.
10 U.S. EPA. “Pesticides – The EPA and Food Security” April 2004. epa.gov
11 US EPA “Pesticides and Child Safety” EPA February 2004. epa.gov
12 Union of Concerned Scientists. “Food and Environment: Antibiotic Resistance.” UCS October 2003. ucsusa.org
13 Keep Antibiotics Working. “Antibiotic Resistance: A Growing Health Threat to You and Your Family.” Keep Antibiotics Working. August 2003.
14 Norberg-Hodge, Helena , Todd Merrifield, and Steven Gorelick. Bringing The Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness. Bloomfield , CT : Kumarian Press. 2002. p.45
15 Horrigan, Leo, Robert S. Lawrence, and Polly Walker. “How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture.” Environmental Health Perspectives Vol 110, 5 May 2002.
16 Chism and Levins 1994 as cited by William Weida “Considering the Rationales for Factory Farming” Global Resource Action Center for the Environment 2004. factoryfarm.org
17 Padgett and Johnson 1996 as cited by William Weida “Considering the Rationales for Factory Farming” Global Resource Action Center for the Environment 2004. factoryfarm.org
18 Iowa State University . “Livestock Confinement Dust and Gases” Iowa State University ; University Extension. 1992 cdc.gov |
