Conventional Farming vs. Organic Farming
Agriculture is the process by which food in grown on a large scale. It is larger than just the family garden that is intended to sustain a family for a year. Agriculture is intended to sustain an entire community and when it is practiced on a very large scale, it is done to feed thousands. Cultures around the globe have been involved in food production to sustain communities for tens of thousands of years or more. According to John Unsworth at IUOAC Agrochemicals, “Up until the 1940s inorganic substances, such as sodium chlorate and sulphuric acid, or organic chemicals derived from natural sources were still widely used in pest control.” (Unsworth, 2010) Farming was easy enough on the planet until chemicals were introduced in the 1940’s and it has continued to go downhill since then. Because of the introduction of chemicals to the farming industry, pollution became an issue. (Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic, a Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography, n.d.) Water, soil, and air were all affected as the animals and humans started to become deathly ill from all the chemicals in the food sources. This paper will focus on traditional organic farming versus chemical farming and how it affects the environment across the world.
The Problem with chemicals and agriculture is that the application of chemicals destroys the soil quality, the water aquifers below ground, and the environment as a whole. People began to raise crops in regions that could not naturally sustain them. For example, in California farmers began to plant rice in areas with little rain or water to sustain that type of crop. They also used chemicals to keep pests and weeds away. The problem with this is that the bugs grew accustomed to the chemicals, so more chemicals were used until the aquafer was filled with to many chemicals for the earth’s natural filtration system to take care of them. The result was tainted water that must be heavily treated with more chemicals and heavy duty filters to make the water safe for drinking. Nature cannot sustain agriculture that does not naturally grow in a specific area. The next answer was to genetically modify crops to make them drought resistant. That way the lack of rain would not bother the crops. All of this nonsense has resulted in the planet and its inhabitants getting sicker.
One question about transforming current chemical agriculture practices is: “how can organic farming feed the world?” The answer may surprise you. According to the Worldwatch Institute, “A fair number of agribusiness executives, agricultural and ecological scientists, and international agriculture experts believe that a large-scale shift to organic farming would not only increase the world's food supply, but might be the only way to eradicate hunger.” (Can Organic Farming Feed Us All? | Worldwatch Institute, 2016) This means that it is not only able to feed the world, it will do so in a better way for the environment and the living things in it, including humans.
The practice of conventional agriculture across the globe has been a major part of the feed the world and solve world hunger campaign. Society somehow accepted it as the standard for agriculture. However, as the public has learned about the results of conventional farming, they have also increased in their buying habits of organic foods and products made with organic ingredients. This means that the problem of chemicals destroying the environment is reduced every time a farmer chooses to convert his or her farm to organic practices.
According to W.H. Freeman and Company, it states that “in the US farmers use chemicals and automatic farming.” (Fundamentals of the Human Mosiac, a Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography, 2014) While that may be true in many cases, especially where farming is on extremely huge areas, it is not completely accurate. Organic farming has become more popular in the last ten years than it has in the last 70 years. However, it is important to understand that almost every country in the world that used chemicals in agriculture production has returned to farm the natural way, without man-made chemicals. It is called Organic Farming.
Organic farming allows the sustainable health and continued productivity of the environment. Each part of the ecosystem such as the animals, soil, people, and plants need a healthy environment. Organic foods that are farmed with socially responsible and sustainable practices focus on the soil regeneration since healthy microbes are important for a healthy soil, water conservation because water is a precious resource, and the welfare of all animals.
Mainstream society believes that organic is hippy-dippy for smelly tree huggers. Actually, the truth is that organic foods are becoming more popular, people in every walk of life eat organic, from the family struggling to the most well-known people, even the Obama family eats it at the White House. Organic food is more than just removing all chemicals, there is a whole process that the farmers must go through to make sure their farm is ready to be organic, if the farm ever had conventional chemical use.
There are a few things to know about organic farming. Produce, tree nuts, and grains are all grown without the use of synthetic or chemical pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides. Genetically Modified Organisms are also off the table, which is good news for anyone who wants pure, real food. Animals are raised with organic diets and are not kept in a cage. They are treated humanely and are not fed the by-products of other animals. Organic foods that are processed, such as crackers, cereal, or any other processed organic food, do not have added chemical preservatives, colors, waxes, or synthetic additives.
Countries across the planet have never adopted the chemicals that the United States has, however, many have tried it and found that the people were increasingly getting sick from the use of chemicals in the faming practice. Nevertheless, chemicals allowed things to be farmed in regions that were never used for that type of crop. Forests could be cleared for farm use and the soil that is usually poor quality for farming, was able to grow a season or two if chemicals were added. However, that practice was not sustainable and unfortunately the forest that once grew wild food, was gone.
According to W.H. Freeman and Company, “Intensive agriculture is a form of agriculture using mechanization, labor, and other capital to produce large crop yields relative to the amount of land being farmed. “ (Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic, a Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography, 2014). The United States has been guilty of that since the 1940s and has encouraged emerging countries to do the same in order to increase their yield. The result may be larger bank accounts for some, but the poor famers and people eating the food get sick. The result is that the poor end up being the ones to suffer when it could have been prevented. That is one more reason that organic farming is good for the people, animals, and the environment.
Organic farming is not a simple process, it usually requires some energetic hands-on dedication to the process of ensuring that the foods produced are chemical free. For example, through the use of strategically composting, planting cover crops like alfalfa that is nitrogen rich, and crop rotation, organic farmers are able to nourish the soil, allow it to rest, and help it to regenerate without the use of any chemicals. The plants that are grown in this type of healthy soil are able to protect and feed themselves, as well as build their own natural pest and disease protection. Organic farmers believe that it is best to feed the soil so it can feed the plant. In doing this, the plant is able to feed the people without chemicals that kill.
Organic farming is part of almost every culture in the world. According to the 2004 report of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, “More than 24 million hectares of agriculture land are now managed organicallyparticularly in Europe, Austrlia, and North America” This means that the global market for organic food is large and not just a fad. This industry is growing, which means that the soils are getting healthier, the water will get cleaner, the air will improve, and people will be healthier too.
According to The EcoTipping Points Project, “There have not been many comparative yield studies, but those which have been done tend to show organic yields to be either on par or slightly lower (up to 20%) with those of conventional yields, while expenditures on inputs are substantially lower.” (EcoTippingPoints. 2006) However, the productivity of a farm is not the point really. Conventional farming includes chemicals that destroy the environment, and while the end product may be low prices for that food at the store, the end result is not worth the price. The price of organic food is more because it costs more to produce. However, the investment in the longevity of a healthy environment which includes the animals, plants and people is worth the cost of buying bananas at ten cents more a pound than conventional bananas that are cheaper and treated with irradiated radiation to keep them from spoiling. You get what you pay for and if you pay to eat chemicals, you will suffer the consequences. That is a philosophy that lives in many people, and it seems true. Although chemical farming has been a part of the world agricultural industry for quite some time, there is good news! According to data contained in the Organic Agriculture Worldwide 2016 Current Statistics report “ more than three quarters of the producers are located in developing and transition countries.” This means that the world agriculture industry is changing for the better and the planet along with all the living things on it might have a chance to survive.
References
Can Organic Farming Feed Us All? | Worldwatch Institute. (2016). Worldwatch.org. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4060
Fundamentals of the Human Mosaic, a Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography. (2014) (2nd ed.). W.H Freeman and Company.
International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. (2014) (1st ed.). Bonn, Germany. Retrieved from http://www.ifoam.bio/sites/default/files/page/files/ifoam_annual_report_2004.pdf
Organic Agriculture Worldwide 2016: Current Statistics. (2016) (1st ed.). Switzerland.
Unsworth, J. (2010). | IUPAC. Agrochemicals.iupac.org. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://agrochemicals.iupac.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=3&sobi2Id=31
USA/Canada - The Organic Farming Movement in North America: Moving towards Sustainable Agriculture | The EcoTipping Points Project. (2016). Ecotippingpoints.org. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://ecotippingpoints.org/our-stories/indepth/usa-canada-sustainable-organic-farming.html
