Have anyone been to a livestock farm, a poultry farm, the crowd cages or fences with tons of livestocks and poultry or the big field with tons of varities of crops, this is what a industrial agriculture like. In the most effective, economic and techno-scientific method to produce our daily food. However, just taking anything from nature aren't really able to maintain the gross market. Therefore there is different kind of manual controls to the livestock genes, fastening their growth speed, controlling their qualities, having manuall selection on different species and foul the unfavorable, massively reproduce the species with the best genotype.
simple definition of industrial agriculture
a modern form of capital intensive farming in which the machinery and purchased are substituted for the labor of human beings and animals.
pros: cheap food (the crucial point)
release of labor from agricultural activitiesincreasing of supply
Cons: elimination the diversity of species
causing co-evolution of virus
massive of pollution
Everyone want to have meals with various of dishes. To have such supply, scientists did under go the genetic modification and give a modified product such as the seedless grapes, livestock with high growth rate, larger eggs, etc. These all sound fabulous, and did make our meals more charming than original.
Also for such kind of industrial agriculture, in the livestock farm, the byproducts of livestock did contributed one eighth of the overall Greenhouse Gases emission and it shows the cons of the industrial agriculture.
In the point here, we figured out what we have sown this century, the massive of mutated virus from the byproduct of the technological modification from the better livestocks as part of the evolution, the co-evolution. Moreover, the weaker species have been eliminated and extinguished, the ecosystem of it has been affected, the collapse of the ecosystem may finally we reap as we had sown.
Therefore the original sustainable agriculture was recommended to retrieve the lost from the industrial agriculture.
simple definition of sustainable agriculture
a traditional farming process, aimed on the sustainability among economical, environmental and social
the organic farming is an good example
pros: Disease and Pest Resistance
Lower Input Costs
Less effect on the environment
Cons: Low productivities
Labor intensive
Discussing on the disease and pest resistance, it can be explained that as the group of livestocks kept have various of genes and did have difference of resistance to the disease and it allows the nature evolution of the livestocks, the stabilizing selection.
About the lower input cost, it did depend on the expected productivity and the intensiveness on labor. Since, sustainable agriculture is a method aimed on harmonizing with the nature, as it is able in using less manual artificial. Same to the effect on the environment, since it is a method which retain the tradition and simply less harmful chemical ( crops industry) or less hormone fed ( livestocks farm).
Below, I attached the table about the contrast of the industrial agriculture and sustainable agriculture
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| for better knowing click here |
The Costs and Benefits of Industrial AgricultureSustainable Agriculture--A New Vision
<http://www.portaec.net/library/food/costs_and_benefits_of_industrial.html>
Industrial agriculture and the loss of biodiversity
<http://www.helium.com/items/1293414-farm-diversity---lessons-for-the-future>
Organic vs Industrial Agriculture: Can we have the best of both?
<http://lifemorenatural.com/?p=1155>
Industrial Agriculture
<http://www.economywatch.com/agriculture/types/industrial.html>
Advantages and Disadvantages Organic Farming: Good Things, Barriers and Environmental Effects
<http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/advantages_and_disadvantages_organic_farming.html>
Industrial Agriculture v. Sustainable Agriculture
<http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/05/industrial_agriculture_v_susta.php>
People I did comment on:
I think that animals have rights too, we should treat animals as humans. Aside from the fact that we do feed on animals, they're a form of life and industrial agriculture is really unfair on them. They have no voice, and that's why a lot of people don't know what happens in factory farming. Factory farming has no care for the animals, they just want to earn money. Industrial agriculture is destroying species which will destroy the food webs. I think that we should stick to sustainable farming too as it's natural and it's not pushing the animals to grow faster, we're not pushing them to death. Everything on earth has the right to enjoy life. Good point on greenhouse gases, as industrial agriculture is not natural, which affects our planet. We need to take care of our planet!
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how human beings over produce foods, in this case the chickens. Although it is cheaper to do this for the industrial companies, it is slowly destroying our ecosystems. All animals are inteded to be a certain size, shape, and weight. Once we distort this, it changes life as we know it. Farming should be done the way it was years ago.
ReplyDeleteHey Wayne! I really like your blog. It really makes me sad how animals are being treated in the factory farming. But because of that the people who works in the factory needs money that's why they do it. We need know that animals should be treated like humans also because they were created by the man above us. Sometimes, we just need to thank the animals for giving up their lives for us, even if it hurts us because without them we wouldn't have anything to eat and that without these specifically chosen traits, the amount of food products in the world wouldn’t be able to support the current population.
ReplyDeleteHey Wayne! I like that your provided similar examples to artificial selection, referring to the large egg and seedless grapes that humans were able to evolve to make our meals more tastier. Also, your diagrams and pictures are used in a relative manner that contributed to the explanations of industrial agriculture vs sustainable agriculture. I think I am going to be one of the few people who think that industrial agriculture is the preferred method over sustainable agriculture. To me, Industrial agriculture is what makes it possible for super markets to be able to be the main supplier for everyone in the town. If we all had to rely on slow food production,I don't think anyone would be able to tolerate sustainable agriculture. You've listed the many types of diseases from the food outbreaks, but with the advanced technology of medicine, I do not think that it is a problem. That is because medicine and diseases do come hand in hand as they co-evolute. No one is going to be willing to work intensive hours for healthy farming, so there is nothing we can do about it.
ReplyDeleteI like how selective breeding was mentioned because it is one of the major factors that affect the biodiversity of the livestock and crops. Because of what is in demand, farmers are forced to choose specific things in order to successfully make a living. I like how you included a gas emission chart as well. It shows how industrial livestock farming pitches into our air pollution, another major environment concern. Your graphs and diagrams are truly eye-openers, as solid facts are stronger than just simple statements.
ReplyDeleteI like how you blog tackled many environmental concerns, not just agricultural concerns. This was very insightful!
The first paragraph already caught my attention. I had watched the Food Inc. documentary and had also referenced it in my blog, commenting on the poultry conditions in industrial farms. I also agree with the notion that a lot of animals (and crops too) are being altered during development which produces unnatural results/food. Many farmers these days are changing these animals into what they would want them to be like in order to sell their business. It's a sad, but true fact.
ReplyDeleteYour entry is very well-researched and you provided a lot of informative visuals which made reading much more enjoyable!
It makes me sad how they treat the animals and how they treat the environment. I watched the Food Inc. documentary and it amazes me about the poultry conditions. I also liked how you including information about the environment. Great Blog!
ReplyDelete