Intensive Farming
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"Every day, nearly 16,000 children die from a hunger-related cause — 1 child every 5 seconds. People are hungry because the "global food system" we have built is out of control—it prioritizes historically unprecedented corporate profits, while failing to feed people and steward our land and water resources for future generations." ~PAN: Feeding the World |
Intensive farming is an agricultural intensification and mechanization system that aims to maximize yields from available land through various means, such as heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This intensification and mechanization has also been applied to the raising of livestock with billions of animals, such as cows, pigs and chickens, being held indoors in what have become known as factory farms. Intensive farming practices produce more and cheaper food per acre and animal, which has helped feed a booming human population and may prevent surrounding land from being converted into agricultural land, but has grown to become the biggest threat to the global environment through the loss of ecosystem services and global warming, has led to the emergence of new parasites and re-emergence of parasites previously considered to be 'under control' by creating the conditions for parasite growth and is responsible for 80% of tropical deforestation (see also). Furthermore, intensive farming kills beneficial insects and plants, degrades and depletes the very soil it depends on, creates polluted runoff and clogged water systems, increases susceptibility to flooding, causes the genetic erosion of crops and livestock species around the world, decreases biodiversity, destroys natural habitats and, according to WWF, "Farming practices, livestock, and clearing of land for agriculture are significant contributors to the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." However, certain aspects of intensive farming have helped ease climate change by helping boost yields in already cleared land that may be under-performing, which prevents the clearing of additional land. There are both pros and cons to intensive farming, but compared to the disadvantages, the advantages are less. The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity (see also). With 40% of the planet’s land devoted to human food production, up from 7% in 1700, and as the world’s demand for food rises 70% by 2050 (see also), feeding a rapidly growing human population can and should be done by adopting a sustainable food production approach that can run indefinitely with minimized impacts on the environment, animal welfare and human health. Learn more about the effects of soil erosion from intensive farming practices.
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With human population growing at a rate of approximately 78 million people per year with over 7 billion people living on the planet today and estimates reaching between 8 and 11 billion by 2050 and up to 15 billion by 2100, humanity faces perhaps our greatest challenge of keeping fed while keeping a healthy, productive foundation to feed ourselves with. Despite the odds, this can be done. Learn more. |
Pesticides Although the use of pesticides has its benefits, such as controlling or killing potential disease-causing organisms and insects, weeds and other pests, reducing yield losses and time savings to the producer and lowering food and fiber costs for the consumer, there are many drawbacks, such as the gradual erosion of soil, threat of toxicity to humans and other animals, increased pest resistance and the unintended killing of pests' natural enemies. Astonishingly, over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target species, air, water, bottom sediments, and food. According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 9 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are pesticides. As insects and weeds develop a resistance to pesticides, farmers are forced to use more, increasingly toxic chemicals to control these 'superweeds' and 'superbugs'. Known as the "pesticide trap," farmers get caught on the treadmill as they are forced to spend more on pesticides each year just to keep crop loss from pests at a standard rate. |
Factory Farms Factory farms, also known as CAFO's (Concentrated Animal Feed Operations), are not what you typically see advertised on their products, with images of happy animals free-roaming farmlands beneath the bright sun in endless, lush green fields. It's far from it. Factory farms cram animals, such as cows, hogs and chickens, by the thousands into tightly packed, filthy, windowless sheds where they are confined to gestation crates, wire cages, barren dirt lots or other cruel confinement systems. As PETA explains, "These animals will never raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural and important to them. Most won't even feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they are loaded onto trucks bound for slaughter." Designed to produce the highest possible output at the lowest possible cost to the operator, factory farms operate without regard for public health, the environment, food safety, rural economies, animal health, or their surrounding communities. |
A comprehensive examination of nearly 300 studies worldwide shows that organic, small-scale farming can feed the world. Organic farms in developing countries outperformed conventional practices by 57% and that organic agriculture could produce enough food, on a per capita basis, to provide 2,640 to 4,380 calories per person per day, which is more than the suggested intake for healthy adults. According to the study, "With the average yield ratios, we modeled the global food supply that could be grown organically on the current agricultural land base. Model estimates indicate that organic methods could produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population, and potentially an even larger population, without increasing the agricultural land base and while reducing the detrimental environmental impacts of conventional agriculture." Furthermore, a United Nations Human Rights report states that "Eco-Farming can double food production in 10 years."
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"Farmers use five times more weed killers on their crops then they did in 1997, and with 94 percent of soybeans and 72 percent of corn being grown this way, herbicide use has exploded, according to a story in The New York Times. Glyphosate is the largest selling herbicide and it's a main ingredient in Roundup, one of the most popular and widely used herbicides in the U.S. But recent findings are showing once again, that Monsanto's Roundup can cause major health problems. A new study shows that even when it's diluted to .02 percent of what is sprayed on crops it can cause DNA damage. The study found that inhaling glyphosate causes acute membrane damage, impairment of mitochondrial functions, and damage to DNA." ~Treehugger |
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Over the past 100 years, intensive farming has tripled the levels of phosphorus and doubled the levels of nitrogen in the environment compared to natural levels. Most of this phosphorus and nitrogen that's used to grow crops washes into rivers and steams or gets released into the atmosphere. For example, only 20% of nitrogen used in agriculture is actually productive, whereas the rest makes its way into the environment. All of these added nutrients in the water fuel massive algae blooms, including toxic algae, which can degrade or destroy coral reefs and sea grasses that provide valuable habitat for marine species, kill fish and suck the oxygen out of the water when the algae blooms die leading to dead zones where fish and other marine life cannot survive. On a global scale, eutrophication of coastal systems has risen from fewer than 75 systems in 1960 to more than 800 systems today. Of these 800 systems, more than 500 have experienced deoxygenation or have become dead zones. Eutrophication also results in economic losses to tourism and recreation industries, capture fisheries, and aquaculture operations. For example, in 2009, a massive toxic algae bloom off the coast of Maine led to the closure of commercial shellfish beds, which crippled a $50 million industry. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment predicts that intensive agricultural practices will release nitrogen inputs by almost another 50% by 2050. To protect and maintain healthy, productive water resources for future generations, it will be important to focus on developing sustainable agricultural policies that can help achieve food security without compromising water quality. Learn more.
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"The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold. This new era is one of rising food prices and spreading hunger." ~Lester Brown Learn more. |
"For the first time, we have shown that it is possible to both feed a hungry world and protect a threatened planet. Currently, farm and ranch lands cover nearly 40 percent of Earth’s land area—the largest use of land on the planet. Though modern agriculture has boosted crops yields, increases between 1985 and 2005 were less than half what is commonly reported and are slowing. And because one-third of crops are used for livestock feed, biofuels and other nonfood products, the number of hunger-abating calories produced per cultivated acre is far lower than it could be—even (perhaps particularly) in fields with high-yielding, but animal-feeding, crops. All that comes with a hefty environmental price tag. Humans have already cleared 70 percent of all grasslands, half of all savannas, 45 percent of temperate deciduous forests and 27 percent of tropical forests. In addition, intensification of agriculture—changes in irrigation, fertilizer use and other practices aimed at boosting per-acre yield—has increased water pollution, local water shortages and energy use. Strikingly, agricultural activities such as clearing land, growing rice, raising cattle and overusing fertilizers make up the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, accounting for roughly 35 percent of the total." ~University of Minnesota, International Team Crafts Plan for Feeding the World While Protecting the Planet
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Last Revised: 11/20/13
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