Des Moines Register
09-16-06
Iowa View: Diverse group to examine agriculture's challenges
DAVID ANDREWS, FREDERICK KIRSCHENMANN AND JAMES MERCHANT
Hardly anyone would dispute the fact that industrial agriculture has been
unusually productive. Modern cropping systems have been designed to
dramatically increase yield per acre and animal systems to produce greater
quantities of meat and milk per animal. And in many respects industrial
agriculture remains the backbone of our industrial economies. Nevertheless, as
we enter the 21st century, industrial agriculture faces monumental challenges.
Not only must our highly concentrated and genetically uniform food and farming
system find ways to protect itself from pathogens like avian influenza, it must also
remain productive in the face of rising energy costs, depleting water reserves and
more unstable climates.
In addition, agriculture must face the fact that today's food customer expectations
are changing. A growing number of consumers are simply no longer content to
get their food fast, convenient and cheap. They want better taste, health and
nutrition.
They also want better environmental stewardship all the way from farm to table.
And they are no longer content to simply be the passive "consumers" of the food
they buy - they want active engagement. Increasingly, consumers are raising
questions not simply of efficient, cost-effective food production but also questions
of values.
There are also several emerging public-health issues surrounding the
intensification of livestock production. They include: air emissions, water quality,
the health of animal-feeding operation workers, and the emergence of
microorganisms resistant to antibiotics used in animal rearing and human health
care. These are just a few of the issues that the National Commission on
Industrial Farm Animal Production (NCIFAP) will address during the next two
years.
Over the last 40 years, traditional family farms have given way to large-scale
farming operations. Given the availability of cheap energy, relatively stable
climates, rich virgin soils, ample water for irrigation, and adequate natural sinks
capable of absorbing wastes, such industrial operations proved very successful,
enabling producers to efficiently raise large numbers of animals in close
confinement. But given rising energy costs, shrinking water resources, more
extreme weather events and environmental degradation, it is now in everyone's
interest, including producers, to explore new options to continue to meet
production demands.
It is also critically important that science-based policies are developed to ensure
the protection of the public's health and to create a long-range, sustainable,
environmental and community health conscious spatial plan for animal
agriculture. The NCIFAP is committed to exploring such new solutions.
The NCIFAP is comprised of a diverse group of experts in the fields of veterinary
medicine, public health, nutrition, government, industry, rural advocacy and
animal welfare. Some have been critical of this diversity. As NCIFAP members,
we strongly defend it because it represents the cross section of interests that
exist within the U.S. food system, from production to consumption.
Over the next two years, the independent NCIFAP will conduct an assessment of
the industry's practices. It will hold public hearings in various parts of the country
to hear from all sides on several topics.
At the end of our two-year investigation, the NCIFAP will issue a comprehensive
report of its findings, including recommendations that will be made available to
policymakers, industry stakeholders and the general public.
The NCIFAP is committed to addressing the issues with open eyes and to make
sure the consensus recommendations are based on good science, a growing
sophistication in values, and are environmentally sound, fair and economically
viable. The integral bottom line is another way of describing these standards for
decision-making.
*****
Brother DAVID ANDREWS is the executive director of the National Rural Life
Conference and is a member of the Iowa Food Policy Council.
FREDERICK KIRSCHENMANN is a Distinguished Fellow at Iowa State
University's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. He also manages
his family's 3,500-acre certified organic farm in south-central North Dakota.
Dr. JAMES MERCHANT is the dean of the University of Iowa College of Public
Health and is a leading expert on occupational and environmental health, rural
health and public-health policy.