An Unsustainable System: Industrial Agriculture
Abstract
Societies
have practiced agriculture for more than 10,000 years, but only
since the ending of World War II have farmers become heavily dependent on
artificial fertilizers, pesticides and fossil fuel- motorized farm machinery. This
system is known as industrial agriculture and now dominates our crop production.
During the 1940’s and 50’s, it was regarded as a “technological triumph”, an
evolutionary savior of sorts as it would allow the then booming population to feed
itself (UCS, 2012). Nowadays, farmers and scientists alike are viewing it as a dead
end. This is an unsustainable system destroying our Earth through its reliance on
monocropping, thorough application of commercial fertilizers, heavy use of
pesticides, and intensive irrigation. Although many refuse to view it as anything
other than a cheap, mass production of food, it has resulted in the destruction of our
natural ecosystems and will eventually be the downfall of our Earth. If we do not
switch to a more sustainable form of producing food it will not be for lack of other
available methods, it will be because American’s are too absorbed in the short-term
benefits of industrial agriculture to realize the long-term effects it has on our Earth
and ultimately humans.
Reliance On Monoculture
At the heart of industrial agriculture is the practice of growing only one type
of agricultural product on a large area of land, year after year known as
monocropping. It became first established during the 1940’s and 1950’s when small
family farms were combined into large industrial operations, turning the system
into commodity-based rather than the previous subsistence-based system (GRACE,
2013). While this system was viewed as revolutionary, it was in reality just the
beginning of the downfall of our natural systems. Just like industrial agriculture,
monocropping now poses serious threats on both the environment and human
health. With machinery making it possible to tend large industrial farms and taking
away the need for human labor, prices are lowered but chemical inputs are now
needed to override the problems that arise from growing the same crop in the same
place year after year. What people don’t realize is that these chemical inputs come
with serious problems of their own. It took a turn for the worse when petroleum
based fertilizers and pesticides were introduced to the land resulting in a persistent
vicious cycle of chemicals and machinery. When crops are grown in the same place
year after year it quickly depletes the nutrient that it depends on to thrive which is
where fertilizers are used to replenish them (GRACE, 2013). Fertilizers then seep
into the water and pests and weeds become resistant to pesticides causing a variety
of issues, discussed in next sections. The use of pesticides and fertilizers only
furthers our fossil fuel dependence, as petroleum is a key component. “As a general
rule, labour intensity declines quickly with expanding farm size as labour is replaced
by mechanization, and with fossil energy the basis for the greater per farmer
productivity if industrial farms and livestock operations this obviously entails a
much bigger carbon footprint per output” (Weis, 2007, p.167). Not only does the
fertilizers add to a growing carbon footprint, but also the machines themselves,
which are fueled off fossil fuels and when burned release Carbon dioxide, a powerful
Greenhouse Gas.
Corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and rice are the staple crops grown this way in
the United States, corn being by far the most prevalent and the most problematic
due to it’s high demand and multi-purpose use (Weis, 2007). Corn has become a
staple product in the majority of processed American food and is now even being
made into a biofuel. “With corn's ability to be used in foods that are economical for
manufacturers and serve as a bio-fuel product to keep energy costs down, corn
monoculture and the practices used to sustain the land where corn is grown over
the years can have damaging affects to once healthy soils” (Woodgate, 2010). With a
demand for more corn comes the demand for more land to grow it, and as more land
is used up for the production of corn, land used for other crops become unpractical
to grow and are eventually abandoned or turned into land for corn production
(Woodgate, 2010). The lack of these crops (mainly vegetables) attribute to
America’s growing obesity as well as the fact that the majority of fast food contains
high-fructose corn syrup and with the abundance of corn that equals an abundance
of fast food. When consumers do want these healthier crops, they are more
expensive and usually have to be shipped from foreign countries also contributing
to a larger carbon footprint (Woodgate, 2010). Monocultures have proved to be a
destructive and harmful farming system, yet we still continue to use it on larger and
larger scales.
Heavy use of Pesticides
Pesticides are a staple feature of industrial agriculture, needed to combat the
resulting effects of long-term monoculture. They are a concoction of chemicals used
to control or eliminate the soil-borne pathogens, pests, and weeds that can damage
crops or reduce farm productivity. While there are many forms of pesticides used to
attract and kill a number of unwanted additions to a farm, the most common ones
are insecticides (to kill insects), herbicides (to kill weeds), rodenticides (to kill
rodents), and fungicides (to control fungi, mold, and mildew) (GRACE, 2013).
According to the United States Environmental Protection agency, each year the
United States uses 1 billion tons of pesticides of which herbicides are the most
common (GRACE, 2013). After continual use of pesticides, the target species adapt
to the pesticides and become resistant to them resulting in revolutionized forms
known as the Super Bug and Super Weed almost impossible to get rid of. An
accompanying issue is when the pesticides, including that of humans, poison nontarget species. It is estimated that only 0.1% of applied pesticides actually reach the
target pests, leaving the majority of the pesticides to impact both the environment
and non-target species (OCA, 2002). Human exposure mainly comes in the form of
poisonings stemming from residues on produce, bioaccumulation in meat, and also
contamination of our drinking water. The long-term effects of pesticides have yet
to be studied, but the short-term are a horrifying sight as it is, everything from
cancers and links to endocrine disrupters and reproductive dysfunctions have been
found (OCA, 2002). Pesticides are an obvious disruption to our natural system and
pose serious health risks to non-target species but nothing has changed and in the
last decade we have continued to use an increasing amount of them.
Intensive Application of Commercial Fertilizers
Synthetic fertilizers are products made or mined for the purpose of adding
nutrients to the soil, which are depleted after the long-term practice of monoculture.
While these fertilizers do boost plant yield, more than not they also create a number
of environmental impacts. Ultimately, the use of synthetic fertilizers are not
sustainable over long term use because many require large amounts of fossil fuels
for their creation ensuring our further dependence on fossil fuels for industrial
agriculture. Some other types of fertilizers like phosphorous need to be extracted
through a mining process and are even more environmentally destructive and
polluting (GRACE, 2013). Continuing on this idea, a majority of species cannot
survive in high nitrogen environments reducing the biodiversity in industrial fields
and farms, eventually destroying the natural ecosystem balance. Crops are
estimated to only absorb one-third to one-half of the fertilizers applied to their land
and what many farmers don’t realize is that the rest of the fertilizer extends far from
the farms (OCA, 2002). One example is a more serious environmental impact: water
pollution. The excess fertilizer contaminates waterways (river, stream, lake, ocean)
and creates large algal blooms. When these algae decompose, they use all the
oxygen in the water making it impossible for other biota to live there deeming it a
dead zone.
Intensive Irrigation
Agriculture is by far the world’s largest consumer of water and is
accountable for around two-thirds of all water use worldwide (OCA, 2002).
Irrigation systems are using water from reservoirs faster than they can be
replenished and unless they are controlled properly, it could result in a number of
consequences from water shortages, to conflicts, and food constraints. Tony Weis,
author of The Global Food Economy elaborates on this idea by saying, “ ‘unless
properly managed, fresh water may well emerge as the most important constraint
to global food production’, an issue that also has great geostrategic importance
given the plausibility that access to fresh water may emerge as a key source of
conflict in the coming decades.”
Conclusion
Industrial agriculture has proved to be an unsustainable system, which
through its many facets is destroying our Earth. We are producing and consuming
at unprecedented rates, never before seen in the history of agriculture without any
regard to the environment around us. While we are reaping the benefits of this
highly mechanized and unnatural system, the Earth is suffering from a loss of water,
biota, chemical poisoning, and nutrient deprivation. There are a number of
sustainable and alternative options ready to be implemented on a large scale.
Unfortunately it will take a major disaster until we even consider alternative
options. Until then we can start by limiting the amount of fertilizer and pesticide we
put on our fields and cracking down on regulations and water usage. While it’s not
our best option, it’s a good place to begin.
Bibliography
Hidden costs of industrial agriculture. (2008, August). In Union of concerned
scientists. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from
http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-foodsystem/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html
Industrial agriculture. (2012, August 30). In Union of concerned scientists. Retrieved
April 16, 2013, from http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/ourfailing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html
Industrial crop production. (2013). In GRACE. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from
http://www.gracelinks.org/804/industrial-crop-production
L. Woodgate. (2010). Crop monoculture: A bad technique for the environment and
world food supply. Retrieved 16 April
2012 from http://voices.yahoo.com/crop-monoculture-bad-techn iqueenvironment-6195674.html?cat=5
Monocropping. (2013). In GRACE. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from
http://www.gracelinks.org/804/industrial-crop-production#Monocropping
Weis, T. (2007). The global food economy: The battle for the future of farming.
London, NY: Zed Books.
What’s wrong with industrial agriculture (2002, March 20). In Organic Consumers
Association. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Organic/IndustrialAg502.cfm
Weis, A. J. (2008). The global food economy: The battle for the future of farming.
London: Zed Books Ltd.

The purpose of this text is to unravel the history of the food system as
well as give light to the denaturalized ways/processes within our global
food economy.
 This specific Chapter focuses on the global food economy’s long-term
instability as shown in the economy, society, and environmental trends.
 Agricultural abundance does not indicate a large, stable farming
population, in fact many times it is symbolizes the opposite – agricultural
yields are now coming from less diversity of farms.
 Machines, chemicals, fertilizers, and unnatural breeding of plants have
denaturalized agriculture.
 Big farming companies outcompete small, local farmers.
-Pressure to “get big or get out” – high cost of land and
equipment including the steady long-term decline in prices.
-Traditions, mealtime, and harvest preparations are lost among the
mass production of food, continuing to further separate us
from our
culture.
 Diversity among yield in supermarkets conceal various issues and
problems within our agricultural system. The produce and products
come from various parts of the world, resulting in yield instability.
-Rice, wheat, maize, soybeans, sorghum, millet, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, sugar cane/beet, and bananas solely make up for 3quarters of human’s plant-based calories. (p. 16)
 Although only 10 percent of the world’s agricultural production is traded,
food trade results in competition through the use of large-scale
machinery.
-3 main companies dominate agro-food trade.
 Due to inequalities among countries governments, food security is a
prominent problem.
-The problem lies in the fact that humans produce enough food to
sufficiently feed the entire human population 1.5 times over.
-Many are obese but are still starving for nutrients – empty calories
- “Hunger amidst abundance”
 Humanity’s ‘ecological footprint’ is increased largely due to agriculture
and it’s unnatural byproducts.
-Largest consumer of water and destruction of forests for needed
farm space.
Altieri, M. (1998). Ecological impacts of industrial agriculture and the possibilities for
truly sustainable farming. (Issue 3 ed., Vol. Vol. 50, p. p60).

Maintaining biological diversity is a key component to maintaining healthy
ecological systems.
-Growing many difference crops in the same fields can eliminate certain
types of pests, weeds, and diseases.
 Excessive reliance on human technologies has negatively impacted the
environment and rural societies.
 Monocultures have increased dramatically, meaning that the same crops are
grown year after year in the same field.
 Modern agriculture poses many threats to our environment:
-Large-scale agriculture systems exhibit poorly structured components that
have no
linkage or relationship to the crops, soils, and animals.
-Cycles of nutrients, energy, water and wastes are now more of open instead
of
closed like natural ecosystems.
-Large-scale pest outbreaks due to monoculture farming; less diversity of soil
life.
-Crops are expanded beyond their natural ranges due to areas that have low
soil nutrition, water, or pest problems. This growth can be sustained
indefinitely due to human’s technology.
-Modern agriculture lies on genetically modified seeds for crops to solve
their pest, disease and water issues instead of rotating crops.
-Despite the amount of fertilizer and pesticide use, crops are reaching their
maximum yields.
 Pesticide Treadmill: as older pesticides lose their effectiveness, new ones are
created to replace the old ones.
 Although fertilizers are known to temporarily increase food production, a
large amount of them end up in surface or groundwater.
-This then creates dead zones, which eliminates biodiversity.
-Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers can also become air pollutants that then
deplete the ozone layer.
 The problem of agricultural production must be regarded as a social, cultural,
political, and economic issue rather than just a technological one.
 “The behavior of agro-ecosystems depends on the level of interactions
between the various biological and non-biological components,” (p.88).
 Changes need to be made towards a healthier and economically viable
agriculture system for the safety of humans.
Krulwich, R. (2012, November 30). Cornstalks everywhere but nothing else, not
even a Bee : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News
& Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved April 16, 2013, from
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/11/29/166156242/cornstalks
-everywhere-but-nothing-else-not-even-a-bee





In Cape Town South Africa, a metal cube was placed into a field and was
watched to see what species interacted with it.
- There were 30 different plants in that one square foot of grass, and
roughly 70 different insects.
-If cube was placed elsewhere, there would be a 50% difference in
plant species.
If look closely, will see critters that create and aerate the soil, that pollinate,
that removes the clutter.
Same experiment was done but in the middle of corn fields in Iowa to see
what was living there
-Saw a total of seven species besides corn in 3 days – one red mite,
one grasshopper, one mushroom, one ant, one mosquito and two
spiders.
Unnatural to have fields that have not biota in them. This could be due to the
fertilizers and insecticides used to kill everything.
Hundreds of years ago in the same fields, it was home to over 300 species of
plants, 60 mammals, 300 birds and hundreds and hundreds of insects.
-Manmade machinery and chemicals simplified are agroecosystems
and are destroying them to get higher yields.
Altieri, M. A., & Rogé, P. (2010). The ecological role and enhancement of biodiversity
in agriculture. Agriculture, Biodiversity and Markets. Earthscan. LondonWashington. pp, 15-32.












Agrobiodiversity refers to an array of animals that co-exist within their
natural habitat or ecosystem.
Components of agro biodiversity: genes populations, species, communities,
ecosystems, and surrounding landscapes.
Costs to environment can be significant when one or more services are lost
due to biological simplification.
-Ex: chemical pesticides replace controls on pests, genetic
manipulation replace natural processes of plant evolution and
selection, natural seed dispersal is replaced by machines.
Scientists fear for future of natural ecosystems after long-term inputs of
chemicals and unnatural machinery.
Modern agriculture has led to simplification of environmental structure.
-Majority of worlds agricultural landscapes are planted with 12 grain
crops, 23 vegetable crop species, and 35 fruit and nut species.
Studies show that the biodiversity enhances soil fertility and pest
management while sustaining yields.
Traditional cropping systems are the best representation of agro biodiversity
as these farms contain a number of domesticated crops along with their
relatives.
Diversified agroecosystems have emerged over hundreds of years and
cultural and biological evolution.
-Interactions among the plant and animal species on the fields are
forms of beneficial synergisms and necessary for a healthy fertility,
pest control, and productivity.
Organic agriculture does not exhibit the same downfalls as industrial
agriculture does, likely because they implement natural pest controls and
fertilization.
-Integrated Pest Management, whole Farm Planning, Fair Trade
Pollination important to overall necessary health and maintenance of
biodiversity of flowering plant ecosystems.
Presence of weeds influences and supports dynamics of the biotic
communities.
-Outbreak of certain crop pests is less likely to happen in fields
where weeds are present.
Soil provides a home for a variety of organisms, which contribute to the
maintenance of the agroecosystem.
-There is no doubt that organisms found in the soil are essential to the
well being of the plants grown from the soil. Industrial agriculture
increases the likely hood that these organisms are unable to live in the
dying soil and therefore the plants are unhealthy.