Meara McFarland
Eng. 2010 MW 11:30am
Report 2
With large factory and commercial farms being the main supplier of food for the world,
we are not building a sustainable future through our modern agricultural techniques.
Sustainability, according to the discussions at the 2005 World Summit is expressed as “three
pillars”, environment, society and economy. Findings have shown
commercial farming has considerably high detrimental effects to our
agricultural biodiversity, the backbone of a sustainable environment.
Biodiversity is described as the variety of all life and the
ecosystems they establish. This includes not only all the different
Wikipedia.org
animal and plant species, but the huge assortment of different genes that make up each individual
life. Apples provide an excellent example of just how diverse a species can be, considering that
“an apple tree grown from a seed will bear little resemblance to its parent'' Michael Pollan
explains, Author of The Botany of Desire. You may plant a seed from a Red Delicious apple tree,
but instead you can end up with emerald, sour fruit, due to the extensive assortment of different
genes in every single seed. Granting, not all species of plants may be as noticeable as the apple,
simple allele changes in the DNA code could make one plant immune to a disease that would
otherwise kill its sister plant.
Commercial and large factory farms purchase specific seeds to grow, usually
genetically modified naturally or mechanically, and plant the same thing year after year. When
farmers do this, the plant ends up being at a genetic standstill by not allowing natural pollination
and evolution needed to adapt to our changing world. With the downwards trajectory
biodiversity has taken, and without a change in the way we produce our food, we could have a
grim unpredictable future.
Genetic threat
The Ireland potato famine in 1845 showed the world just how devastating it could be to
have a staple crop destroyed, yet the world relies on only a few major crops to provide almost
half of our food; wheat, maize, rice, potato and soybeans. The United states alone produces 40%
of the worlds maize, and 85% of that has been found to be the same genetically modified maize,
BT-corn. Although BT-corn has been genetically altered for the
better (Less need for pesticides), the fact that we rely heavily on
a crop that comes mainly from the US and that it cant adapt
genetically, doesn’t meet the standards for agricultural
sustainability. If the plant were to become vulnerable to a new
Genetically modified plants in million hectares
gmo-compass.org
fatal disease we have the technology to research a cure, but, the
amount of time needed to do so could be too outstretched before
the world is affected. It requires extensive research, lab work, and primarily time, so the new
plants could grow and be tested for immunity and nutrition.
An alternative (or additional) complication from the lack of gene varieties or mutations is
the climate change thats occurring.With tropical diseases like dengue fever and malaria reaching
the temperate zones, the climate of the previous 12,000 years on Earth is no longer present
(Begley, Sharon).
New York Times
Any farm that continues to buy and plant the same seed product yearly puts that species
of plant at risk of not being able to cope with climate change, which can bring other issues such
as invasive species traveling to new parts of the globe to destroy the crops. The aftermath of all
these factors, could put a massive dent in biodiversity as a whole.
Deforestation
The largest driver of deforestation is agriculture. More often than not, many small
farmers use a process called “slash and burn” agriculture. In order to feed their families, they
clear acres by cutting down trees and burning them for more room to plant crops or for livestock
grazing. Not only does this drive climate change, 70% of Earth’s land animals & plants live in
these forests which cannot survive elsewhere (National Geographic) .
Many ecosystems that are destroyed go unnoticed, like The Cerrado in Brazil. Even
though it contains roughly 8% of Earth’s life, 40% of the land area has been cleared out for
commercial soy. “The total are of destruction is greater than the UK, Germany, Italy and
Portugal combined” Zachary Shahan accentuates, a Bachelor in sociology and environmental
studies. “Think you’re not contributing because you don’t eat tofu? Well, 80% of soy crop is fed
to livestock, and to chickens especially” he illustrates, making evident just how far this
destruction can reach; right up to our supermarkets. Even with the recent decline of
deforestation, according to The Global Biodiversity Outlook report “20% Amazon deforestation
would be sufficient to trigger significant dieback of forest in some parts of the biome by 2025”.
With species repeatedly becoming extinct at an alarming rate not seen since the dinosaur
extinctions, our ecosystem could easily destabilize due to the significant loss of biodiversity
across the globe due to deforestation.
Denizens of Earth
The underlying complication of most of
Earths biodiversity loss is due to our growing human
Deforestation & hopeful predictions
Brazilian National Space Research Agency (INPE)
population and “five primary processes: Over harvesting,
alien species introduction, pollution, habitat fragmentation and outright habit destruction” states
Edward Otten, MD with a BA in Biology. “While human beings have had an effect for the last
50,000 years, it has only been since the industrial revolution that the impact has been global
rather than regional” Otten points out.
The impact of our population was predicted by Thomas Malthus and Paul Ehrich in text
hundreds of years ago and while their timing was off, their theories are very legit. When the
carrying capacity of the land is exceeded, something will give whether it be through war, disease
or insufficient food. Over the next 50 years we may add almost 4 billion more people The
United Nations projects, totaling 9.4 billion people. 98% of the growth will be located in lowincome countries, where ecosystems and resources are already flimsy (Sierra club). This means
the demand for more resources and land has yet to reach its most critical levels, and at that point
our biodiversity may be irreparable and food scarce due to nutrient deprived soil and too many
mouths to feed.
Provincial produce
Its inevitable that we will have to redesign the way we handle agriculture, especially with
the price of oil soaring through the roof. Although California produces almost 95% of America’s
avocados, theres a good chance that if you walk into a well-known grocery store, you will find
the avocados there are labeled “Product of Mexico”. Food travels on average 1500 miles before
it reaches your plate, and that number is substantially higher if its imported out of country. The
infrastructure of the food system is so vast its almost virtually impossible to know where your
food was grown, where its been, or what kind of pesticides were used (Remember the tomato
scare in 2008?). In order to build a more sustainable future in agriculture and avoid the further
destruction of biodiversity, buying local produce is the best comeback.
Non-commercial farmers plant a wider variety of each crop, ensuring diverse genes for a
sustainable plant. Smaller farms also tend to use less pesticides (if none at all), manage farm
wastes/pollution more responsibly and ensure the soil remains full of nutrients for repeated
harvest without cutting down forests for new planting land.
When you buy locally grown food at a farmers market (or sometimes even at a natural
foods store), the farmers receive full retail value for their crops which in turn helps your
community with the money that comes back. The food is also fresher and more nutrient dense
compared to their counter parts in big name grocery stores.
To ensure our sustainability, buying locally could help us make a huge turnaround
compared to our previous agricultural techniques.
Work cited
1. Dr. Lee, James “Irish potato famine and trade” May 10, 1996. American University, The
School of International Service. Web. www1.american.edu/ted/potato.htm
2. Begley, Sharon “Are You Ready for More?” May 29, 2011 Newsweek.
3. National Geographic “Deforestation: Modern-day plague “ Web excerpt
4. Shahan Zachary “How Chicken Feed Is Ruining the Most Biologically-Rich Savannah on
Earth” May 11, 2011 Web. Change.org
5. Shah, Anup. “Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions.” Global Issues. 06 Apr. 2011. Web. 21
Jun. 2011. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions>.
6. Sierra Club “Population and Biodiversity Factsheet” Web.
sierraclub.org/population/factsheets/biodiversity.asp
7. Otten, Edward J. MD “The Effect of Human Population on Biodiversity” 2001 Web.
wms.org/biod/population/human_pop1.html