The Hazards of Industrial Agriculture

The Hazards of Industrial Agriculture

1.      The growing international trend / in organic farming / is driven by consumer demand, / which is currently rising / at the rate of 20 percent per year. / countries with the highest growth rate / include Argentina, the US, and China, / in that order. / people the world over / are becoming increasingly conscious / of the adverse effects / of industrial agriculture and view organically grown food / as a healthier alternative. While the majority / tend to be sympathetic / to small-scale farmers / and especially appreciate / the benefits of locally grown food, / they lake exception to factory farms / controlled by multinational corporations. / In particular, / they object to / the corporate focus on maximizing profits / at the expense of health / and environmental concerns.

2.            Health risks include pesticide residues, antibiotics, and hormones as well as the unknown impact of biological engineering. First, recent studies indicate that many produce items are heavily coated with pesticides have been linked with cancer. Second, the antibiotics we ingest from both plant and animal sources lead to the development of super bugs, which are increasingly difficult to combat. Third, plant and animal growth hormones are known to disrupt the endocrine system* and have the potential to bring on premature  puberty in children. Fourth, the unregulated use of genetically modified organisms makes these items virtually invisible in today's grocery stores. People have no way of knowing whether a product has had its genetic code tampered with by artificial means. Furthermore, they have no ideas how this genetic manipulation could impact their health.

3.            The environmental hazards of industrial agriculture comprise air pollution, global warming, water contamination, oceanic dead zones, animal cruelty, decreased biodiversity, **, and unsustainable farmlands. Moreover, there is the vicious cycle of producers having to use more pesticides and fertilizer are the largest global source of nitrous oxide emission, which are 300 times more toxic than carbon dioxide gases. If these ate allowed to continue unchecked, they will not only affect air-pollution levels but also dangerously intensify our current global warming crisis.

4.          According to authorities, water pollution is one of the most rising from conventional farming methods. Animal waste, artificial fertilizers, and pesticides leach into the soil. Then they run off through natural irrigation to contaminate groundwater, which accounts for a large portion of our water supply. Studies consistently show that nitrates from waste and fertilizers, and chemicals from pesticides, are creating permanent damage to groundwater around the world. Furthermore, the preponderance of nitrogen in fertilizers, which helps crops grow ends up harming oceans. It generates algal overgrowth that depletes so much oxygen in the water that no plan for animal can survive. This is how the dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and the Black Sea were created.

5.          Industrial mon-cropping ( in which one crop is repeatedly planted on a single field with synthetic fertilizers) kills the microorganisms needed to produce soil nutrients. Accordingly, the soil becomes less fertile over time, which leads to of the soil, farmers then have to use even more fertilizers to maintain productivity. This leads to a vicious cycle whereby greater environmental hazards are created, and the soil degrades even further. Likewise with pesticides, whereby only the fittest pests survive, farmers are forced to use greater amounts or more toxic forms to eradicate them.

6.           Organic farming, on the other hand, prohibits or strictly  limits the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetically modified organisms, thus avoiding or greatly reducing all of the issues involved in industrial agriculture. It infuses the soil with more essential nutrients as a result of holistic farming techniques such as crop rotation, whereby different crops are planted on the soil and ensures its sustainability and overall quality. Organic agriculture also takes the welfare of farm animals into grater consideration. Confining livestock in small indoor spaces is far less common, especially on small-scale organic farms, and pumping them with antibiotics is never done. On free-range farms, animals are allowed to roam freely, thereby reducing stress and their susceptibility to disease.

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*The endocrine system: This bodily system includes glands, such as the thyroid gland, that produce hormones. The system plays an important role in regulating metabolism, growth, puberty and overall mood.

**Biodiversity: A wide variety of plants and animals within an ecosystem.