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Farming in the late 19 century
The historical background of agriculture
The historical background of agriculture
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Agricultural practices throughout the ages have evolved dramatically. Having started off as simple pastoral management and shifting cultivation, these methods have been altered substantially in the name of “progress”, primarily in the US and other industrialized nations. Through this progression the energy inputs and outputs has been drastically altered. The industrialized food system as we know it is much more complex today than the simple agricultural practices used thousands of years ago. Today, the industrialized agricultural system is dependent on extraordinary amounts of fossil fuel inputs in order to maintain its complexity. Energy is needed for growing, processing, packaging, distributing, preparing and disposing of food. With the rising cost of these fuels and the scarcity amongst these non-renewable forms of energy, we are setting up ourselves for exorbitant food prices as well as potentially catastrophic environmental degradation as a result of the industrial food system.
The Green Revolution of the 1950s and 60s is generally attributed for the development of industrial agriculture. Over the course of a few decades, grain production increased by more than 250% [1], however the Green Revolution techniques heavily rely on chemical fertilizers and pesticides of which must be developed from fossil fuels, making agriculture increasingly reliant on petroleum products. While some argue the Green Revolution staved off hunger for more than a billion people, others suggest that food security actually diminished for many people in underdeveloped nations as their cropland was converted for livestock feed production.
With the advent of the Green Revolution came the need for substantial amounts of energy to sustain crop produc...
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...n provide economic benefits for the community and reduce the consumption of energy necessary for transportation of these food products. The reduction of fertilizers can minimize energy demands while at the same time mitigate the effects of toxic runoff from their use.
Works Cited
1. Constraints on the Expansion of Global Food Supply, Kindell, Henry H. and Pimentel, David. Ambio Vol. 23 No. 3, May 1994. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
2. http://www.epa.gov/methane/
3. http://www.epa.gov/outreach/pdfs/Methane-and-Nitrous-Oxide-Emissions-From-Natural-Sources.pdf
4. Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy, Pimentel, David and Giampietro, Mario. Carrying Capacity Network, 11/21/1994. http://www.dieoff.com/page55.htm
5. http://www.epa.gov/outreach/sources.html
6. http://www.infra.kth.se/fms/pdf/energyuse.pdf
7. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wuir.html
Humans are damaging the planet to live comfortably, we must change the way food is distributed worldwide, support local farmers and switch to a healthier diet in order to stop global warming. The current global has been getting better for us humans over the years, from eating bread and eggs 3 times a day in the XV century, now we can eat better than the kings of those times, however the much of the food in not healthy and the global food system still fails in getting food to every individual in the planet and in addition it contributes to the destruction of our world. Ms. Anna Lappe explains how the food system contributes to around 1/3 of the global warming issue in her essay “The Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork”, while a group of Plos one explains the issues about the export and import of food growth over the last 50 years in the
The Green Revolution refers to development in technology and initiatives used in agriculture in the 1930s to the 1960s. It increased agricultural production worldwide, particularly in developing nations. The leader of this revolution is Norman Borlaug, otherwise known as “Father of the Green Revolution.” The Green Revolution had many causes and consequences from 1945 to the present. Some causes were the inadequate amount of food available and land degradation. However, there were also consequences both negative and positive such as the new conflicts emerging and increase food supply.
On the topic of environmental impacts due to “industrial farming”, Bill McKibben and Blake Hurst share completely different perspectives. McKibben believes that industrial farming has simply left an unexcusable bad impact on the environment, saying that it is unethical and that the meat we eat is potentially killing our environment and us as well. McKibben states that “we should simply stop eating factory-farmed meat, and the effects on climate change would be one of the many benefits.” (page 201). McKibben addresses that the techno fixes brought in industrial farming are simply not enough to help our environment.
Richard Manning Wrote the essay “The Oil We Eat – Following the Food Chain Back to Iraq” which was published in Harper’s Magazine February 2004 edition. In this essay, Manning discusses the evolution of agriculture and the consequences of it. Furthermore, Manning explores the relationship of fossil fuel, food calories and transfer of energy to illustrate earth’s prospective future. Through the use of charismatically presented factual arguments, visual powerful emotional narratives and the credibility of a few choice names, Manning creates an environment in his essay that allows flaws to escape otherwise unknown to majority reader.
Shifting back to a more locally sourced food economy is often touted as a fairly straightforward way to cut externalities, restore some measure of equity between producers and consumers, and put the food economy on a more sustainable footing.” (source E). The long-distance transportation of food uses a profligate amount of fuel and exploits cheap labor in the process. It can greatly assist the environment to buy from local sources by making the carbon footprint of food production lesser and saving natural resources such as oil.
Introduction:The idea of biofuels is a old concept, reaching as far as the ending of the 19th century. Solid in its idea but flawed in its presentation. Biofuels are a alternative energy to fossil fuels that are made from natural methods such as plants and crops and are key in solving the apparent flaws of fossil fuels. While fossil fuels have been in use for over a century, Biofuels have now risen to the popularity and been exposed to the press. At one point of time biofuel were being considered by some of the most brilliant minds ever in human history such as Henry Ford and Rudolph Diesel who believed that biofuels had the potential to be the new evolution s on only to reappear a century later. Now the world faces the struggles of global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels slowly dimming by day. Throughout the last century biofuels have proven to have a place in our society as a new alternative fuel source. Specializing in Being Natural and healthier than fossil fuels, biofuels have had a rough beginning against its competitor due to key situations such as pricing, Side effects, to fuel power. However the idea was passed on a to the later generations, and continued to pasand prolong usage. However through the last decade they have been highly advertised by politicians and Government officials claiming it to be the future of a powerful working society, and to help in making a new energy free world. Through belief Some even claiming that “By 2050, a new generation of sustainable biofuels could provide over a quarter of the world’s total transport fuel, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency” (last name). With such improvement biofuels should be the obvious answer to providing a better future to th...
One of the biggest problems facing the world today is global warming. The main reason behind it is the production of carbon dioxide from our cars, factories, power plants and other greenhouse gases, which is having a heating effect on the atmosphere, and this affects our ocean weather and agriculture, thereby dangerous to human life. “In Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork “Anna Lappe gives her views on how global warming can lead to many problems, what are its probable causes and potential solutions to it. Whereas in “Research and Development on Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases in Support of Climate Smart Livestock Production and a Vibrant Industry” Scholtz discusses the impact of global warming and continued, uncontrolled release of greenhouse gases on the livestock industry and consequently food security as well as
The book The No-Nonsense Guide to World Food, by Wayne Roberts introduces us to the concept of “food system”, which has been neglected by many people in today’s fast-changing and fast-developing global food scene. Roberts points out that rather than food system, more people tend to recognize food as a problem or an opportunity. And he believes that instead of considering food as a “problem”, we should think first and foremost about food as an “opportunity”.
The energy return ratio (as food energy per fossil energy expended) of the most energy efficient factory farming of meat is 34.5%, while that of the least energy efficient plant food is 328%. Fossil energy is utilized from before a cow is raised until it is eaten. This account for the necessary energy to clear land from its original vegetation, to grow cow feed, to operate slaughterhouses and transportation. Forty pounds of soybeans are produced by the same amount of fossil fuels required to produce one pound of meat. All these factors indicate the inverse relationship between meat production and fossil energy savings.
With the rapid growth of our global population pouring into the next millennium, we will witness an ever-growing hunger rate around the world. That is unless we call for a revolution on the global scale. The Green Revolution which already sprouted in the early part of the century only need to add a bit more momentum and we will see a bright future for the human race, a future without hunger and starvation ¡V hopefully.It is becoming increasingly difficult for the planet to support its overwhelming population. And since the amount of arable land available is becoming scarce, we must seek ways to dramatically improve crop yields of existing cropland.
In 1940, a new renovation of agricultural practices began in Mexico, later referred to as the Green Revolution. The beginnings of the Green Revolution are often attributed to an American scientist, interested in agriculture, Norman Borlaug. After much research, Borlaug was able to developed new disease resistance high-yield varieties of wheat. Along with the new disease resistant wheat and new mechanized agricultural technologies, Mexico was able to produce more wheat than was needed by its own citizen. Because of the success of the Green Revolution and Borlaug’s label as “The Man Who Saved a Billion Lives”, society was willing to look the away from the negative side of the Green Revolution. The use of inorganic fertilizers and synthetic pesticides would not be an issue until the case study conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Guillette, which proved by clear evidence that exposure to pesticides among the children of the Yaqui Valley in Mexico, did in fact impair the children’s development and motor skills.
A bowl of mix greens with fresh cut cucumber and grape tomatoes. Dressed with a fire roasted red pepper vinaigrette. It make a nice basic salad, but it stands on it one as a nice mean starter or lite lunch. What goes in to the growing of all the produce? We start in this world as hunter and gatherers. We did that for hundreds of thousands years. Then we learn how to grow and harvest our own food. Letting us work less to get more food and beginning one of humanities first huge population growth. That was not the last time we change the way we got our food. In the Second World War we discovered from weapon research how to make more effective fertilizers leading to more boatful harvest. Without that discovered the world could have not gotten to its huge population of over seven billion people. Now what is the next advancement in the agriculture going to be?
How society created a system in nature where animals and farming actually ruin the land, the same land that was once so cherished by our ancestors, completely stupefies me. When America moved from the locally-owned farms to the gigantic food manufacturers of today, it also moved away from the idea of the sustainability of earth by not preserving the land. Since this movement skyrocketed our economy and allowed for growth in several sectors of life, people gave no second thought to the changes being made. How have we as a society gone so long without even considering the impact of such an enormous revision within our agricultural system? Through industrialized farming, we allow our land to be demolished. However, some farmers know an alternative way of farming. Some farmers use the alternative method of organic farming, a natural agriculture solution. Although there are various factors involved in organic farming, weighing the benefits and costs of this type of farming—on both large and small scale levels—permi...
Agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of World War II. Food and fibre productivity rose due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favoured maximizing production. These changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labour demands to produce the majority of the food and fibre.
One of the most complex issues in the world today concerns human population. The number of people living off the earth’s resources and stressing its ecosystem has doubled in just forty years. In 1960 there were 3 billion of us; today there are 6 billion. We have no idea what maximum number of people the earth will support. Therefore, the very first question that comes into people’s mind is that are there enough food for all of us in the future? There is no answer for that. Food shortage has become a serious problem among many countries around the world. There are many different reasons why people are starving all over the world. The lack of economic justice and water shortages are just merely two examples out of them all.