Feeding The Future: Organic Agriculture

1989 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: History of agriculture

Having lived in rural America all of my nearly twenty-two years in life I take pleasure in sitting down to dinner and knowing exactly where the food I am about to partake in came from and am hopeful that we continue to produce enough to feed ourselves. The steak was from an Angus steer fed out on our farm, the potatoes and corn a family friend grew in his garden, and the apples in dessert are from a local orchard. Granted, not everything I put in my mouth comes from a source that I have direct contact with, but I least have knowledge of the food industry. However, your average American is clueless about where their food comes from. They travel to their local supermarket and furnish themselves with the plastic wrapped meat in the freezer section or to the local fast food drive thru for a burger. My agricultural background makes me proud to understand where my food comes from and that I possess the ability to sustain myself and not wholly depend on a trip to the grocery store if possible. With this knowledge I chose the topic of whether the world can tackle it’s exponentially expanding population and be able to feed itself in the foreseeable future.
Considering that the first humans who interacted with agriculture were hunter-gathers, I believe the industry has come a long way in domestication of plants and animals and with technology that has made farming easier. Advancing from hunting and gathering, crops would only be planted near a water source for irrigation. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that farming itself really changed, when mechanization, where once beasts of burden were used, could increase production. New implements meant less time could be spent on the fields and they could focus on introducing tac...

... middle of paper ...

...ulture Organization (2009). Global agriculture towards 2050. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/wsfs/docs/Issues_papers/HLEF2050_Global_Agriculture.pdf
Jones, J. D. (2011). Why genetically modified crops? Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0345

McLure, J. (2012, August 31). Genetically modified food. CQ Researcher, 22, 717-740. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

United States Department of Agrculture (n.d.). 2007 Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Fact_Sheets/Farm_Numbers/farm_numbers.pdf
World Hunger Education Service (2013). 2013 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics by World Hunger Education Service. Retrieved from http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Kelsey Timmerman's 'Where Am I Eating?'

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    I am used to living a very busy life style, so I never paid close attention to where my food was originating from. Usually when I look at my food it is more to find out its nutritional value rather than its origins. After reading Kelsey Timmerman’s “Where Am I Eating?”, it has opened my eyes to some of the horrors of the food industry. Regardless of what I have learned, changing my eating habits would be very challenging, and I do not believe it is entirely necessary. Yes, there are many negatives in the global food economy, but it is not totally corrupt as Timmerman suggests. I believe it would be very difficult to change because of the many misleading food labels, the United States has become unfamiliar with how to produce for the entirety

    Read More

  • America’s Food Crisis, by Bryan Walsh

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walsh, Bryan. “America’s Food Crisis.” NEXUS. Eds. Kim and Michael Flachmann. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 166 – 173. Print.

    Read More

  • U.S. History 1877-1933

    1025 Words  | 3 Pages

    As in any time period, significant technological advances were made from 1877 to 1933. Since the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in America, new technologies and advancements are being made every day. This Revolution has transformed the economy and in turn transformed every aspect of American life. An important effect of the Industrial Revolution was the Agricultural Revolution, when new advances in farming were made. In the area of farming, the government passed laws and regulations that were significant in the ...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Organic Farming

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    More and more farm-to-table restaurants, farmer’s markets, and food co-ops are cropping up to meet the demand among consumers for healthy, local foods, as more chefs and consumers recognize the poorer taste and nutritional integrity of ingredients shipped in from far away. Fruits and vegetables that have to be shipped long distances are often picked before they have a chance to fully ripen and absorb nutrients from their surroundings. Because local food doesn’t have to travel long distances, it is grown in order to taste better and be healthier rather than to be resilient to long travel. The farm-to-table movement also helps local economies by supporting small farmers, which is a dying

    Read More

  • Genetically Modified Food (GMOs): Annotated Bibliography

    2902 Words  | 6 Pages

    Genetically modified food’s, or GMOs, goal is to feed the world's malnourished and undernourished population. Exploring the positive side to GMOs paints a wondrous picture for our planet’s future, although careful steps must be taken to ensure that destruction of our ecosystems do not occur. When GMOs were first introduced into the consumer market they claimed that they would help eliminate the world’s food crisis by providing plants that produced more and were resistant to elemental impacts like droughts and bacterial contaminants, however, production isn’t the only cause for the world’s food crisis. Which is a cause for concern because the population on the earth is growing and our land and ways of agriculture will not be enough to feed everyone sufficiently. No simple solutions can be found or applied when there are so many lives involved. Those who are hungry and those who are over fed, alike, have to consider the consequences of Genetically Modified Organisms. Food should not be treated like a commodity it is a human necessity on the most basic of levels. When egos, hidden agendas, and personal gains are folded into people's food sources no one wins. As in many things of life, there is no true right way or wrong way to handle either of the arguments and so many factors are involved that a ‘simple’ solution is simply not an option.

    Read More

  • The Genetically Modified Foods Controversy

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Deal, Walter F., and Stephen L. Baird. “Genetically Modified Foods: A Growing Need.” Technology Teacher 62.7 (2003): 18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Nutrition in America

    2225 Words  | 5 Pages

    United Nations Children’s Fund. (2012). Nutrition - What is the role of nutrition? Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_role.html

    Read More

  • Genetically Modified Organisms

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    GM crops also benefit the economy and assist in feeding more people. While we struggle with feeding our population, “The population will continue to grow” (Calandrelli 1) For instance, genetic engineering in agriculture can minimize the cost of producing food. Thus, GMO’s in crops can result ...

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Foods

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    The most wonderful activity a human being can experience is new flavors and foods. For example, the first time a person tastes a delicious juicy piece of prime rib or a delightful hamburger with cheese and ham, his world is never the same. However, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the production of food has been supplemented by science. This has triggered an angry dispute between the people who support the advances of biotechnology and people who love nature. In order to understand the controversy, we have to know the meaning of genetically modified foods. With new technological advances, scientists can modify seeds from a conventional seed to a high tech seed with shorter maturation times and resistance to dryness, cold and heat. This is possible with the implementation of new genes into the DNA of the conventional seed. Once these "transgenes" are transferred, they can create plants with better characteristics (Harris 164-165). The farmers love it not only because it guarantees a good production, but the cost is also reduced. On the other hand, organizations such as Greenpeace and Friends of Earth have campaigned against GMO (“Riesgos”) because they think that they are negatively affecting the earth (Gerdes 26). Both the advocates and the opponents of genetically modified foods have excellent arguments.

    Read More

  • The Benefits and Risks of Genetically Modified Foods

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a cause of continuous debate. What would be the purpose of producing genetically altered food? Many argue that GMOs could prove to be very beneficial, the use of GMOs could lead to advances in medicine, and agriculture, and they could also prevent famine in poor underdeveloped countries. Genetic modification offers many benefits: pest control, disease resistant crops, drought resistant crops, no use of insecticides, nutritional beneficial foods, and less contamination. This is only a short list of the many benefits offered by the used of GMOs. With so many benefits why are we opposed to such a miracle? (NERC 2005)

    Read More

  • Organic versus Conventional Farming

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    For years organic farmers and conventional farmers have feuded over which is superior. Organic farmers argue that their product is more eco-friendly because they do not use the synthetic chemicals and fertilizers conventional farmer’s use. Conventional farmers argue that their product is healthier and yields more. People tend to have stereotypes regarding the two types of farmers. Organic farmers are usually thought of as liberal, hippy, tree-huggers while conventional farmers are usually thought of as right-wing, industrialists. Obviously, some do adhere to this stereotype, but a majority of these farmers are normal, hardworking people. Although these farmers, both believe in their methods, one is no better than the other. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, but there is no true superior method of crop farming.

    Read More

  • Effects of Agriculture on the Environment

    2078 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • A Career in Farming

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Farming has been an occupation since 8,500 B.C. On that year in the Fertile Crescent farming first began when people grew plants instead of picking them in the wild. Then nearly 5,000 years later oxen, horses, pigs, and dogs were domesticated. During the middle ages, the nobles divide their land into three fields. The reasoning for this was to plant two and leave one to recover. This was the start of crop rotation which is a big part of farming today. Burning down forest and then moving to another area is a farming technique used by the Mayans called Slash and burn. Mayan farmers also were able to drain swampy areas to farm them buy building canals. In 1701 Jethro Tull invented the seed drill and a horse drawn how that tilled the land. In Denmark they would plant turnips in the previously unplanted field. The turnips help restore the nutrients in the ground thus crop rotation is born. In England people began moving there fields closer to each other for a more efficient way of planting. Later in the 18th century selective breeding was introduce which made bigger, stronger, and more milk producing livestock. In the mid 1800’s a steam plough was invented. By the 1950 tractors, milking machines, and combines were used by almost farmers. The latest f...

    Read More

  • The History of Agriculture

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    Agriculture has been around for about 11,000 years. Around 9.500 BC, the first signs of crops began to show up around the coastlines of the Mediterranean. Emmer and einkorn wheat were the first crops that started to show up in this area, with barley, peas, lentils, chick peas, and flax following shortly. For the most part, everyone was a nomad and just travelled along with where a herd went. This went on until around 7.000 BC, and then the first signs of sowing and harvesting appeared in Mesopotamia. In the first ...

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Organic Farming

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    Agriculture is the industry that I am choosing to reflect upon that is one of the top industries in the United States and therefore I felt it to be a good industry to focus on.

    Read More

More about Feeding The Future: Organic Agriculture

Open Document