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Environmental effects of agriculture
Literature review of comparative benefits of conventional and organic farming
Literature review of comparative benefits of conventional and organic farming
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Buddha once stated “to keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” Although Buddha did not say this in regard to today’s chemically infused world, he was onto something. We have an option everyday to decide what we should put into our bodies. This option is taken advantage of and we have made food for pleasure rather than for fuel. Humans eat to satisfy cravings rather than to nurture their bodies. Health is overlooked the majority of the time and the after-affects of that are severe, even fatal. Eating meat is another choice that humans make. Some choose to lead a vegetarian lifestyle while others buy packaged meat weekly from their local supermarket. The meat-eaters are faced …show more content…
Organic farming costs about twenty to 100% more than industrial farming (Valliant). One would assume that not using chemicals would decrease the cost, but not using chemicals just means more labor. The Organic Farming Research Foundation stated, “the organic price tag more closely reflects the true cost of growing the food: substituting labor and intensive management for chemicals, the health and environmental costs of which are borne by society.” Due to these exact reasons, people do not believe that organic farming could feed the world, but scientists now claim that it is completely possible. Industrial farms make way more food than needed to feed the entire population while destroying the environment and using excessive amounts of resources. Organic farming produces the appropriate amount of product while improving the environment; making it the better investment. This is brought up in the article, The Second Silent Spring? by Krebs J.R.. He states, “organic farms may have higher levels of habitat heterogeneity than non-organic farms, and so potentially offer one route to restoring farmland biodiversity”. Organic farmings lack of chemical use also improves our physical appearance. According to the article 7 Shocking Reasons to Go Organic by Leah Zerbe and Emily Main, pesticides interfere with our body’s “natural weight-loss chemistry” and that leads to obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. Buying organic will prevent the purchase of products that interfere with our hormones. Some solutions to it being more pricey on the shelves could be buying from a local farmers market or growing your own produce in your backyard. Buying organic is better in the long run and it will cost way less than future health bills. Taking care of our body is the most important responsibly we hold, and what we put into it affects it more than we
Steven Shapin is an expert when it comes to telling people the reality of the situation. In his, article “What Are You Buying When You Buy Organic?” Shapin exposes and explains the truth behind the word organic. He explains that our view on organic is not a reality. The small farms that we picture in our heads are really just big business in disguise and these big businesses are trying to do good by supposedly not using harmful pesticides. Which are supposed to not damage the environment but in reality they are probably not making any sort of difference. Some people care about the environment, while others are buying taste when it comes to organic food but using different pesticides are going to help the taste, only freshness tastes the best.
Americans, as a whole, are fat, over-indulged, lazy, entitled humans. As a whole, yes, yes Americans are all of these things. In 2004, Alison Motluk, a freelance journalist who writes for numerous magazines including the New Scientist, The Walrus, and The Economist, pens an article called “Supersize Me: It’s Time to Stop Blaming Fat People for Their Size.” Motluk blames the food industry for increased portions. She blames the food industry for unhealthy, addictive additives dumped into our food. She blames the food industry for easy access to fast food. She blames city growth for making it near impossible to walk to get food therefore, people have to drive to get sustenance. Motluk blames schools for fat children because physical education
The small farms of America are scrutinized every day for what they grow and raise. Most of the small farms around America go through more and more regulations because the big farming corporations are able to pay the government off so they can grow and raise there items their own way. When most people look at small farms they see organic and healthy; for big corporations, though, a lot see short cuts and GMO's. Peter Singer also calls large corporate farms "factory farms" because they just keep growing and never stop but in the eyes of many that's ok. Shouldn't a small farm should have a right to farm what they want also, because of the good they can do for their community. So Americans should start buying organic and local because it can grow
Over the past few decades, small and medium sized farms have been taken over by large-scale factory farms. These farms house billions of animals used for consumption each year. The conditions on factory farms are filthy, overcrowded and disease ridden. Animals forced to live out their lives on these farms are subject to extremely harsh conditions, such as mutilation, confinement and living spaces piled high with feces. Not only do conditions on factory farms make life for livestock absolutely miserable, but factory farms are also negatively impacting human health and the environment. The production and sale of meat has become a billion-dollar industry based upon the bloodshed of other sentient beings. With this being the case, at the very least, factory farms need to be properly regulated and companies involved need to be held accountable for their abuse.
Imagine living a life without eating anything with an animal product in it. No meat, fish, milk, eggs, honey, not even gelatin. Vegans are people who adapt a lifestyle where they live without any animal based goods; some do this for the health benefits that come with eliminating meats and dairy. Many become vegan as a way to protest and eliminate animal cruelty which is extremely apparent in the meat industry. A vegan diet is based largely on fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and soy. Many people would say this is unhealthy, that a person cannot live like this. Much of this skepticism comes from being misinformed, and under informed about veganism. It is safe to live a vegan lifestyle. On a vegan diet a person can get all the vitamins
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?
of miles in space, looking like a dot. He said to a crowd “Look again at that dot. That 's here.
People love to eat meat. For over two million years, humans have relied on eating meat in order to survive or simply just because they enjoy the taste. Early humans had more powerful jaws and larger teeth and relied on meat as one of their main sources of food. As evolution took place and humans evolved, they developed smaller teeth and were only able to eat the meat if it was cooked. With humans evolving and being able to survive on foods other than meat, meat does not have to necessarily be a part of human diet anymore. Although many people have opted for a vegetarian lifestyle, most people still continue to eat meat and do not consider it a cruel act. Many have also stopped eating meat due health risks and environmental concern. Whether
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.
Going through life as carnivores, most people do not feel as though it is immoral due to the food chain. They are simply eating what is right to maintain proper nutrition and remain healthy. It is understandable that people do not eat meat due to animal cruelty, love of animals, morals, and ethical reasoning, but in reality, they are just robbing themselves of the proper nutrients. Vegetarians are likely to come across many negative health risks that meat eaters are less likely to come across. By not eating meat, vegetarians are prone to pernicious anemia due to vitamin B deficiency, which can seriously interfere with the production or red blood cells within bone marrow. Other health problems include iron deficiency, animal-protein deficiency, and vitamin D deficiency, as well as having lo...
A study of 362 datasets found that organic agriculture produces 80% of conventional yield with 21% standard deviation (Tomek et al. 2012). Second, organic farming requires less energy input which equates to less money spend from the farmers in addition to lowering carbon emissions. A study by the Department of Environment shows that organic agriculture uses 25 percent less than energy than their chemical counterparts, and certain crops like organic leeks and broccoli use 58 and 49 percent less, respectively (Bialis et al. 2013). Third, organic farming does not use pesticides. According to the World Health Center, 20,000 people die annually from the exposure of pesticides (Costa et al. 2014). Fourth, the methods that organic farmers use are better for the environment in the long run. And lastly, organic farming creates more jobs. A study done in United Kingdom shows 93,000 jobs could be created if Britain were to make a full scale shift to organic farming (Herro 2006). Although conventional agriculture is the primary producer for food currently, a large scale shift to organic agriculture is better suited to feed the world because organic agriculture can produce at adequate yield, requires less energy input, do not use
First of all, the main reason that people choose organic food is that people think organic foods have less chemical residue, such as pesticide, and fertilizer. In the article “Organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of pesticides, and may provide health benefits for the consumer”, Crinnion indicated that organic foods just had 33 percent of the amount of pesticide and fertilizer residues that found in conventional foods, and conventional foods contain two or more types of chemical residues than organic foods (Crinnion, 2010). In addition, Crinnion used a study of Seattle preschoolers as an example to demonstrate organic foods have less pesticide residues. The study of Seattle concluded that children who ate more conventional foods had six times higher level of pesticide resi...
As we stroll the aisles of our local supermarkets we see all kinds of food products, but does it ever occur to you how fresh or natural these products maybe. Organic farming prohibits any use of artificial chemicals, growth hormones, or antibiotics in the production of its crops and livestock. Organic farming has existed for centuries, but after the industrial revolution factory farming was arising. Organic farming does not allow the use of any pesticides in its crops or livestock production, but also helps sustain a good economic flow in rural communities. Although there are many benefits of organic farming, there is a lack of credibility some farmers provide within the distribution of their products and some argue that there’s no difference
Our world is growing! Growing in population that is, but the resources are staying the same. To help with the growing of the population that will be happening in the 21st century, science and agriculture need to work hand-in-hand. They need to stand together to make a break through together, to insure that everyone will have food on their plate. We need to work to have larger yields with the land we have. Some people say that humans need to change their diet, and others say that we should destroy hundreds of acres of wild land.
Vegetarians tend to be healthier than those who consume meat. This is due to the prevalent unnatural chemicals used in the processing of meats, and eating these are unsuitable for the body. Meats already contain harmful amounts of cholesterol, and over-consumption of red meat can lead to early heart disease. Animals that are raised on farms for their meat are not treated well, and this mistreatment can lead to harm in the meat they are producing. Although one life choice cannot change one’s environmental