Sustainability Vs. Conventional Farming

According to The Atlantic Magazine, organic means, “Organic means crops are grown without artificial pesticides, fertilizers, GMOs(genetically modified organisms), irradiation, or sewage sludge, and animals raised without hormones or antibiotics”(The Atlantic, Defining Organic: The Difference Between Sustainable and Local). The industrial organic food chain does not use harmful chemicals such as pesticides or herbicides. In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan says, “Organic farming rules do not allow chemical weed killers, so Greenway has to use other methods to fight weeds”(Pollan 140). The fields are watered to get any weed seeds to grow before the plants are to be grown. Then, the farmers uses a tractor to plow the weeds. The farmers do this several times. Later, the farmers use propane torches to burn any remaining weeds. “The result of all this hard work is fields that look just as clean as if chemical weed killers had been used"(Pollan 140). When Michael Pollan says this, he is explaining that, because they plow the fields and do not use toxic chemicals, there are no harmful chemicals which can seep into the food and water supply and poison the consumers. Also, industrial organic farmers are changing. They are drifting away from the industrial way of only growing one or two crops per farm and are slowly starting to grow many crops per farm. “"The efforts of organic farmers to

Freedom is something that every American citizen is entitled to. It is one of the attributes that our country was founded on. John F. Kennedy’s “Inaugural Address” and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech focuses around the concern of maintaining America’s freedom. However, while both speeches speak of making sure that America is still the free, safe nation is was meant to be, the two former presidents had different ideas on how to do so.

As an alternative to the industrial food chain which is now prevail in the US, the organic food chain emphasis that “nature rather than the machine should supply the proper model for agriculture” (Pollan 131). The idea of “organic” is best demonstrated by farms that raise diversified species in a traditional way and target at the local market. However, most of the “organic food” people consume today is produced from the “industrial organic” farms which belong to the industrial food chain instead of the ideal organic food

As Shireman (1999) stated, “being a responsible consumer and business operator of limited resources can improve one’s bottom line.” Many farmers have restricted or eliminated their use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, which eliminates soil and water contamination, reduces erosion, preserves local wildlife, helps conserve biodiversity and helps fight against global warming. According to Chait (2016), organic farming can be profitable and organic food appeals to consumers as both a healthy and ethical choice. Beyond money and ethics, though, organic agricultural practices result in numerous environmental

Sustainability means never having to worry about a resource of any kind not being there or a constant income of resources. For example, having enough water for crops and having enough food to eat everyday. I do not think that America or any other country will be 100 percent sustainable in agriculture because we can’t control the rainfall or how much water we get each year. Also we cannot control the economy and there are so many independent variables that go into agriculture that nobody can control that it is very unlikely to ever be 100 percent sustainable. The steps needed to get 100 percent sustainability are water management, as well as land management.Another step that we have taken is our technology, in general advancements we’ve made

The general public sees any type of organic food as being produced “straight out of a backyard garden” or “right off of the family farm”. But is it really freshly picked tomatoes right out of Grandma Mae’s garden or chicken breast from a local farm? If the food purchased is from Whole Foods or the organic section at Walmart, then that probably is not the case. Large organic farms are what usually supply Whole Foods and other larger chain stores that have organics. They are not what people initially think of when imagining the typical organic farm. They usually think of a small plot of land with an old farmhouse, chicken coops, a red barn, and a large pasture of grass. Even though there are still organic farms like that,

I believe the two most important amendments in the Bill of Rights is the first and second amendments. The reason the first amendment is important to the United States citizens is because it protects the freedom of speech, religion and the press of a citizen. Citizens are able to communicate, state their opinion without getting into any trouble. However, “There are some limits to this, though, such as libel, slander, obscenity and incitement to commit a crime.”. People are free to speak their minds as long as they do not give false information about any other citizen. Many citizens have different religions, no one can change a person's religion nor how they practice it. Everyone has a right to their own religion, citizens have the freedom of

Stop pretending you are sustainable. In fact, stop pretending you even know what the word “sustainable” means. In a world where we are inundated with social media feeds, slogans, buzzwords, flashy ads, and media coverage, it can be difficult to weed out the truth from the fluff. When it comes to environmental issues, that’s where things start to get dangerous. If we allow fads, marketing, and social pressure to lead us around blindly, we will be forced to tout empty symbols and gestures of what mob rule considers sustainable. Even worse, we will be taking up mind share and resources that could be spent on something we are truly passionate about, where real meaningful change can begin. Elizabeth Scharpf argues that we need to bring clarity to the now ambiguous term “sustainability” in her article “Why sustainability should be more than a meaningless buzzword.” The problem is that the word sustainability is so overused and thus too far gone to have any hope of being revived or made into a cornerstone of an environmental movement. While I agree that “sustainability” should be more than a meaningless buzzword, it has been so saturated that it is now not only meaningless, it’s dangerous. When we are left to fend for ourselves regarding sustainability’s true meaning, we are in danger of allowing social pressure to blindly lead us down the path of what it deems “sustainable” at the moment.

My second reasoning for siding with sustainable farming is it keeps the soil full of nutrients. They are able to keep the soil healthy or fertile by fertilizing with compost and or manure. By keeping the soil fertilized and healthy the crops will grow better. It’s also a more clean and efficient way to fertilize the soil and crops. Fertilizing crops plays a key role in the growth and development of the product.

In Forrest Pritchard’s book, Growing Tomorrow, Juan Garcia, an organic farmer in California who owns and operates Garcia Organic Farming speaks of the hard work organic farming requires when he states “instead of taking shortcuts with chemicals and machinery, we use our hands – and our backs – to get the job done” (247). After acquiring more knowledge about organic farming practices it is clear across the board that organic farmers love what they do and have pride and confidence that they are being good stewards of what has been placed in their care. In his book, Gaining Ground, Forrest Prichard refers to organic farming as “honest and meaningful” (266). Organic farmers are passionate about bringing only the best foods to the consumer’s tables, foods that are fresh, natural, and

7A Organic agriculture is defined by the USDA as agriculture that uses methods that help preserve the environment and do not use synthesized chemicals like chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers may use compost to improve soil fertility as an alternative to nitrogen and phosphorous based fertilizers. In organic agriculture, polycultures are often implemented, where multiple different crops are planted in one field. Crop rotation is also an essential part of organic farming, as it increases crop diversity and soil quality. Family farms better protect the environment when they switch to organic agriculture. Use of synthesized chemicals require more water, which can deplete water sources and even cause desertification, which increases soil

As mentioned in my example synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are prohibited in organic farming and these two things are harmful to the water. Pollution of ground water occurs because of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Organic farming also helps with air and climate change. With organic farming agrochemical needs are decreased and nonrenewable energy is reduced. This reduces the toxic load which helps keep harmful chemicals out of the air, water, soil and most importantly from our bodies. Organic farming also promotes biodiversity which is another reason in it beneficial to the environment. Organic farming is overall beneficial to our environment in many ways and helps keep not only the environment safe, but also our

Sustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, “the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014)

Organic farming is becoming an increasingly popular market throughout the world. (Adam, 2004, p. 666). The aims of organic farming are, to decrease pollution, maintain soil fertility and biodiversity, be more sustainable, and have increased nutritional benefits than conventionally grown foods (Yaping et. al., 2003, p. 298). While the aim of conventional farming is to provide safe, proficient supplies of food, in abundance and at low prices (Trewavas, 2001, p.409). Since 1996, the amount of land in the UK dedicated to organic farming has risen tenfold (Adam, 2004, p. 666). As well, from 1992 to 1997, the amount of certified organic cropland in the US more than doubled (Tafel et al, 2007, p.182 ). The main difference between organic and

Ever since the Agricultural Revolution, farming has always been organic. As the human population grew, conventional farming, farming with non-organic methods (using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides), became prevalent to satisfy the population’s demand for food. Recently, organic farming has attracted consumers for its health, environmental, and agricultural benefits versus conventional farming, however, there is a debate whether organic farming can produce enough food to satisfy the current population of 7 billion people and future populations on Earth. Ed Hamer and Mark Anslow argue in “10 Reasons Why Organic Can Feed the World” that organic farming can produce enough food to satisfy today’s population, while D.J. Connor argues otherwise in “Organic Agriculture Cannot Feed the World”. Even though organic farming has plenty advantages over conventional farming, we should stick to improving conventional farming because the projections for organic farming that Hamer and Anslow use are misleading.