The Environmental Issues And Solutions

In his paper, Pollan discusses the reliance on fossil fuels for agriculture, public health issues, and food security problems. He proposes policy that promotes alternative, local farming. Lyson describes a shift from craft to mass production, the consolidation of farms, and the disembedding of agriculture from the community. He discusses how civic economies challenge the market based agriculture system. Kloppenburg discusses how our current foodshed is built on a market economy and distances people from their food sources. Berry describes the problems of land consolidation, the industrialization of agriculture, and a culture of distancing people from farms. He proposes instituting more community based food systems. Although these authors discuss important economic, social, and environmental problems

As the Earth’s population grows at breakneck pace over the next several decades, who will feed the world’s people? Agriculture has undergone an extensive expansion and transformation throughout the last few centuries, beginning with the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s. New technology allowed for better and greater methods of production. With the development of modern technology, people try to think some way can plant less, get more. Many farmers plant only one crop in the same place year after year. However, those against monocropping claim that it is very hard on the environment and actually less profitable than organic means of farming (“Monoculture Crops – Learn About The Effects Of Monocropping”). In addition, the destructive nature of agriculture has recently shown its hand. While our supermarkets, convenience stores, and restaurants are filled with abundant food options, people forget to ask themselves where all this food comes from. Globalization has opened up economies of scale and has allowed people to tap into different types of products, whether that is food or clothing. But the availability of an increased mass market comes at a cost. However, today, the modern farming techniques have grown into a headache for farmers and governments alike, because they are the consequences of overproduction, industrial waste and other problems arising from the modern methods of agriculture. Thus, modern techniques are harmful to environments, animals, and humans.

As the growth rate of the population steadily increases, a surge in consumption of commodities will additionally increase . One basic commodity that will have an escalated demand would be food. Innovation within technology has allowed the process of mass production of goods. Production of goods on a large scale allows farmers to meet the needs of the majority of consumers capitalizing on market share. In order to meet consumers forever growing needs, land must be acquired in order to generate new farms for agriculture. Although the needs of consumers are being meet, the act of mass production of agricultural is contributing to the destruction of our planet. Consumers need to be aware of the repercussions of mass production on a global scale, in order to create a sustainable outcome while still continuing to let needs be met. With contributing factors of global warming , the population needs to be informed of harmful processes through agricultural farming such as deforestation, livestock, and crop emissions.

Life today in 2014 is vastly different to the period 1500-1800 as described by Blainey (2000). Survival no longer hinges on hunting and gathering food. In fact many people today give little or no thought to food production. Instead, we drive to a supermarket and buy whatever we want to eat. We have access to many restaurants and fast food outlets, so we not only have ample food at our fingertips, we don’t even have to prepare it if we choose not to. Advancements in production and using machines in place of humans (Henslin, Possamai and Possamai-Inesedy 2011, p. 139) mean food is now farmed and produced on a much larger scale (Macionis and

Hence this could create a systemic ideology of farm to fork that would procreate within the community. Along with this practice, we must decrease unnecessary distribution and the transport of food. The area in which a product is raised is the area in which that product should be expended, “consumers should be encouraged to eat in ways that support environmentally sound, healthful food, and carbon sequestration” (Niman pg. 48). Through revitalization of local food growth and consumption, the price of goods in the area would aid in the elimination of the middleman as well as the wholesalers to whom gain a profit from the farmer. By means of a holistic approach, The overall simplification of downsizing and educating our agriculture system is the resolution to creating a renewable and just future for our food

According to Robert Kenner, creator of documentary Food inc., the agriculture business produces food that is unhealthy to the environment, along with non domesticated animals. Environmentalist and author Wendell Berry states in his paper From The Pleasures of Eating, “When food, in the minds of eater, is no longer associated with farming and with the land, then the eaters are suffering a kind of cultural amnesia that is misleading and dangerous.” Today, humans find the most effortless food options to go about their daily lives, hence all the processed, microwaveable foods. Unless consumers take a larger part and responsibility in the economy of food, the “cultural amnesia” will continue to mislead and be dangerous.

The US Food system has been likened to a lopsided hourglass; several farmers (producers), few input suppliers/intermediaries (processors), and several consumers. For the food system to be truly sustainable there must be a rational and optimized use of the natural resources that underpin food production and processing, such as labor, land, clean water, energy, and other agricultural inputs. Equally, reducing postharvest losses incurred at the various facets of the food chain howbeit on-farm and beyond the farm gate must be an essential component in any strategy to improve food security without increasing the burden on the natural environment. Failure in this regard would have long-term consequences for the sustainability of food production.

If you ask any one who has lived for the past forty - fifty years ; how they got their food? they will have a different answer. It’s because agriculture has changed throughout history. Example in the USA there was a lot of labour in the early 1900s ( agriculture economy ). Now we have combine harvesters and threshers which

Some problems with the global food system are its limited Food Access and its food waste. The inability to access sufficient amounts of food is an issue that happens to populations around the globe. Worldwide, about 795 million people suffer from chronic undernourishment, and about fifteen percent of households in the U.S. lack food to some degree. More than 29 million Americans live in places where they do not have a supermarket within a mile of their home. On top of the absence of these markets, limited mobility, economic barriers, and a lack of fresh food options prevent certain low-income communities from obtaining healthy and affordable food. This problem has only been exacerbated by the farm policy incentives that drive an excess production of sweets, fats, and meats, and producers choosing to cut costs through extensive food processing and use of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated soy oil to increase

“The way we eat has changed more in the last fifty years than in the past ten thousand.” (Food, Inc.) Farming first emerged as a large-scale industry during the Industrial Revolution. The transition from small, local farms to larger, corporate-owned businesses began when machines were more readily available and much more efficient. However, another factor in the creation of the current industrial food system, including factory farming, is the advent of fast food, beginning in the 1930s. Food had to be uniform and cheap for both the company and the consumers (Food, Inc.). Another contributing factor is increased demand for animal products,

Industrial development of the past 200 years has brought immeasurable wealth and prosperity. However, it has also caused unintended eco- logical degradation and pollution (Shrivastava, 1995). Pollution is defined as “the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that causes adverse changes (Khamis, 2017). Pollution is a worldwide problem that affects humans on a day-day basis causing disastrous and deleterious effects that eventually lead to loss of life. Pollution can be of various types; it can be in form of chemical energy, light, heat, noise. These are referred to as pollutants and most are as a result of human activities. The drastic effect of these activities greatly endangers life and has a lasting impact on the sustainability of the environment. This is why the issue of pollution is of utmost importance to every individual as it will affect the quality of life of the human race if its rapid progression is not curtailed.

The human need for food is one of the inherent and physiological needs; it is the most important factor for the survival and life. Food is an essential need, and human is forced to obtain food to quench the hunger. Proper nutrition and balanced is good for growth and leads to better health and longer lifespan. Initially, eating was only to crunch hunger, and feeling of hunger forced the human to consume everything that was available regardless of the quality and nutrition. Later, humans learned how to use the land and nature to provide their variety of food to consume. The urbanization and social life have caused many changes in the way human consume nutritional food. Today in regard to the growth of population and their need for food producing is one of the human concerns in contemporary society. As it is forecasted that by 2050 the world population will be 9.6 billion people. Due to the growing population and changing diets, the world will need to produce 69% more food (Ranganathan, 2013). Now, this question comes in mind that how this amount of quality food should be produced for the population. Although, we have advanced technology, several factors such as climate change and soil quality of the lane will restrict the production of food around the world. Thus, these factors will give negative impact and restriction in the different region. We will face a difficult challenge of overtime to meet with these four principles: access,

It prompts us to look at it. Buy it. But is it really the best option to keep us alive? Multiple studies show that intensive farming could be the only way to supply our ever-growing population.

The environment has been in trouble for a long time. Americans have been dealing with air pollution, overpopulation, natural resource depletion, pesticide, water pollution and public health issues. These issues are causing environmental problems and had a negative effect on the environment. Most of these crises started in the early 19th century. The government got involved and started creating laws to protect the environment and the public.

The growing cost of food production is largely due to the expenditures companies use for mechanization, irrigation, heating systems in greenhouses, fertilizers, plastics in greenhouses, lab work, and chemical additives. (Azevedo) The idea of locavorism is that the product goes from producer to consumer with no intermediary. This concept cuts out the cost of middlemen in mass production, and generates a larger revenue for farmers. Although local food does not go through the same production process as food produced in factories, local food is more expensive when purchased. This is because farmers must charge for labor, materials, and time in order to generate a profit. The local farmer is not a business peon, but a person making a living. This circulation of local wealth betters communities, and gives less power to the large-scale monopolized producers. As said before, the price of local food is higher, but in turn it yields less health problems than