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| industrial agriculture(5) |
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| Industrial agriculture (3) |
In our grocery stores today we see the variety of foods, and the numerous amounts of food we are provided with. Our great demand for food has impacted the food industry and changed the way food is produced. The method of production most commonly used today is industrial agriculture. Industrial agriculture is a food system that emerged in the 20th century that provides large scale agricultural production
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| Sustainable Agriculture |
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| sustainable agriculture(4) |
There are numerous reasons why our health is at risk with industrial agriculture, one for example is that the industrialized crops contain more nitrate and pesticides(2). The pesticides can cause certain types of cancer.(2) A second example is that many meat products are prepared in slaughter houses which are not very clean and may be contaminated which causes epidemic food born illness(2). Studies show that this sickens 76 million people, causes 325,000 hospitalizations, and kills 5,000 people every year (2). Industrial agriculture thrives to produce mass amounts of food in a short period of time disregarding the health of people.
Not only does industrial agriculture have associations with health issues it has a big effect on our environment. Factory farms have a hug impact on pollution. They pollute the air, water and soil with hazardous gasses, toxic chemicals, and harmful pathogens.(2) Since industrial agriculture contaminates groundwater and surface water with toxic pesticides and fertilizers, this damages the aquatic ecosystems and also effects human health(2). The mass amount of pesticide use also contaminates the soil.
As we can see industrial agriculture has a huge negative impact on humans. It is efficient to say that sustainable agriculture is the safer and healthier method of production. Sustainable farms do not use pesticides and other harmful chemicals in their food production (2). This makes the food better for our bodies and even helps us fight certain disease, like cancer (2). Since the crops are organic they contain much more vitamins, iron, and magnesium which are greatly needed for our bodies to stay healthy (2).
Unlike industrial agriculture, sustainable agriculture wants to protect the environment. They do this by managing their farms more responsibly and maintaining their land for future generations. Their farms are not over crowed since they do not raise more animals then sustainable for the farm. By doing this the manure produced by the animal’s substitutes the use of chemical fertilizers, which avoids pollution problems (2).
It is clear to see which method of production is healthier for humans. Although Sustainable agriculture does not produce as much food and crops as industrial agriculture does it provides us with more clean and safe food. It also does not pollute and destroy our environment which at the end of the day I think is more important.
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http://www.google.ca/search?q=industrial+agriculture&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=Industrial+agriculture&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=SXOgTaDvF8G20QG044GPBQ&ved=0CBkQkQ4&fp=af8369df22e4f31a
http://www.sustainabletable.org/intro/comparison/ (1)
http://www.caspinc.com/images/cowsForestRowsR.jpg (2)
http://neptune911.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/pig-factory-farms.jpg (3)
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/064/cache/sustainable-agriculture_6499_600x450.jpg (4)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0M4HOX14eb6yn06ZSBavvwUu5ALXo6u6QcYXJ9mWwDPVeqvQYDDRh9xxOzK9dVk5vliezRVpzPBN-Oz3fN73BbndE9NWXNL7Zo96p6Xqf5ji58lyiEKpvl1ZcIwuXxb2ABzr6uKaMAxU/s400/12kristofBspan.jpg (5)
Blogs I commented on
http://melissasbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/differences-matter-sustainable-over.html?showComment=1302368023643#c7028120034943273739
http://natashasbioblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/dirty-little-secrets-of-food-industry.html?showComment=1302368690222#c7071065401039394564
