Sustainble Agriculture over Industrial!

Recently, for another course, I have watched a film on how our meat is processed, where it comes from, and who is leading everything.  I have learned that there are basically a handful of companies that run and process everything we eat, and theres no running from it.  There are now many farmers who rely on highly productive livestock breeds to keep the income coming in.  But because they rely on a certain breed, such as a cow for beef, they often forget about other varieties of choices, thus leaving most for extinction.  The types of cows who were used for both milk and beef in the past have now dropped dramatically in the numbers.  I would say relying on highly productive livestock outweighs the reducing of less productive breeds because like the questions ask, they are less productive.  In the modern day, no one is really wondering if their food was from a different cow than a now high productive livestock, all that matters is that it tastes good to them.

          While watching the same movie, I have learned that the livestock of farms have been grown differently.  In the past, you were able to grow a full grown chicken in a certain amount of time.  Today, in that time, a full grown chick would be twice as big, in half the amount of time.  It's clear that they did not magically grow twice their size; it's obvious something as been helping them grow -- farmers have been injecting livestock with hormones to grow twice as big, and lay twice as many eggs.  Before watching this movie, I was not familiar with anything I have eaten.  I was convinced that beef came straight from a cow, with no chemicals involved, no extra growth involved, just straight livestock. I have now learned that this is not the case.  The way chickens are grown dramatically stuns their ability to walk.  Because their body grows too fast for their bones, they're unable to keep balance.  Also, cows are being fed corn.  This is unusual because cows were born to eat grass only.  This may seem very convenient because corn is one of the highest production crop to this day, but there are downsides to every good situation.  Because the cows are not built to eat corn, they developed a disease called E. Coli.  A deadly disease that has killed many people.  Considering the past and how things are run today, there is a big change with the livestock and the processing of these animals.

         With the technology being created today, I know for a fact the agriculture industry can definitely keep up with the rapid growth of the global human population.  Livestock is now being produced at twice the speed.  Chickens are now being grown twice their size, in double the amounts, with many more eggs behind laid.  The agriculture industry will always have enough livestock to keep up with the growth of the human population. BUT, because of the fast growing products, as I said earlier, there is always a downside to a good situation.  Because of the fast growing products, the food will become less nutritious. For example, tomatoes are now picked while still green, and chemicals are used to grow them into a ripe state faster.  This process basically makes you eat a tomato without getting the full nutrients of an actual tomato.

          Industrial agriculture is a form of moderm farming that uses the industrailized production of livestock.  Industrial agriculture is a term used to describe how livestock is processed or how the farm is ran.  It's not the most appealing way to approach farming but its the fastest. Industrial agriculture usually focueses on the domination of nature, or the specialization of few species on a farm.  They also focus on the competition of other industrial farms, not really paying attention to the quality of the product.  On the other hand, sustainable agriculture is the right way.  They are the total opposite of industrial.  Instead of focusing on the domination of nature, the specialization of species, the competition of the farmers, sustainable agriculture focuses on harmony with nature, diversity, the community and quality of quantity.  In my opinion, I would choose to keep sustainable agriculture around more, with less industrial, but people in the world are not so educated on the situation.  No one pays attention to their food, so it is quite obvious that they would choose industrial agriculture of sustainable agriculture.

REFERENCES
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/heritage/

http://www.rense.com/general94/results.htm

http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/05/industrial_agriculture_v_susta.php

BLOGS I HAVE COMMENTED ON
Melanie: http://catnippp.blogspot.com/2011/02/hormones-in-our-foooooood.html#comments

Vanessa: http://vanezzabioblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/massive.html?showComment=1306481787609#c4239147065568308350