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It comes from a policy report published on FarmDocDaily: Concentration of US Principal Crop Acres in Corn and Soybeans. This is industrialagriculture at a glance. Regenerative agriculture anyone? The post US industrialagriculture at a glance appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle.
Today, this model of industrialagriculture is no longer fit for purpose. Switching to agroecology offers a way to produce food within diverse landscapes growing and nurturing different crops, livestock and fisheries suited to the conditions and communities that live in the area.
Our taxpayer dollars are propping up some of the largest industrialagriculture operations in the country, allowing the big to get bigger. Our governments misplaced prioritization of growing and exporting low-value crops, which primarily benefits the corporations dominating our food system, is reflected in Americas public health.
Industrialagriculture refers to the large-scale, mechanized production of crops and livestock, employing modern technology and techniques to maximize efficiency.
By destroying wetlands, industrialagriculture robs communities of natural flood protectionsjust as climate change fuels more frequent and severe floods, like those in the summer of 2024 that devastated communities, destroyed crops, and claimed lives in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
Interplanting these agricultural sisters produced bountiful harvests that sustained large Native communities and spurred fruitful trade economies. The first Europeans who reached the Americas were shocked at the abundant food crops they found. The monocropping industrialagricultural systems that produce much of the U.S.
Powerful PR firms have worked overtime in recent years to craft a narrative that highlight farms’ potential role in mitigating climate change, but the truth is that agriculture consumes 6 percent of the world’s fossil fuel energy , and the oil and gas industries rely on industrialagriculture for one of its largest and most lucrative markets.
But with the heavy rain came floods that damaged lives, property, and crops. With fields waterlogged, many farmworkers were unable to work and pick produce, signaling that crops like strawberries might see lower yields and higher prices in the near future.
” Instead, they are accounted for in different sectors altogether: manufacturing and industry. As Raj Patel, author and a Civil Eats advisor, points out on Fuel to Fork , fossil fuels enable certain kinds of large-scale industrialagriculture to be profitable. Meanwhile, we collectively pay the true cost.
In a county that was intentionally poisonedand a world suffering from a changing climatehe is reviving the soil under his feet by transitioning away from pesticide-dependent row crops like tobacco to industrial hemp, which is known to sequester carbon and remediate soil, and using earth-friendly organic and regenerative methods.
The Crop Cycle: Stories with Deep Roots by Shane Mitchell Shane Mitchell spent nine years tracking down the history of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the American South to understand the regions relationship to food. But she retains memories of her mothers kitchen.
Because like the Dust Bowl of so many decades ago, this tragedy stemmed from a collision of multiple systemic problems—in this case, unchecked climate change layered atop the excesses of industrialagriculture. Preventing soil loss from farms and its damaging consequences is possible, and it starts with keeping farm soils covered.
About a third of the world’s soils are currently degraded, the FAO says , and poor land management practices and hyper-industrializedagriculture is pushing that number higher. Farmers can use techniques like no-till growing, cover cropping, rotational grazing and planting, and implementing other buffers against erosion. “We
SHI-Belize partner farmer Juvini Acosta reforests land affected by conventional agriculture. Industrialagriculture prioritizes profit over the health of the planet. Monocultures cover vast areas with a single crop, violating natural laws and putting plants at risk.
“By regenerating soil health, sequestering carbon, and restoring biodiversity, sustainable ranching practices have the power to reverse the damage caused by decades of industrialagriculture.” This means crops and animals are raised without pesticides or hormones, have access to open areas and are entirely or partially grass-fed.
Using robots to milk cows and drones for the precision irrigation of crops will save labor costs and conserve water. It was a stark contrast to the Swiss countryside, where agriculture was practiced in a way that kept the soil healthy, and the land and air alive with animal, plant, and insect life.
Those tiles, which were first installed in the mid-1800s and have now largely been replaced with plastic pipes, ultimately allowed farmers to grow crops on land that was once too wet to farm. The annual crops and drainage tile started to create this leaky system.” Fertilizer as Poison The U.S.
The ongoing megadrought that has afflicted California since 2000 has caused profound challenges for people, agriculture, and ecosystems throughout the state. Flooding has also affected farmers who have lost part of their crop production.
“It is one thing to argue against cutting down a forest because of climate change, but it’s an additionally interesting point to argue how cutting down a forest would reduce precipitation in the same region which may reduce crop yields in the area,” Hopman continues.
This legislation covers everything from crop insurance to conservation to forestry to nutrition , so over the past few months I’ve been learning a lot! Now that I’ve joined UCS I’ve plunged into the world of food security within the United States, which means I’m looking at the food and farm bill in a whole new light.
.” ” — Rattan Lal, professor of soil science + 2020 World Food Prize Laureate Conventional, or industrial, agriculture uses chemicals to defend crops from weeds, certain insect species, and diseases. However, these chemicals harm the very thing the crops rely on: soil. In Panama alone, 2.1 million hectares (5.1
Not to mention that industrialagriculture is hugely destructive to the environment. We’re trying to grow crops that would love tons of precipitation that we just don’t have. Our meat is laced with all kinds of hormones and antibiotics. It’s just hugely destructive and contributes to climate change.
Generically called the “farm” bill, it is actually a farm and food bill that supports a wide range of programs, including ones that cover crop insurance, financial credit, and export subsidies for farmers, as well as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
However, industrialagriculture — characterized by the use of heavy tillage, intensive monocropping, and excessive grazing — has resulted in the degradation of the very soils that sustain our food supply. CONTENT SOURCED FROM LEARN LIBERTY Written by: Max Payne May 19, 2023 The connection between a farmer and their land is unmatched.
In agriculture, that meant increasing yields of commodity crops, and over the last 100 years this led to consolidation across the US food system. Currently, it only prioritizes the impacts of climate change (such as floods, droughts, and extreme weather) on agriculture.
By destroying wetlands, industrialagriculture robs communities of natural flood protectionsjust as climate change fuels more frequent and severe floods, like those in the summer of 2024 that devastated communities, destroyed crops, and claimed lives in Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
(Photo credit: David Thoreson) Chris Jones, a retired University of Iowa research engineer and the author of The Swine Republic , explains that because of this difference in the soil, the region has never been well suited for large-scale industrialagriculture. So, when we try to farm at these very large scales.
Their app, called Plantix, could near-instantaneously diagnose a crop pest or disease simply by looking at a photo of the plant. A farmer uses the Plantix app to diagnose crop pests and disease. Plantix’s algorithm consults a database of crops, pests, and diseases sorted by geographic region and provides a diagnosis within seconds.
This entails raising the water level just high enough to drown the grass weeds, but not so high that it harms the rice crops. Lundberg Family Farms also utilizes cover crops including oats, vetch, and fava beans to restore nutrients in the soil, prevent soil erosion, sequester carbon, reduce weed pressure, and provide habitat.
Today, the four counties sitting in the lake bed account for more than $25 billion in food and crop production, with Tulare County ranking number one in the nation for milk and oranges. Neighboring Fresno and Kern Counties top the list for almonds , while Kings County rules the state in cotton production.
Montgomery and biologist Anne Biklé, unravels the threads that connect soil, crops, animals and people. Early warnings of the potentially damaging effects of industrialagriculture and food processing technologies upon planetary and human health provoked a vehement backlash. This latest book, by geology professor David R.
They create little employment in the local area because they grow cash crops that don’t need many farmworkers. What they do need are huge amounts of water, huge amounts of pesticides to artificially correct the unnatural monoculture, and huge amounts of fertilizers because industrialagriculture practices deplete nutrients from the soil.
If Nebraska is a quilt, the seamstresses are its farmers – agriculture has defined the landscape of Nebraska to such an extent that you can literally see it from space. We met with four inspiring farmers who are going against the grain (pun intended – Nebraska’s main crop is corn) and adopting regenerative agriculture practices.
She later became the executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Toppenish Creek , which advocates for improved oversight of industrialagriculture. A wellhead in Boardman, Oregon.
The heroes are new cover crops, nitrogen producing microbes for crops and gene editing to produce never-been-possible-before products and traits.” Ag-tech that is smart, innovative and actually improves or increases the quality, productivity or profitability of crop and livestock production will find a market and eager adopters.”
Birds, bats and insects live in balance on the farm, creating a healthy ecosystem where pests pose fewer problems, and the naturally poor-quality soil is able to produce sufficient varied and delicious crops to keep a successful veg box scheme running.
Prioritizing ecological integrity and community health over yield, these farmers stay profitable by diversifying their crops, producing value-added products like jams and sauces, and building community support and social capital. In the end, From the Ground Up paints a hopeful picture of how agricultural practices could evolve for the better.
Our first sustainable tip is the reason behind our work: Tip #1: Support regenerative agriculture Conventional, or industrial, agriculture heavily relies on chemicals to protect crops from weeds, specific insect species, and diseases.
His two books, Supermarket USA: Food and Power in the Cold War Farms Race and Trucking Country: The Road to America’s Wal-Mart Economy, are intricate histories of the policies and politics of the American food industry, and the transformations they’ve wrought on rural life. Photo by Christopher Paul High on Unsplash.
Instead of following a single, linear thread (reductionist approach), the science of sustainable agriculture acknowledges and attempts to illuminate the wholistic truth that the thread is part of a fabric, a braid, a web where everything is connected to everything else. I should have 34 years with NCAT, not 24.
Aidee Guzman, 30, grew up the daughter of immigrants in California’s Central Valley, among massive fields of monocrops that epitomize intense, industrialagriculture. Her parents were farmworkers, and despite spending their days producing food, they relied on food banks to eat. People like my parents, they were pushed off the land.”
The crop he and co-founder Morgan-Lea Fogg gather each spring lies just below the surface: long lines of slick brown sugar kelp. A quick taste test proves it true: Their crop is ready to harvest. The World Bank said raising this versatile crop in just 5 percent of U.S. territorial waters would produce as much protein as 2.3
They also have ecological benefits because they offer a market outlet for small-scale producers not involved in large-scale industrialagriculture. They are “actually enabling the more locally specific and traditional crops to be grown and consumed,” she tells Food Tank. “In
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