rainforest environmental problems
Agriculture: The largest environmental disaster
There are no "good times" of agriculture. When people began to herd animals and scratching the ground for planting seeds, agriculture has been a destructive force of the environment. We have heard much in recent years about tropical rainforest destruction South America and the Red Forest in California. Every state has some form of agriculture. All ecosystems in the United States has been affected by agricultural activities. The redwood forest and more glamorous of the prairie land of Illinois or Michigan.
In recent decades, agriculture, organic agriculture or sustainable were discredited among farmers as a movement to return to 18 farming practices of the century. Chemical and fertilizer companies used these images to impress farmers that if you want to use a practical alternative to "modern" agriculture is probably going to spend much time looking at the end wrong horse. However, 18 or 19 or even early twentieth century farming practices were as destructive as today's practices.
So How are we supposed to feed? We do so through agriculture. Anyone who thinks I am suggesting that a change of activity and return to the hunting and gathering is jumping to conclusions. The problem of agriculture has always been the way it has. From slash and burn farming in agriculture without industrial chemicals, through centuries of human attempts to raise a crop, the impact on the surroundings was of little consideration.
In the 1970 U.S. farmers were encouraged remove all of their fence rows and plant every available inch to maximize their profits. This attitude was promoted to the reality does not benefit farmers, but benefit companies that farmers sell their products a. So what if you won more than ten acres on a farm in hectares. The benefit was not large because the price of corn was low.
Along with the removal of fences farmers plowed their pastures, took out the wood and other degraded properties profit-seeking procedure. Or maybe it was not just profits but a desire to participate in the booming consumer economy differently in a similar level workers or other people who actually worked for a living. The effect of their activities was increased erosion, destruction of wildlife habitat, loss of biodiversity, and increased runoff of chemicals.
Agriculture by nature is a harmful activity. But how agriculture need? How much of the millions of tons of grain actually go to feeding people? Grain is fed to livestock and then eating the livestock really worth the worth the amount of resources and environmental destruction is the result of this practice? A trip to a grocery store aisle after aisle reveals things that people can eat. But much of this is made actual food value is depleted and is part of a toxic mix of chemicals and additives are not worth the energy used to produce it.
The best days of Human Rights Agricultural activity is still in the future. Until the full impact of agricultural practices on the environment environment are reflected in the final cost of the product on the shelf, agriculture will be a wasteful destructive force.
About the Author
Michael Dappert is a co-founder of Winco, Inc., a provider of wireless internet access to small communities in West Central Illinois. Everyone is invited to discuss a wide range of issues at Flyoverfolks.com.
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