Download Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture
For the last 10,000 years humans have been
practicing agriculture, or simply put,
farming.
Farming has allowed us to feed many
people and have food year round
Today’s farming is very different than it was
in the past
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Traditional Agriculture
Traditional, or conventional, agriculture is
how most of our food is made.
It is large scale, industrial and designed to
make the most amount of food with the
smallest amount of space
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What you think it looks like..
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What it really looks like…
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What you think it looks like…
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What it really looks like…
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Monocultures
A monoculture is an area of land that only
grows a large amount of one crop.
This makes it very easy for pests to destroy
the crops.
As a result, pesticides are used.
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Pesticides
Pesticides damage soil and can run off into
the surrounding area
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Pesticides
If a small amount of the pests survives and
are resistant to the pesticide, then they will
repopulate and a stronger, more toxic
pesticide must be used.
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Fertilizers
Since the soil gets degraded quickly,
fertilizers must be added to the soil.
Fertilizer runoff causes “eutrophication”
which means “too much of a good thing”
because the added nutrients cause algae to
flourish and choke out aquatic ecosystems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJOfph
SUj_Q
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Where are we?
What are the
Strengths
and
Weaknesses
of our current agricultural system?
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Successes
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abundant food supply in the developed world
fresh fruits and vegetables available year-round
cheap food
luxury foods such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and spices
easily available around the world
effective food preservation technologies (refrigeration,
freezing, canning, packaging)
convenience foods
mechanization produces high labor efficiency
improvements in soil conservation
availability of agricultural inputs for quick solutions to
production problems
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Problems
 continuing soil loss
 food safety concerns (mad cow disease, food poisoning
outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, toxins and pesticides)
 water pollution, air pollution (& odors), habitat loss, water
depletion
 continuing hunger – and rise of obesity
 failing farms, economic uncertainty and stress
 declining communities
 farm accidents, chronic diseases linked to agricultural
chemicals
 reliance on fossil fuels, global warming
 farmland loss to development, ugly countryside
 difficulty of starting in farming
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Traditional Agriculture
Pros
Less time
Don’t have to pay as many workers
May get more of one crop
Cons
Typically only grow one crop (monoculture)
Often uses slash and burn
Deplete soil nutrients (Need to farm
somewhere else after a season or two)
Possible pollution from use of chemical
pesticides and fertilizers
Need to constantly buy chemicals and seeds
What is
Sustainable Agriculture?
“…a journey, not a destination”
Iowa Farmer
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Sustainable Agriculture
 “…an integrated system of plant and animal
production practices…that will
 satisfy human food and fiber needs
 enhance environmental quality
 make the most efficient use of
nonrenewable resources
 sustain economic viability
 enhance quality of life.”
1990 Farm Bill
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Sustainability
 Ecological Health
 Economic
Health
 Social Health
 http://video.pbs.org
/video/2365228759
/
The three-legged stool of sustainability
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Economically sustainable
Provides a secure living for farm families
Provides a secure living to other workers in
the food system
Provides access to good food for all
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Environmentally Sound
Preserves
the
quality of
soil,
water,
and air
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Environmentally Sound
Cooperates
with and
is modeled
on natural
systems
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Ecological Impact
Effect on living organism and their non-living
(abiotic) environment due to human activity or
natural phenomenon
Socially sustainable
Good for families
Supports
communities
Fair to all involved
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Sustainable Agriculture
Pros
Natural, continually replenishing
nutrients in the soil
Extends the “life of the land”
Don’t need to buy chemical
pesticides and fertilizers
Cons
Takes time and attention to crops
to be proactive about problems
Hard to do on a large scale
(Note: This is just a test
plot)
How to farm sustainably
Farmers plant many different crops near
each other so that a pest can’t destroy an
entire crop
Waste products are composted and used to
replace nutrients in the soil.
Manure is used for fertilizer
Crops are rotated to preserve the nutrients in
the soil.
Use no till farming
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How to farm sustainably
Animals are treated fairly and given the
freedom to move.
Animals are not given unnecessary
antibiotics.
Animals are fed properly
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Example: Three Sisters
 According to
Iroquois legend,
corn, beans, and
squash are three
inseparable sisters
who only grow and
thrive together.
How it is Sustainable
 Corn
provides a
natural pole for
beans
 Beans provide
nitrogen and
stability
 Squash=natural
shade and mulch
Squash is spiny so
prevents animals
All three plants
provide plant
residue to enrich
the soil for
following years.