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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 May 20, 2015 1 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 2 What you think it looks like.. May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 3 What it really looks like… May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 4 What you think it looks like… May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 5 What it really looks like… May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 6 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. May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 7 Pesticides Pesticides damage soil and can run off into the surrounding area May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 8 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. May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 9 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 10 Where are we? What are the Strengths and Weaknesses of our current agricultural system? May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 11 Successes 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 12 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 13 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 15 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 16 Sustainability Ecological Health Economic Health Social Health http://video.pbs.org /video/2365228759 / The three-legged stool of sustainability May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 18 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 19 Environmentally Sound Preserves the quality of soil, water, and air May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 20 Environmentally Sound Cooperates with and is modeled on natural systems May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 21 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 23 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 May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 25 How to farm sustainably Animals are treated fairly and given the freedom to move. Animals are not given unnecessary antibiotics. Animals are fed properly May 20, 2015 Toward a Sustainable Agriculture 26 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.