Population Growth

Population Growth

Intensive Farming came about because of population growth.  The world population has been growing at incredible rate. In 1974 there were only 4 billion people on this planet, and in less than 40 years that has nearly doubled to 7 billion. The world population is expected to keep growing; the predicted population for 2043 is 9 billion people. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_growth

With this significant increase in population comes a high demand for food. All of these people need to eat, and we are running out of places to grow food. Intensive Farming allows for higher yields of produce from smaller plots of land. This is why Intensive Farming has become so popular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxVoEm6Y8ZI

Intensive Farming is relatively new to the world, and that is why many of the consequences are still unknown. We do know that Intensive Farming causes a loss of biodiversity, destruction of ecosystems, and human health risks. These problems could be the tip of the iceberg because there haven’t been any long-term studies done on Intensive Farming. If population growth slows down then it will be easier for people to reduce the use of Intensive Farming.

Pesticide Residue

Pesticide Residue

Pesticides used in agriculture remain on the produce and are consumed by people everyday. These chemicals are being put into people’s bodies, and there are consequences. One chemical that 99% of Americans tested positive for was DDT degradants. This is coming from the pesticides used to grow crops. From the article, Pesticides on Food, “Women who were exposed to DDT as girls are 5 times more likely to develop breast cancer.” Not enough is being done to protect people from the harmful chemicals. http://www.panna.org/issues/food-agriculture/pesticides-on-food

Eating organic foods is one way that you can avoid ingesting these pesticides. Organically grown food doesn’t use pesticides, or unnatural fertilizers. When people eat organically they also aren’t supporting the companies that use these harmful chemicals. Not using these chemicals can help the environment in many ways. Organically grown food isn’t allowing harsh chemicals to enter the water and disrupt the food chain.

If more and more people eat organically grown food there will be pressure put on the large companies to stop Intensive Farming. Eating organically is a simple change that will benefit both your health and the environment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh8c9OUti4c

Intensive Farming Causes Water Pollution

Intensive Farming Causes Water Pollution

The pesticides used in Intensive Farming can seep into the groundwater, wreaking havoc on many water sources. This water will then flow to nearby streams and rivers, and eventually end up in lakes. The chemicals in the pesticides are changing the ecosystems in every water source they come in contact with. These chemicals can do things like change the PH of the water, which can kill the plant and animal life in these water sources. This leads to extreme biodiversity loss, which weakens the ecosystem as a whole.

            When these water ecosystems are interrupted they can affect the entire food chain. If all of the healthy fish are dying from pesticide poisoning then all of the animals that rely on the fish as a food source are going to die. These pesticides are also contaminating the drinking water for many terrestrial animals. If those animals die from pesticide poisoning the food chain is disrupted in yet anther place.

            Water is an extremely limited resource for many animals as well as humans. If we don’t stop contaminating water sources with pesticides both humans and animals won’t have any water to drink. It isn’t too late, but the use of these harsh pesticides has to stop. We can be the change.

Factory Farming

Factory Farming

Another form of intensive farming is “factory farming”. Factory farming is the raising of livestock in extremely limited space. There are many negative effects of factory farming. The first being animal welfare. Animals are often times treated horrifically and have a very low quality of life. WATCH THIS VIDEO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_vqIGTKuQE

There are also negative effects on the consumers eating these animals. There is a greater risk of the consumer getting ecoli when eating factory-farmed animals versus grazing animals. Factory farmed animals are also given steroids to make them larger. When humans eat these animals they are also ingesting the steroids and these can have negative health effects. It is proven that these steroids can cause cancer in humans. From the article, Hormones: Here’s The Beef, “At the time, McLachlan's own studies at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) used animal models to investigate why DES fostered the development of cancer in daughters of women treated to avoid miscarriages.” This is the same hormone animals have been given. More studies are being done and a deeper explanation of them can be given at the Science News website: http://www.phschool.com/science/science_news/articles/hormones_beef.html

The environment really suffers from factory farming as well. When getting rid of the animal feces surrounding land can be polluted. Nitrogen pollution of surrounding land and water can occur around factory farms. An article was written by the Natural Resources Defense Council named, Livestock Pollution and Public Health. The article sates that cows are causing the pollution of groundwater in California, “California officials identify agriculture, including cows, as the major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater.” This can be very destructive to the environment because this groundwater can get into streams, rivers, and lakes which will result in the polluting of all the water.  The website also provides other areas that are suffering from nitrogen pollution: http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp

Jerry's Sad Story With Pesticide Chemicals

               The application of pesticides and fertilizers to crops is used in intensive farming to increase production. There are consequences to using these fertilizers and pesticides. The workers exposed to these pesticides are at extreme health risk. The pesticides are proven to cause reproductive problems as well as cancer to those exposed to them. The United Nations Environment Programme states that approximately “18,000” people around the world will die of pesticide poisoning each year.

           I would like to tell a story about farmer named Jerry Vann. Jerry Vann is a 58-year-old farmer who is dying because of exposure to pesticides. Jerry grew up on a farm and loved the farming lifestyle. He left the farm to go to college but eventually dropped out and married his high school sweat-heart. They went on to have kids, and that is when Jerry went back to farming.Eventually there was huge increase in the amount of farmers using pesticides and fertilizers. Jerry could see that it was increasing their crop production so he decided to use them as well. The companies producing the pesticides didn’t know the side effects at this time, nobody did. Jerry started to use the chemical organophosphate on his cotton crops. After he started to use this chemical he noticed changes in his health. Jerry kept going to the doctor but nobody could figure out what was going on. Eventually   they did tests on his brain and found out he had peripheral neuropathy. This meant his outer nervous system was dying.

Jerry is now dying and the doctors don’t know how much time he has left. He will be leaving behind his beautiful family because of these chemicals. The use of these pesticides us unnatural and very dangerous to the workers using them. For Jerry’s complete story visit http://www.getipm.com/articles/farmer.html