Environmental Science
Jeremy Sheahan
Not so long ago, there was a place where man and earth lived in harmony. Families, animals and crops lived in a community. But then populations of humans started to grow exponentially, the demand for food went up drastically and these small family farms could not keep up. In an effort to increase the amount of food they produced and increase money they made. The farms started to take the animals off the farms and put them in “factory farms”.
While this decision makes total sense in terms of money and productivity, the environmental side of it does not make sense at all. It is not very animal friendly. The animals in these “factory farms” produce a lot of waste. “A mega-dairy CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) [1]with 15,000 cows generates as much animal waste as a city of 315,000 people.” [2]For example, a dairy cow produces almost 21 times the waste than a human.[3] This is not good at all, all the urine and excrement are used on farms as manure helping make the soil to be rich and healthy, but now it is just polluting rivers, ponds and the air.
This pollution does not just affect the environment around us, it affects us too. In one case, workers of an animal factory farm in Iowa started to complain about sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, inflamed mucous membranes of the nose, irritation of the nose and throat, headaches, muscle aches and asthma.[4] This is a product of airborne bacteria in the air that would otherwise be in the ground fertilizing a field.
In other cases, the waste seeps through the earth into underground fresh water or gets into streams and pollutes drinking water. When people with wells drink and get sick by the polluted water from the underground ducts. There have been reports of “blue baby syndrome”- “A condition that can be caused by ingestion of high amounts of nitrate resulting in the blood losing its ability to effectively carry oxygen. It is most common in young infants and certain elderly people”.[5] Sometimes this “blue baby syndrome” can be fatal.
If we switched to have animals on farms again it would greatly decrease the amount of “waste”. This “waste” would not be waste at all; it would be valuable organic fertilizer. This is the better choice, even though it could mean less production of beef and other meats. Another problem is that the farms that took away the animals have started to use fertilizers and pesticides which are unnatural and harmful for the environment and their plants.
Most of the pesticides and fertilizers are derived from fossil fuels. This is a problem, not just because it forces plants to grow in unfertile soil, but it also contributes a lot to global warming. Oil is a long term storage place for carbon, one of the biggest of the green house gasses. In oil there are thousands and thousands of year’s worth of stored up carbon, when we burn it or use it in fertilizers we are releasing it into the air. Global warming is caused when greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere trap the sun’s rays in the planet excessively warming the planet, and carbon is one of the main greenhouse gasses.
Organic fertilizer is better because it puts organic material that is necessary for microorganisms instead of putting unnatural chemicals that make plants grow just enough for them to get by. It also does not force the plants to grow faster than they would normally grow, it also gives the plants more “balanced” nutrition. [6] And because it is just plain better for the environment, and instead of being waste, it is used in a way that heals the planet.
One big problem in the organic/ natural food industry is the fact that farmers don’t get the wage that they deserve from all their work and fabulous crops. That is why a program called “fair trade” was created. What is fair trade? According to transfairusa.org, “Fair Trade Certification empowers farmers and farm workers to lift themselves out of poverty by investing in their farms and communities, protecting the environment, and developing the business skills necessary to compete in the global marketplace”[7]
Basically, this project is allows poor farmers (mostly in poorer countries) who work on the soil and harvest their organic. All natural crops get paid what they deserve instead of a very minimal wage.
These poor farmers do not get the money that they deserve is because they are usually sending their crops overseas or out-of-town locations and there are many costs going into the handling, moving and legal fees. They have to pay a much higher price because so that we, the people of America, can get their crops.
[1] "Definition of a CAFO - Water Quality - extension.usu.edu." Utah State University Extension - extension.usu.edu. Web. 22 Oct. 2009.
[2] “Environmental Damage." Factory Farm. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.
[3] “Environmental Damage." Factory Farm. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.
[5] "USGS CIRC 1158 subpage: Glossary." USGS Publications Warehouse. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.
4 "A Summary Comparison of organic vs non organic fertilizer." Lawn Care For Everyone. How To Grow Grass And Get Rid Of Problems. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.
[7] "TransFair USA | Fair Trade Overview." TransFair USA | Home. Web. 13 Oct. 2009.
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