Influences of Organic Farming

Influences of Organic Farming

Our society is one of the most industrialized, developed societies and nations in the world. We have evolved and learned to be completely dependent on technology. The agriculture is completely different from our foundations compared to other countries. Science in the modern world has now become connected in the realm of convenience. When you take this concept and apply it to food and agriculture you see a movement of society, which is alienating the people from their culture. As seen everywhere in every culture there is a culture involved with food. For example, Halloween came around the corner in October and and pumpkins were in every store serving at our convenience. Because businesses don’t distribute food for charity yet for profit, we pay many unnecessary costs such as overseas shipping and the cost of all the pesticides we use, so we could have numerous varieties of food all over the world while they are in season. It has become unfortunate how the food we consume has the opportunity to be labeled as organic. In the past food did not have these labels of organic and inorganic, but our grandparents just used to call it, “Food.”

In the special lecture on organic farming, our guest speakers, Juli and Vivek Cariappa, tell a story on why they chose to live an organic lifestyle. The two decided started their lives in agriculture when they were 21 years old. When they got married Juli and Vivek bought a piece of land and farm that came with it. As a farmer his capital and asset is his soil. “Processed food has gone from a very complex process to ABC but with that it also contains all these chemicals, as all processed food has to have a shelf life of at least 6 months.” When the guests say ABC, they are referring to the fact that the act of making processed foods has became so machine-oriented and such a step-by-step process, that there is little room for error or modification. When you consume processed foods these pesticides stay there, and eventually make their way into our bodies. Nutrition comes from the word nourishment, and it has to do with how our bodies absorb the nutrients in food. It is what we take up in our body; yet we could have food that is packed with nutrition but our bodies may still not be nourished because they are unable absorb the provided nutrients.

There are huge costs in processed foods because somebody has to break it all apart and put it back together again. In order for food to contain nutrition something has to happen before this. How does food get built up the way it does in order to have nutrition? Ultimately, the nutrition in the soil and the ability of the soil to absorb nutrients and bring them into your plants then into primary animals and into our bodies is the most important aspect of nutrition there is. Farming is the skill of growing food, and as a nation we are beginning to lose that skill. In India, they have a 65% rate of which agriculture revolves about, whereas in the US it is only about 0.7% (Juli and Vivek Cariappa).

We are losing a basic skill of human survival. The easiest way of generating jobs is in the field of agriculture. As a nation, we cannot let go of the skill of agriculture and as consumers we can’t let our attention go from what we ingest. Unfortunately, profit and sustainability in the modern world we live in don’t coincide. The amount of food that the west wastes could feed the rest of the world, two or three times more than what is needed. As Americans we consume far more calories per person than what we actually need. There was a time in the world where starvation and famine was common. For the first times in history there is more than enough food for the world population, yet people are starving. Forty percent of all the food we see in supermarkets gets thrown away while it is still edible (Juli and Vivek Cariappa). There is hunger not because of the lack of the quantity of food but because of the lack of accessibility to the food we have.  

Organic farms and smaller farms are being sent out of business because of one simple concept, economies of scale. The larger companies that take up the majority of the market have the ability to price their food at a lower cost; as a result the population is more likely to purchase their merchandise compared to the more expensive organic foods. If you mass-produce something it is much cheaper to make one hundred of it. For example, why are Barnes and Nobel and other chains sending independent bookstores out of business? The unit cost is much cheaper. Jamaica had a thriving potato and dairy industry until the potato farmers in Idaho started selling potatoes there. Farmers in Idaho were able to do this because of subsidies they got from the United States. Subsidies are granted to businesses so a product could lower in cost in order to be competitive. Now, the issue arose because of the captive market for American products. This ensured that these products are sold cheaply as possible around the world.

In its entirety, organic farming and industrial farming are two completely different concepts of food. The entire food basket is planted on the Cariappa’s land, from sugar cane to fruits and vegetables. Not only do Juli and Vivek have proper utilization of photosynthesis but they also have the depths of soil being used in a more integrated way.

The overall health of our environment and public is having severe impacts from the use of synthetic chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides. Only 10% of farmers that grow corn do not rely on herbicides to control the weeds in the fields (Pimentel para. 1). The approximate cost of pesticide use is significantly higher than it should be in the United States at about $12 billion annually. The excessive amount of fertilizers we use takes up $2.5 billion annually (Pimentel para. 2). Soil is the main asset of farmers, and in an industrialized world farming practices are now eroding the soil of the farmers. To fix this, organizations such as the National Research Council confirmed that farm economics could be enhanced and high crop returns could be achievable while reducing pesticide use. Luckily, organic agriculture is increasingly growing in America, doubling from 1992 to 1997 and sales are accumulating at over $7 billion each year (USDA para. 10). There is a good outlook for organic farming the future.

        The type of crop, location, and process used affects crop yields compared to conservative systems. Organic methods should be used over conventional farming because they have shown to give numerous environmental benefits such as fewer chemicals being contained in the soil thus less soil destruction. Most importantly, organic farming improves the quantity of organic matter and biodiversity within the soil. Nourishing soil for long-lasting agriculture is appropriate and it has been shown that soil carbon-based substances have increased in organic systems compared to conventional farming. This is an important factor that leads to an increased observed amount of biodiversity. Biodiversity helps protect the development of carbon dioxide, which is a vital role to play in the overall growth of a crop. In organic systems cutting out the practice of fertilizers and other variety of chemicals reduces the detrimental impacts any organisms may face in the soil.