This diary started as a reply to a comment in the recently recommended (and cleverly titled) diary by OrangeClouds115. Unfortunately my reply became too long to post as a comment, so this becomes my first diary.
It is great to see the recent diaries about the farm bill. It is time that more people paid attention to their food and considered where and how it was grown (or, in some cases, synthesized...), how it got to them, and what was done with/to it in between.
For some of you, agriculture might conjure images of family farmers: toiling to produce wholesome food, to earn enough to support their family, and to protect the land and natural resources that were likely passed down to them from previous generations. However, as the priorities in the Farm Bill demonstrate, this image is, unfortunately, becoming like a Norman Rockwell painting of a previous, idyllic age.
For others, agriculture might conjure visions of the wholesale degradation and poisoning of the natural environment. Many people project opinions of big-business agriculture onto their local farmer-neighbors. Fortunately, in most cases, this image is misguided.
Please continue below the fold:
A good Farm Bill would end supports to corporate agriculture (ADM, Monsanto, ConAgra, and their peers can take care of themselves) and instead help preserve the ever dwindling family farms! No matter what you might think about the environmental impacts of commercial agriculture, research shows that as watersheds are converted from agricultural/forest uses to urban/suburban, water quality, water quantity (ground water and base-flow in streams), and ecosystem health decline!
It is probably time to address my title... I strongly believe that the foresight of previous generations in creating the land-grant college system, the cooperative extension system, and companion federal agricultural research has resulted in the unequaled productivity of U.S. agriculture (helped along by tremendous fossil fuel-based energy inputs). Many small growers are worth millions on paper because of the value of their land for development. It is not unreasonable for them to consider quitting farming, selling their land, and moving somewhere else to enjoy a comfortable retirement! Good, focused, research and education efforts continue to be needed in order to help real farmers earn a decent living and keep their land open: consuming CO2, producing O2, maintaining or increasing carbon content in the soil, promoting ground water recharge, and slowing runoff to streams.
Some major issues in agriculture (this is not an exhaustive list; many more topics remain to be discussed, and each item here is worthy of several diaries of it's own):
- Energy input for production: fuel, chemicals, nutrients, irrigation, etc. Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on fossil-fuel inputs. What are the consequences of a sudden energy shortage? We must reduce the net input of energy into agricultural production. How? Research and education are a good starting point.
- The decreasing portion of your food supply that is grown locally and the energy used to transport products from point of origin (including foreign sources) to your table: In an energy crisis, how is that food going to get from California, Florida, and etc. to your table? And if an increasing proportion of those beautiful vegetables, fruits, grains, and meats in your local supermarket come from outside of the U.S., what happens if the countries of origin chose to embargo your food supply like oil was embargoed in the 70’s, or if the price of transportation becomes prohibitive? How critical is food security to national security?
- Pressure to quit farming as people move into undeveloped areas: sadly, many people who desire a rural lifestyle while working in the city, disapprove of the dust, dirt, and odors from adjacent farming operations that have been in that location for generations. If the farmers quit and sell their property as a result of harrassment from their new neighbors, we have increased the dilemma posed in item 2 and probably decreased the health of the local watersheds as a result.
- Ability of small (family) farmers to earn a decent income and support a family: Farmers are not market makers – they must take the price offered them for their product (even at a loss) or get nothing at all. I have personally witnessed growers being offered less for a bushel of beautiful, clean squash than the cost of the container used to bring the squash to market. And on my way home that evening found five or six squash selling in the grocery store for more than the grower was offered for the whole bushel. Remember, always, that the people who struggled to grow and harvest the food on your table receive only a very small fraction of the price that you paid!
- Environmental impacts: poor farming practices can wreak havoc on the local environment from sol erosion, nutrients, agricultural chemicals, etc. Small (family) farmers, as a rule, do not use poor practices. Their land is their livelihood. They have no incentive to decrease soil quality or harm the local environment (their children live there too). They would also prefer that their expensive chemicals stay where they were placed and are needed. Past research, followed by education, demonstration, and subsequent adoption has demonstrated the effectiveness of practices such as no-till and integrated pest management (IPM) to reduce negative environmental impacts.
- Water resources: agricultural irrigation is the largest consumer of water of any group in the country. Consumption of water, means that the water is no longer available for other uses including in-stream ecosystem needs. In some areas of the country we are mining groundwater that is of ancient origin and is not replenished in the human time scale, if at all. In other areas, agriculture completely consumes all of the flow of local streams and even large rivers. For a definitive lesson in the possible impacts of irrigation on water resources, read this article about the Aral Sea or search on the term for some stunning photographs. It is an indisputable fact that plants need water to grow. We can, however, still do many things to reduce the water needed by agriculture such as improving application efficiency and breeding crops to require less water per unit of the desired product that is produced.
- Bioenergy: can agriculture help reduce this country’s dependence on fossil fuels? Unquestionably agriculture can make a significant contribution. Plants are much more efficient at converting sunlight to other, useable, forms of energy than anything man has designed. In some cases, however, including the most familiar – corn ethanol, the net energy gained is small (and possibly negative) and is also accompanied by other, serious, human and environmental impacts. Weaning off of fossil fuels will require contributions from numerous other sources, and agriculture can and should be one of those sources.
Agriculture, and farmers, is (are) not the enemy. They are our natural allies in providing safe, abundant, reliable, and reasonably-priced foods for our tables while protecting the environment and, possibly, helping to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels.
It really is time for Americans to give more thought to their food and consider where and how it was grown, how it got to them, and what was done with/to it in between. I hope others will write diaries relating to other critical issues related to agriculture, bioenergy, the environment, and our food supply.