ENVS 10

1
ENVS 10

• Lecture 12
• Sustainable Ag, Organics, and GMOs

2
Methods of Modern Agriculture

• Develop and plant monocultures
• Develop miracle seeds selectively bred or
  hybridized high-yield varieties
• Use large quantities of fertilizer, pesticides,
  and water to produce high yields
• Increase intensity and frequency of cropping

3
Genetically-modified food

• Attempt to supply more food with better
  nutritional values and fewer environmentally
  harmful effects
• Need less fertilizer and water
• Make their own nitrogen (fertilizer)
• Resist disease and pests
• Grow in salty or dry places
• Grow faster
• Provide better nutrition
• Tolerate higher levels of herbicides

4
How do they genetically alter food?

• Add or change genes
• Examples
• Strawberries and tomatoes that resist freezing
  with antifreeze fish genes
• Tomatoes that stay fresh longer with genes from
  flounders
• Potatoes that resist disease with chicken genes
• Smaller cows that produce more milk

5
Risks associated with GMF

• Cause unexpected mutations in plants that create
  new and higher toxins in food
• Introducing new allergens into food
• Lower nutritional value of some foods
• Not helping to feed worlds hungry so far
• Reduces effectiveness of natural pesticides
• Increases application of herbicides

6
Risks associated with GMF (cont)

• Allows some genes (i.e., resistance) to be passed
  along to wild strains of plants and animals
• Increases costs of growing food
• Introducing chemicals into GMF that could alter
  natural predator populations
• Decomposition of GM plants can change soil
  cycling and other natural processes

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Risks associated with GMF (cont)

• May cause irreversible and unpredictable genetic
  and ecological effects
• Mutations
• Change in form and behavior
• Alter genetic traits of wild species
• Reducing biodiversity

8
Problems with Modern Ag

• Use of fossil fuels
• Soil loss
• Soil fertility
• Use of pesticides/herbicides/fertilizers
• Water use
• Pollution (air, water, soil)
• Increase in cost of producing food

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Problems with Modern Ag (cont)

• Loss of ecosystem services
• Animal welfare
• Overgrazing
• Overfishing
• Genetic engineering of food
• Distribution of food
• Long-term reduction in crop yields

10
Traditional Ag Systems

• How did we farm before the Green Revolution
  created Modern Agriculture?
• Subsistence farming or small family farms
• Polyvarietal cultivation planting several
  varieties of the same crop
• Intercropping 2 or more different crops grown at
  the same time on a plot
• Agroforestry crops and trees planted together
• Polyculture complex form of intercropping
  different plants mature at different times

11
What is Sustainable Agriculture?

• The use of many different farming strategies to
  meet the needs of farmers
• In their operations
• For the environment
• In their communities
• To ensure long-term profitability of the farm

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Goals of Sustainable Agriculture

• Provide a more profitable income for farmers
• Promote environmental stewardship
• Protect and improve soil quality
• Reduce dependence on non-renewable resources
  (fuel, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides)
• Minimize adverse impacts on safety, wildlife,
  water quality, and the environment
• Provide stable, prosperous farm families and
  communities

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Sustainable Farming

• Enhances natural biological processes
• Reduces degradation of natural systems
• Develops biodiversity in the fields
• Maintains and replenishes the soil fertility
• Decreases the amount of energy needed to farm

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Organic Foods

• Food produced with no synthetics, pesticides,
  herbicides, antibiotics, hormones,
  bio-engineering, sewage sludge, or irradiation
• Organic standards (2002) for labels
• 100 organic
• organic must have 95 organic contents
• made with organic at least 70 organic
• panel

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Organic Foods (cont)

• Organic farms and food processing plants are
  strictly regulated by the government (certified
  and inspected)

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Organic Food (cont)

• 2 of the US food supply is grown organically
• Over the last decade, sales of organic food
  increased by 20
• Organic farming is the fastest growing sector of
  Ag in the US

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Organic Farming Methods

• Feed soil biota
• Build soil structure, water-holding capacity, and
  organic matter content
• Build organic matter in the soil by using cover
  crops, compost, and bio-based soil amendments
• Rely on natural predators of pests (i.e., birds,
  insects
• Till weeds under, rotate crops, etc.

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Organic Livestock Methods

• Must be fed organic food
• Must be kept in living conditions that
  accommodate the natural behavior of the animals
• Cannot be given antibiotics, hormones, or
  medications in the absence of illness
• Can be given vaccines

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Why is organic food more expensive?

• Organic food more accurately reflects the costs
  of growing food
• Use of labor rather than chemicals
• More stringent guidelines for the growth and
  production of organic food
• Organic farmers are not subsidized like
  industrial farmers
• Consumers are willing to pay more for
  organically-grown food

20
How to support Sustainable Agriculture

• Farmers markets
• Community and school gardens
• Community supported agriculture
• Pick-your own and roadside stands
• Buy organic at the store
• Talk to the source of your food
• Learn how it is grown
• Ask stores and restaurants to buy organic