14. Ethical Issues In Sustainability of Agriculture

1
14. Ethical IssuesIn Sustainabilityof
Agriculture the Environment

• Larry D. Sanders
• Spring 2002

Dept. of Ag Economics Oklahoma State
University
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INTRODUCTION

• Purpose
• to understand ethical issues related to
  agriculture and the environment
• Learning Objectives
• 1. To review the concept of sustainability with
  respect to agriculture the environment.
• 2. To understand the alternative concepts of
  sustainability respective criticisms.
• 3. To understand the ethical issues related to
  sustainability.
• 4. The concept of sustainability with respect
  to poor developing countries the global system
• 5. The importance of long term thinking to avoid
  possibly irreversible or very costly damage
  loss of life
• 6.To understand the keys to sustainable economic
  development.

3
Spaceship Earth . . .

• We travel together, passengers on a little
  spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves
  of air and soil all committed for our safety to
  its security and peace preserved from
  annihilation only by the care, the work, and, I
  will say, the love we give our fragile craft.
  We cannot maintain it half fortunate, half
  miserable, half confident, half despairing, half
  slave to the ancient enemies of man, half free in
  a liberation of resources undreamed of until this
  day. No craft, no crew can travel safely with
  such vast contradictions. On their resolution
  depends the survival of us all.
• --Adlai Stevenson, 195?

4
How to Boil a Frog

• If you drop a frog in a pot of boiling water,
  it will of course frantically try to clamber out.
  But if you place it gently in a pot of tepid
  water and turn the heat on low, it will float
  there quite placidly. As the water gradually
  heats up, the frog will sink into a tranquil
  stupor, exactly like one of us in a hot bath, and
  before long, with a smile on its face, it will
  unresistingly allow itself to be boiled to death.
  . . . an example of the smiling-boiled-frog
  phenomenon, is provided by our own culture.
• --B in The Story of B

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Sustainable Agriculture the Ideal to live in
harmony w/nature or the Idea to maintain
profitable operation?

• Present-Day Farm (2000s)
• Fewer people farming more acres fewer enterprises
• Many by managers, not families
• Farm populations down
• Higher yields
• Capital-intensive
• Dependent on chemicals, equipment, irrigation
• Off-farm income important

• Pre-Mechanical Revolution Farm (1940s)
• Diversified family farm
• Relatively small (200 ac?)
• Several farm enterprises (livestock, grain,
  vegetables, )
• Self-sustaining, no off-farm income

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Sustainable Agriculture grew out of
concerns/claims with postwar US ag. . .

1. Human health safety
2. The environment
3. Future availability of natural resources required
   for food production
4. Policies/technologies favor capital-intensive
   farming
5. Decrease profitability of mid-sized, family farms
6. Unintended consequences
7. Polluted water
8. Depleted soil/energy resources
9. Habitat destruction
10. Unsafe food
11. Depopulated rural areas
12. Concentration of capital

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Sustainable Ag as Alternative Assumes no
Undesirable Consequences

• Wes Jackson, New Roots for Agriculture
• Ag failure part of broader spritual failure
• Dominant value pursuit of wealth ethic of
  self-interest misses basic value of land
• Farm as food factory vs. Farm as hearth
• Soil as placenta . . . living organism . . . is
  now dying. . . utterly senseless, portends our
  own. . .
• Alternative Agricultureperennial polyculture
  mimics natural prairie
• Research to support perennialism, ag ecosystem,
  domestic prairies (The Land Institute)
• Greed of conventional view vs. hearth as
  spiritual technical alternative

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Sustainable Ag as Alternative Assumes no
Undesirable Consequences (cont.)

• Miguel Altieri Agroecology
• Peasant farmers use sophisticated mix of
  crops/practices, limit risks of pests, drought,
  other natural disasters
• Regional variation, local adaptation w/in unique
  ecosystems is agroecology
• Scientific emphasis upon universal laws,
  replicability of experiments inappropriate for
  agriculture
• Leads to elimination of sources of variability
• Farms do better when crops adapt to unique local
  ecosystems
• .

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Sustainable Ag as Alternative Assumes no
Undesirable Consequences (cont.)

• Miguel Altieri Agroecology (continued)
• Conventional practices profitable in short run
  lead to dependence upon
• New science, technology
• Agribusiness firms
• Government support
• Industrialized farming-friendly land/credit
  policies
• Subsidized inputs (fertilizer, feed, chemicals,
  irrigation
• Not internalizing environmental costs to society

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Sustainable Ag as Alternative Assumes no
Undesirable Consequences (cont.)

• Miguel Altieri Agroecology (continued)
• Agroecology protects family farms
• Industrial agriculture serves needs of scientists
  agribusiness, not farmers
• Research needed to meet local conditions of
  specific farms
• Note from TMR Marxist overtones in rejecting
  need for introduced capital in production process

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Sustainable Ag as Alternative Assumes no
Undesirable Consequences (cont.)

• The Standard View
• Most involved in Sustainable Agriculture
  movement not as systematic as Jackson, Altieri in
  criticism
• More pragmatic management perspective of what
  works
• Based on concept that exploitation of natural
  resources must be sustainable (consider threshold
  levels)
• Empirical facts dont consider sustainable
  judgments
• Need for land, farms, farm families, rural
  communities, banks, government to sustain certain
  farm systems w/o disintegration/ collapse

12
Sustainability Concept the Questions Continue
to Evolve . . . (continued)

• . . .sustainable development . . . meets the
  needs of the present without compromising the
  ability of future generations to meet their own
  needs. 1987, Brundtland Commission
• Which empirical views right?
• Global Warming?
• Conservation tillage?
• Carbon sequestration?
• Hazardous waste management?
• Biodiversity?
• The cost of right decision vs. wrong decision
• Economic restructuring/loss vs. irreversibility

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Sustainability Concept the Questions Continue
to Evolve . . . (continued)

• R. Carsons Silent Spring (1962) dire predictions
  of unsustainability w/chemical future vs.
  chemical company claims later scientific
  studies
• Economic development to sustain poor/hungry
  masses (make the pie bigger) vs. claims of
  over-population (Ehrlich, spaceship Earth),
  natural resource shortages (Meadows)
  environmental catastrophe
• Western, North, Developed, Industrialized,
  Wealthy countries vs. Eastern, Southern, Less
  Developed, Peasant, Poor countries
• Progress growth development Good right?
• Growth is relative, qualitative, sometimes
  inappropriate?

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Sustainability Concept the Questions Continue
to Evolve . . . (continued)

• Goodwin challenges GNP as appropriate measure of
  well-being
• Measures wealth, not distributional equity
• Masks moral issues
• Utilitarian efficiency concept doesnt answer
  critical questions (morality? Current vs. future
  generations? Impacts on nature?)
• Technological Fix unlimited substitutability
  (J. Simon) concepts allow optimistic view of
  exploitation of nature
• Goodin, Beckerman-Daly essays challenge
  w/questions of irreplaceability
  irreversibility Should we trust the market
  technology to always have a solution?

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Sustainability Concept the Questions Continue
to Evolve . . . (continued)

• Time factor whos deciding are critical
• Human life spans necessarily relevant (even if
  anthropocentric)
• Sustainability/alternative proponents
  (technological pessimists) may be wrong in next
  50-100 years, but right in next 100-300 years
• Is that relevant? (so far, so good)
• Tragedy of the Commons vs. the tyranny of
  private greed challenges extremes of public
  social control privatization
• Open access externality vs. property rights

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Sustainability Concept the Questions Continue
to Evolve . . . (continued)

• VP How to make sustainability concept an
  evaluation criterion?
• What can be sustained vs. what ought to be
  sustained
• Beckerman because both fused together,
  hopelessly blurred, but need to answer both
  questions
• Clarify what counts as relevant practice.
• Should the maximizing assumption be discarded
• Shiva incompatible w/sustainability
• Instrumental vs. intrinsic value
• Wrong jungle vs. success of progress

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TMR Is sustainability the right criterion to
evaluate agriculture?

• If Yes--Historic examples Babylon (irrigation
  fails) Chaco (over-population/weather change)
  Africa (desertification)
• If Notoo strong some sustainable goals met
  while others violated
• Example Conservation tillage may cut soil
  erosion, but added use of chemicals may pollute
  environment, have lower profits
• If Notoo weak doesnt provide evaluative
  criterion for choices including ethical issues
  (normative concept masquerading as a descriptive
  one)

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TMR Evaluating Alternative Agriculture (not
sustainable ag)

• Alternative Ag attempts to
• Reduce use of purchased synthetic chemical inputs
• Include such farm practices as
• Crop rotations
• Integrated pest management
• Low-intensity animal production systems
• Tillage/planting practices to conserve soil/water
  control weeds
• Promotes diversified, multi-enterprise farming
• Promotes ag research needed to develop effective
  alternative ag practices

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Some Anticipated Ethical Issues w/Alternative
Agriculture

• Costs to consumers?
• Food costs may increase
• Distribution questions
• Food security threatened?
• Land value changes?
• Increased could accelerate concentration
• Decreased could reduce wealth base for farmers
• More labor in agriculture?
• Lower income in rural communities?
• More livestock on farms?
• Competition with wildlife?
• More regulation?
• Limits choices?

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Sustainable Agriculture Adapted by Commercial
Agriculture . . .

• An integrated system of plant animal
  production practices having a site specific
  application that will, over the long term
  satisfy human food fiber needs enhance
  environmental quality the natural resource
  base upon which the agricultural economy depends
  make the most efficient use of nonrenewable
  resources and on-farm resources and integrate,
  where appropriate, natural biological cycles
  controls sustain the economic viability of farm
  farm operation and enhance the quality of life
  for farmers and society as a whole.
• --The Food, Agriculture, Conservation, Trade
  Act of 1990

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Sustainable DevelopmentUSDAGuiding Principles
(2000)

• Sustainable AgUSDA supports economic,
  environmental, social sustainability of diverse
  food, fiber, agriculture, forest, range
  systems.
• Sustainable ForestryUSDA balances the goals of
  improved production profitability, stewardship
  of natural resources ecological systems, and
  enhancement of the vitality of rural communities.
• Sustainable Rural Community DevelopmentUSDA
  integrates these goals into its policies and
  programs, particularly through interagency
  collaboration, partnerships and outreach.

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Imperatives for Sustainable Systems
Economy (efficiency)
Individual/ Community (cohesion)
Environment (maintain/ enhance)
From S. Hackett
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Sustainability

• Normative standard/social goal
• Vision of the future
• Iroquois Confederation
• Evaluate decisions based on well-being of tribe 7
  generations into future
• More inclusive/comprehensive view of economic
  development/well-being
• Whatever it takes to maintain the lives
  livelihoods of people in the system

From S. Hackett
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Sustainability as an Ethical Standard

• Individualism vs. interdependence
• Need buy-in by key participants
• Crosses disciplines
• Concept of multifunctionality for sustaining
  farms and the environment

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Energy Trends--Sustainable?(1990-2000 annual
growth rates)

• Wind Power (22)
• Solar (16)
• Geothermal (4)
• Oil Production (2)
• Hydro Power (2)
• Nuclear Power (1)
• Coal (0)

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Exponential Growth the 29th Day

• A French riddle for children illustrates another
  aspect of exponential growth--the apparent
  suddenness with which it approaches a fixed
  limit. Suppose you own a pond on which a water
  lily is growing. The lily plant doubles in size
  each day. If the lily were allowed to grow
  unchecked, it would completely cover the pond in
  30 days, choking off other forms of life in the
  water. For a long time the lily plant seems
  small, so you decide not to worry about cutting
  it back until it covers half the pond. On what
  day will that be? On the 29th day, of course.
  You have one day to save your pond. (D. Meadows
  et al, 1972)

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Exponential Growth Doubling Time

• Growth Rate () Doubling Time (yrs)
• 0.1 700
• 0.5 140
• 1.0 70
• 4.0 18
• 7.0 10
• 10.0 7

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Energy Reserves--Past Predictions
Reserves

• Meadows et al estimates of selected nonrenewable
  resource reserves, static vs. exponential (1972)
• Natural Gas--38-22 years
• Petroleum--31-20 years
• Coal--2300-111 years
• What did Meadows overlook or underestimate?

OIL
NATURAL GAS
COAL
1992
1994
2083
time
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Energy--Policy Environment to achieve
sustainability

• National Energy Strategy
• How to achieve MCs MBp?
• Market Pollution Permits
• Per unit Pollution Taxes
• Liability Bonding Systems for Large Stationary
  Polluters
• Fuel Taxes, Options Impacts
• Research Development

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Agrarian Evolution Long Term Thinking

• Process of agricultural evolution has led to a
  small percentage of large farms producing most of
  sales in US
• displaced farm labor has moved into non-ag sector
  either in rural communities becoming more
  diversified or moving to urban areas
• Agricultural evolution in developing countries
  more rapid, more disruptive, more destructive
  harmful
• 40-50 world population lives in urban slums

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Urban/environmental pressures increasing

• Low-income countries face water shortages, water
  pollution, air pollution, minimal shelter
  shortages, transportation stresses
• Industrialization that is needed to uplift
  economies will result in greater stresses on
  environment natural resource base
• 1.2-1.3 billion in absolute poverty
• 2/3 of world population live on less than 2/day

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Market Myopia?

• Biased w/short term perspective
• Discount rates favor present devalue long term
• Tend to under-value cultural/social costs

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Poor Countries less efficient in energy use, thus
more wasteful polluting

• Developed (relatively wealthy) countries have
  decreased CO2/GDP emissions 50 in past 30 years
• Low-income countries produce about 5x more
  emissions/GDP than rich countries
• Example
• 1. US co2 emissions/person 24x India
• 2. US co2 emissions/GDP 1/3 of India levels

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Poor Countries access to clean air/water result
in severe health problems

• Over 1 billion people dont have access to safe
  drinking water
• 2 billion dont have adequate sanitation
• High rates of illness/disabilities

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Economic Development Argument

• Raise people out of poverty
• Lower fertility rates
• Increase use of cleaner, less resource-intensive
  technologies
• Often destructive to culture
• More sustainable?
• No guarantee that technology will keep up
• tendency for multinational corporate exploitation
• failures of empowerment often occur (especially
  w/women), leading to dependency, injustice,
  corruption, more exploitation, political
  destabilization

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Income Distribution increasingly skewed

• Wealthiest 20 of world population accounts for
  83 of world income
• Poorest 20 account for 1.4 of world income
• Gap has more than doubled since 1960
• US Top 1 have as much after tax income as
  bottom 100 million people (60)

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Arguments for failure of sustainable
environmental systems

• Rural poor living in fragile ecosystems
• Ineffective property rights/lack of enforcement
• Concentration of power/lack of accountability
  (especially w/multinationals, non-democratic
  governments)
• Trade in waste/toxics
• Trade agreements that weaken environmental
  protection

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Arguments for failure of sustainable
environmental systems (continued)

• Political power controlling lack of public
  access
• Government/corporate control of news media
• Market has a short term perspective
• Tax incentives distort environment/natural
  resource management
• Lack of leadership in fostering ethical vision of
  sustainability
• Cultural dysfunction may lead to social problems

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Alternatives that may lead to sustainable global
situation

• Disaster(s) cause rapid reduction in population?
• Government intervention?
• incentives
• command control
• new world order
• Free Market may work?
• Multinationals take over?

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Sustainable Economic Development (ch. 13 Hackett)

• Broadens the traditional view of economic
  development to include social environmental
  factors
• Traditional economic development
• focus on income growth (real per-capita income)
• sometimes also addresses distributional issues
• tends to favor large-scale projects
• aid thru technical/financial assistance, loans
• Sustainable development
• income growth -- local needs-based
• education --family planning
• environmental regulations -- ecotourism
• information access/empowerment

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Alternate Theories in Sustainable Economic
Development

• Weak Form
• Technological fix substitution ok
• Limitations
• weak on protecting environment

• Strong Form
• Natural capital is unique substitution wont
  work
• Limitations
• ignores new technology substitution concept

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Alternate Theories in Sustainable Economic
Development (continued)

• Weak Form
• Arguments favoring
• Less Costly in short-to-mid-term
• Policy Implications
• counterbalancing effects
• environmental mitigation

• Strong Form
• Arguments favoring
• Uncertainty
• Irreversibility
• Scale (threshold effects, etc.)
• Policy Implications
• safe minimum standards
• preservation

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Hard Path vs. Soft Path

• Hard Path
• dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels (
  polluting energy/production systems)
• regional/national energy grids
• Soft Path
• government intervention to more efficient energy,
  renewable less-polluting energy/production
  sources
• decentralized energy production (local
  home-based)

47
Soft Path Alternative Energy Sources

• Solar
• Biomass
• Wind
• Hydrogen
• Methane
• Ocean waves

48
The Challenge for Sustainable Production
Technology

• Create firm-level profit opportunities
• Provide similar goods/services or alternative
  that fill similar needs
• Be not much more expensive than conventional
  alternative
• Educate producers/consumers on need for change
• Maintain competitiveness in the market

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Product Life-cycle Analysis

• Evaluation of environmental natural resource
  impacts of products/services throughout lifecycle
  from extraction, production, marketing/distributio
  n, use disposal
• European method for waste management policy
• responsibility for disposal of aluminum cans is
  with the company that is selling the product in
  aluminum cans (Coke, Pepsi, etc.)

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Government Intervention Options

• EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) Programs
  (life cycling)
• Tax/subsidize
• Eco-labelling
• Standards
• Fund research/development
• Education

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References

• Altieri, M. Agroecology The Scientific Basis of
  Alternative Agriculture, Westview Press, Boulder,
  1987.
• Ehrlich, P. R. Harriman. How to be a Survivor
  A Plan to Save Spaceship Earth, Ballantine Books,
  New York, 1971.
• Hackett, S., Environmental Natural Resources
  Economics, M.E. Sharpe, 1998.
• Jackson, W. New Roots for Agriculture, University
  of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1985.
• Quinn, D. The Story of B, Bantam Books, New York,
  1996.
• Sanders notes
• TMR
• UN World Commission on Environment Development,
  Our Common Future (Brundtland Report), 1987.
• VP

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Something to think about . . .

• Parents, teach your children. Children, teach
  your parents. Teachers, teach your pupils.
  Pupils, teach your teachers.
• Vision is the river, and we who have changed are
  the flood.
• . . . The world will not be saved by old minds
  with new programs. If the world is saved, it will
  be saved by new mindswith no programs.
• --Jared Osborne in The Story of B