Keeping Up with Humans

In a world that is constantly growing and where new generations of humans emerge, specific aspects of daily life like food and agriculture are rapidly changing with the growing population. With the attempt to keep up with the "future" agriculture has taken many steps into making sure that their production is what people want and that they could keep up with the huge demand of their consumers.  

Sustainable agriculture is what I would say is the the old way of farming. Sustainable agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produce food indefinitely, without causing irreversible damage to ecosystem health (newpaltz.edu). Originally farms were not supposed to hurt the environment or affect the biodiversity of an ecosystem. Sustainable agriculture existed at a time where the population of the world was not yet in the right position to demand more from these farms and where the technology was not yet as advanced as it is today.  

Industrial agriculture is the complete opposite of sustainable farming. While it also produces the same product, industrial agriculture uses things like pesticides and insecticides to ensure the successful growth of their product. 

newdream.org describes industrial agriculture as: "A food system that emerged in the 20th century that provides large scale agricultural production. Industrial agriculture has had a tremendous impact on the world's water resources and soil quality because of the massive use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers." 

Industrial Agriculture

Sustainable Agriculture

Industrial agriculture today has the ability to engineer our food. The biggest advancement in the food industry today is the use of corn. They use corn because corn can be easily broken down and turned into new ingredients that makes food and they can also use it to feed poultry animals like cows and chickens. You will be very surprised at the fact that most items in the grocery store contain corn or some sort of soy in its ingredients. Corn may be very cheap but also has its hazards. Cows were not designed to eat corn but were designed to eat grass (Food, Inc.). The corn that the cows eat can generate a harmful bacteria for humans when digested and that is E. Coli. (Escherichia Coli). Things to prevent E.coli has already been discovered and poultry is safe again.

The emergence of E.coli is a sign that if we further try and engineer and force evolution to our resources things that could harm us instead of help us can emerge. But with the way our technology is advancing, not only can the agricultural industry keep up with the rapid population growth, but the other industries as well

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