by Don Rainwater

Created on: April 28, 2008   Last Updated: September 21, 2010

The large agricultural companies have made food cost higher by shipping it great distances and they have almost destroyed the family farm. The vegetables aren't ripened on the vine or stalk because of shipping concerns, but the food quality suffers. I think the spread of large industrial type farming is a form of violence to small family farmers and to the land. The large meat farming companies are cruel to the cattle and cause unnecessary pain to them, which isn't a requirement for the delivery of animals to be slaughtered.

Monsanto has hybrid seeds that float to another smaller farmers fields and infect them with the hybrid and they have won court cases against the small guy. Because of these farm conglomerates more of the land and water has been polluted and forest land destroyed. This angers me because I remember the wonderful gardens patches that my grandparents grew and especially my grandmother worked the garden. The vegetables they grew were delicious and the tomatoes were red, juicy, large, and tasty. The greens, corn beans, okra, and peas were all very good.

One good thing that is now happening in argriculture is that the U.S. Government has a new plan to give money to farmers that go solar, build a windmill, and stop manure and fertilizer from running off into streams. This gives them some incentive to help the environment. I also appreciate what Farm Aid has done to help the plight of the small American farmer. The farmers that I believe are the real farmers that carry on the tradition of family farms.

The fact that forest lands are being destroyed rapidly around the world being cleared for farm land is a cause for concern. Though the world will need a lot more food production in the near future, better ways of handling food production should be used. Soil management and the overall economic and social implications need to be addressed quickly and governments and everyone involved with food production, especially farming needs to listen to people qualified to make suggestions concerning farming and the environment, farming and social mores etc.

I think that supporting local farmers and stopping the transportation of food long distances is a good idea. Simpler farming methods that don't use so much energy and cause more pollution can be more easily applied if food is grown for local consumption. A lot of the nutrition in food is wasted because of people eating so much junk food. Eliminating some of the junk food could help stop any food shortage because it could be used as real food that is more nourishing.

Eating less meat overall would be less expensive and the land could be used for farming grains, and vegetables that would produce more food on less land. The best way to utilize farmland and produce enough food worldwide may not be appealing to everyone, but it could help farmers and give people the food they need. These ideas are popular with large scale farming monopolies and cattlemen.

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