Monocultural Farming in the U.S.

Term Paper: Monoculture Farming in the U.S. and its Ethical Implications Since the beginning of human societies farming has play a crucial role, producing alimentary goods for the population. It should be expected that with the advances in technology and science, many aspects of our society had to change and adapt to these new discoveries. Moreover, one of the changes that societies nowadays are implementing more and more every day is, changing the variety of crops from polyculture farming to the production of a single type of crop “monoculture farming”. However, despite the reasons that may suggest that shifting from cultivating multiple kinds of crops to cultivating just one is more efficient, we could argue that this point of view only take a narrow perspective of positive outcomes, and neglects several other implications that suggest that monoculture could provoke harmful effects for us and for our planet. to begin we have to define both terms properly so we can start arguing about their issues, according to the cultivation of a single crop in a given area, in other words we would have to take into account two important aspects and these are the type of crop (in quantity) and the total area in which this crop is cultivated. Moreover, there are some other ways that could alternate this type of farming, but before going there we must analyze why it is important to find alternative ways to farm, and the reason why we should practice alternatives ways of farming is because we must be concerned with the environmental impact that our actions (directly or indirectly) are causing to it. first, we have to discuss the ethical issue that surrounds the monoculture industry, four decades ago farming used to be done differently, “Production was safeguarded by growing more than one crop or variety in space and time in a field as insurance against pest outbreaks or severe weather. Inputs of nitrogen were gained by rotating major field crops with legumes. In turn rotations suppressed insects, weeds and diseases by effectively breaking the life cycles of these pests”(Altieri 2000). continuing, it seemed that the old methods farmers used, was somewhat sufficient and productive. In addition, the way in which farming use to be has change dramatically during the past four decades, “Most of the labor was done by the family with occasional hired help and no specialized equipment or services were purchased from off-farm sources. In these type of farming systems the link between agriculture and ecology was quite strong and signs of environmental degradation were seldom evident”(Altieri 2000). One may argue that by utilizing tools that help farmers do their job, we could optimize the way in which farming works, however those tools with the help of monocultural farming have produced many environmental complication, that it’s why we should think what is more important. Moreover, it was a technological and a logistical advance to select and plant only those crops that are more demanded and that are somewhat less vulnerable to weather and pest. However, by doing this we could neglect the negative outcome that would impact the environment. One of these problematics is that repetitive farming a single crop in certain area would eventually use certain nutrients from the ground that are taken by the plants, at the same time the ground may also be over packed with certain nutrients that can be harmful in certain levels to some animals and other plants. Another issues regarding monoculture were presented by Michael Pollan at Georgia Organics, and he shared certain concerns that we will have to cover, these are that not only limiting our crops to 3 main crops can be harmful to the environment but also it both affects us directly and it also implicates other environmental issues. Moreover, he stated that our diet is both based on these crops and products derived from it (including the animals we eat); some even argue that the obesity problem that this country has can be blamed in part by this. The other problematic that Pollan discussed was that by only producing certain types of crops, then it would make us import all of the other goods that we need, in other words we have to transport goods from far places and that would mean using excessive amounts of fossil fuels that would lead to more environmental problems. Another factor to look for is how farming has been affected by the economy and what this implies, it is important to analyze problems and the characteristics in which the problem evolves, this means that we should know how and why farming change in the united states from producing several types of crops to only 3. Moreover, the single most important factor that has determined many courses of actions in this country is politics and economics, and the reason behind that is that the U.S. is a country fueled by a strong capitalistic believe. Then, the question is how does the U.S. capitalism affect the farming decisions? the answer to that is rather complicated because there were several historical events that marked and changed farming. However, we could still point out some ideas that may explain the shifting from polyculture and crop rotation to intensive monoculture, “no longer were people (and society in general) producing for themselves and thus connected to the land; rather, the production of food came to be controlled and consolidated by capitalist” (Magdoff, Foster & Buttel 2000). With that arguments we could stay that the stronger the capitalistic move became, the stronger their involvement in agriculture is. In addition, we could also state that technological advances have played an important role in the production and distribution of food, and it has ensured us many good things, however not without paying a price and that is because most of the times these advances seek to higher the profitability and the immediate need of food security, nevertheless other concerns should be addressed in order to take into account all of the issues. Although it is true that planting only those crops that will help feed our dietary base, and only using those that are more resistant to pest and weather conditions sound like a smart decision. Nonetheless, these practices usually promote questionable farming techniques, one of this is using chemical pesticides in large amounts. On the other hand, usually this practices are questionable because they can have valid points that favor them and others that suggest their high risk, “while chemical fertilizers or pesticides can result in increased crop yields in areas of food scarcity, they can also cause water and soil contamination and have been linked to adverse health effects in humans and animal” (Cardoso & James Jr 2011). Using these practices may assure a higher food security, but it also may jeopardized the health of many organisms. One of the biggest problems that monoculture farming does to the environment and to farmers is, the way in which planting a single crop in a determin area for a certain area for a period of time can extract all the important nutrients that this crop specifically needs for growing, that is depleting the ground from some nutrients. In addition, this can directly affect the environment in two ways, it can damage the ecological balance and with it all the organism that need all those nutrients may be in danger, moreover, depleting the ground from nutrients may make farmers over use fertilizers. Moreover, to add to the fact that it would be required to use more fertilizer in order to grow that specific crop, using too much fertilizer can also lead to other environmental implications that could affect us and other organism, for example, when farmers use too much fertilizer the soil may have nitrogen saturation that would usually cause the water and even the atmosphere to have excessive amounts of it. Moreover, to analyze this problematic we can start by seen that land was not meant to produce a single crop or plant because there are other nutrients and also many different types of organism that uses those other nutrients, if we start over using those nutrients and leaving all other aside we may cause a severe ecological change that will not only affect plants but several other animals. Another problem with monoculture has to do with the consumption aspect of monoculture, that is if we only produce a few products then we would have to use only those few products to sustain our diet. In addition, this can lead to several health and lifestyles problematics, that we can see in today’s world without easily, in other words some people blame American obesity to the monoculture industry and production. The reason for that is because that the hydrogenated soil oil that is usually use to fry all the fast food that we can buy, that will lead to poor absorption of fat and hence obesity, another problem with that is we are also feeding the animals we consume with the same crops that in turn will become another derived from of those crops. In addition, having this said we would also have to argue about the role of fast food chains and food security, many of the arguments to defend monoculture farming revolves around the idea that it is done to fulfill the need of the people and hence have a society that is food secure. However, I believe that the reason why people started farming a specific crop instead of a variety of them is just to reduce economic loss and increase productivity with the machinery that help plant, grow and collect the crops, in other words it has little to do with the noble cause of creating more food for the needy. In addition, as we already discussed many of the oil we use in fast food chains are hydrogenated oil that has been proven scientifically to have bad consequences in our health, instead I propose that if they are farming a single crop they should at least promote products that can benefit the society and not just their pockets.
In addition, we have to also take into consideration the social problems that monoculture farming can create, usually when a country only depends on a few crops they will have to rely on other nations to supply the other aliments that they need. This will implicate that more fuel will be used to transport the products across the world and we can also have other issues that have to do more with social status. For instance, those countries that are labeled as third world and developing countries usually have a higher rate of social inequality that means that have extreme rates of poverty and higher rates of food insecurity. with this been said if these farmers from this countries are obligated to plant certain types of crops (because they usually do not own the land they work), they usually cannot afford all those products that the country does not produce anymore (as much) and as a result they will lack the possibility to acquire this goods.
Now we will discuss what alternative I propose to change monoculture, since the main idea of plating a single crop in large areas is to increase production and hence a greater profit. However, I suggest we should overlook the profit (not in its entirety) instead we should see how reducing transportation costs and harm to the environment also enrich us as human beings. The author of the journal Crop Rotation on Organic Farms, Keith Baldwin, suggested that by rotating crops in organic farms we will have a better soil quality and structure, and this can accomplish better nutrients and water that is more reliable for food production, a healthy microbial pool that can help the plants obtain nutrients, and a natural ecosystem that can help as filters that protect the soil from adverse farming practices and natural calamities. In other words not only does rotating crops can help the environment but it can also protect the crops and nourish them properly, and if we use logic that would mean a better and more desirable product.
Another perspective from a latin American Study states that, “big corporations use the means of ending world as an excuse to conduct their ruthless economic actions on the farming industry”(Segrelles Serrano 2005). From this piece of his journal we can see that one of the perspective that scholars have in developing countries regarding this topic shows great disapproval, also they disregard the statements of monoculture farming as a way to end hunger, instead it seems that they blame this corporations for creating a new type of poverty. Moreover Segrelles also proposes that an alternative to monoculture farming, we should embrace crop rotation for its potential benefits.
One more important topic we should cover is biodiversity and its importance in nature, the reason why we should be concern this this issue has to do with the fact that reducing entire bio-diverse fields to single crop fields, we may be putting at risk all the species that depended on all of the other organism that inhabited the area. “species functional characteristics strongly influence ecosystem properties. Functional characteristics operate in different context, including effects of dominant species, keystone species, ecological engineers, and interaction amongst them”(Hooper et al. 2005). We can deduce how delicate the interaction and the importance of each group of organism that conform a determine area, that is why using this areas for food production may be bad, however turning the whole land into only two or three crops its definitely harmful to biodiversity.
To conclude, although the main purpose of monoculture is to produce better and more efficient crops to have more quantity of crops, it brings several environmental implications that we cannot ignore for the sake of our future. I suggest we should change from large scale monoculture to small scale monoculture or crops rotation, to prevent erosion, harm the biodiversity of a determine ecosystem, avoid the overuse of fertilizers and petroleum for transportation, and control the level of nitrogen released in the environment. In addition, it is important to make clear that my position does not opone capitalistic ways, however it seems that greedy actions are driving some people to damage our planet in irreparable ways. Moreover, more research should be done in this area to strengthnet my thesis.

Works Cited

Baldwin, Keith. "Crop Rotations on Organic Farms." (2004): n. pag. Print.
Constance, Douglas H. "Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment. Fred Magdoff, John Bellamy Foster, and Frederick H. Buttel (eds.). 2000. Monthly Press Review, New York. 248 P. $19, ISBN 1-58367-016-5, Paper." American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 16.03 (2001): 141. Print.
Hooper, D. U., F. S. Chapin, J. J. Ewel, A. Hector, P. Inchausti, S. Lavorel, J. H. Lawton, D. M. Lodge, M. Loreau, S. Naeem, B. Schmid, H. Setälä, A. J. Symstad, J. Vandermeer, and D. A. Wardle. "Effects Of Biodiversity On Ecosystem Functioning: A Consensus Of Current Knowledge." Ecological Monographs 75.1 (2005): 3-35. Print.
Mark Nord, and Mark Prell. "Struggling To Feed the Family What Does It Mean To Be Food Insecure?" (2005): n. pag. Print.
Parr, J., I. Papendick, I. Yongberg, and R. Meyer. "Sustainable Agriculture in the United States." (1990): n. pag. Print.

Cited: Baldwin, Keith. "Crop Rotations on Organic Farms." (2004): n. pag. Print. Constance, Douglas H. "Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment. Fred Magdoff, John Bellamy Foster, and Frederick H. Buttel (eds.). 2000. Monthly Press Review, New York. 248 P. $19, ISBN 1-58367-016-5, Paper." American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 16.03 (2001): 141. Print. Hooper, D. U., F. S. Chapin, J. J. Ewel, A. Hector, P. Inchausti, S. Lavorel, J. H. Lawton, D. M. Lodge, M. Loreau, S. Naeem, B. Schmid, H. Setälä, A. J. Symstad, J. Vandermeer, and D. A. Wardle. "Effects Of Biodiversity On Ecosystem Functioning: A Consensus Of Current Knowledge." Ecological Monographs 75.1 (2005): 3-35. Print. Mark Nord, and Mark Prell. "Struggling To Feed the Family What Does It Mean To Be Food Insecure?" (2005): n. pag. Print. Parr, J., I. Papendick, I. Yongberg, and R. Meyer. "Sustainable Agriculture in the United States." (1990): n. pag. Print.