Environmental Impacts of Industrial Farming
Industrial agriculture, while producing massive amounts of food, is taking a toll on our land and water resources.
by Marika Alena McCauley
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| Small-scale hog producers have less environmental impact than giant hog operations. By: Missouri Rural Crisis Center |
Take a drive into the countryside in America today, and you’re likely to come upon some industrial farms – those with hundreds of acres of a single crop. Industrial farms dominate the rural landscape and are wreaking havoc on the environment. As all sectors of the economy were industrialized throughout the 20th century, mechanized, corporate-run models of crop production were considered more efficient than the traditional small-farm models. This shift was seen as a natural and necessary progression toward greater efficiency and productivity. Today, it is clear that the industrial agriculture system, while producing massive amounts of food, is taking a toll on our land and water resources.
The impact of industrial agriculture on the environment is now widely seen as its most devastating cost to society. Massive amounts of chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers are used every day on America’s industrial farms. Each year, 939 million pounds of pesticides are used, and a shocking 90 percent of these chemicals never reach their target. They are released into the air and water, and as the many toxic chemicals are dispersed, they begin accumulating in ground and surface water.
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| Streams and other water resources near farms are particularly vulnerable to pesticide runoff and other pollution. By: Nancy Delaney/Oxfam |
Contaminated reserves of drinking water cost millions of dollars to treat, while untreated contamination of water in rivers and streams destroys aquatic life. There are hundreds of documented cases of massive fish kills and permanent ecosystem damage in America’s waterways caused by these chemicals. Our nation’s supply of water is also jeopardized by industrial agriculture, which consumes 70 percent of the freshwater withdrawn annually by humans. The farms withdraw water much faster than it can be replenished by rainfall, causing water tables to fall to dangerously low levels.
The industrial farming practice of monoculture -- growing a single crop over vast areas -- saps soil of vital nutrients, requiring greater amounts of chemical fertilizers to grow more crops. This lessens the soil's capacity to absorb water, resulting in runoff that takes away precious topsoil and pollutes nearby water sources with excess chemicals. We have already lost nearly 50 percent of our topsoil heritage, and it continues to disappear at a rate 17 times faster than nature can create it. One inch of topsoil takes 500 to 1,000 years to create.
Oxfam America, together with farmers and consumers across the country, believes that industrial agriculture is not a sustainable system. Our partner groups have proven that small farms produce food efficiently, and have multiple benefits for society including good stewardship of the land.