Industrial agriculture is a modern form of farming in which machinery is a substitution for the labor of people and animals. Industrial agriculture aims to increase the amount of food it produces, while decreasing the costs of production. Industrial agriculture tends to work against nature. In industrial agriculture humans are superior to nature instead of being apart of it, but in reality we need nature to survive so we should be more careful not to harm it. Industrial agriculture is also bad for our health in more ways than one. For example the pesticides they use in the food, have been suspected to cause cancer, also the meat is often made in a slaughterhouse, where the food can easily be contaminated. In fact, industrial agriculture is responsible for getting about 76 million people sick, and killing about 5000 each year. Industrial farmers put their needs before those of their consumers, they care more about getting paid than they care about the quality of their food, and how they are affecting their society (i.e.: the environment, and the health of their consumers).
Some of the benefits of industrial agriculture are that it is a good contribution to our economy, it produces inexpensive food with good variety and greater availability, and it allows longer shelf life of food. Industrial agriculture can be beneficial to our society but it also does a great deal of harm to our environment with increased ozone pollution and global warming, it increases health risks, and there are a lot of unnecessary environmental and social costs due to industrial agriculture. A healthy alternative to industrial agriculture would be sustainable agriculture, which combines three main goals, environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equality. Sustainable agriculture farms food, that is healthy for both the consumer and the animals, it is eco friendly, humane and it supports it’s rural community.
While industrial agriculture also has its cons, I think that the benefits far out weigh the negatives. Sustainable agriculture works in harmony with nature and it's primary focus' are based on permanence, quality and beauty of the product, while Industrial agriculture focuses on the speed, quantity, and profit of making the product. In fact, industrial agriculture is currently the greatest single threat to our earth’s biodiversity. Overall I think that our society would seriously benefit from the use of sustainable agriculture over industrial agriculture. If we completely switched over to sustainable agriculture, our environment, our health, and our rural communities would really benefit. Think about it, do you really want to be eating foods that are injected with pesticides, or do you want the healthy alternative?
Sources
Advantages of Industrial Agriculture
Industrial Agriculture
What is Sustainable Agriculture?
Sustainable Agriculture
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