-Deceptive Labeling
-Water, soil, and air pollution from organic waste run-off, fossil fuel combustion, pesticide/fertilizer run-off
-Animal Cruelty and Disease
-Decreased nutritional quality and human health
-CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations)
-Use of growth hormones: effects on animals and humans
-Use of antibiotics: leading to drug resistant pathogens
-Monocultures: decreasing soil fertility requiring constant inputs, increasing pesticides resistance
-Human Rights: workers, consumers, citizens, farmers constantly in dept
Sustainable agricultural practices counter industrial practices. There are many farms in central Massachusetts who apply sustainable practices. Below are key principles:
-Transparency and community based
-Solar powered
-Grass Based
-Biomimicry: following nature’s template
-Polyculture
-Animal Rights and Biology: optimizing animal’s natural behavior
-IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
-Minimal use of organic pesticides
-Fair-Trade: ensuring workers fair payment
-Farmers Markets: retail versus wholesale
Buffone Garden (Worcester, MA) and Brigham Hill Community Farm (Grafton, MA)
Below are photos primarily from the Buffone Garden on Aetna street. The first 4 photos (ivory soap, production charts, and broad view of pickers) are of Brigham Hill, an 11-acre farm that relies on community volunteer work to help provide 80,000 people with produce through the Worcester County Food Bank. Both the garden and farm are excellent examples of community based systems relying on social capital. Questions to the class are 1) Why the soap stick? 2) What are names of the insects and their function/impact on the garden? 3) Can decorative flowers serve any function besides looking nice? What adaptations do these insects have?
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- Soap Stick
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- 11 Community Acres
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- Annual Harvest
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- Annual Harvest Amounts
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- Garden Flowers
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- Insect camo
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- Yellow Jacket
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- Grasshopper
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- Honey Bee (?)
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- Moth
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- Bumble Bee
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- Lady Bug
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- Strawberry Field
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- Harvest Strawberries
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- Corn Syrup
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- CornCoke
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- Local Buffalo
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- Grass Fed?
May 9, 2008 at 3:10 am
Currently, our agricultural system is flawed. It is not only flawed because we are enormously damaging the environment, but also because we can’t see that the food we create through this faulty system is actually worse for us. It’s the general mindset that bigger is better. So our produce, our meat, everything is bigger and juicier and more expensive. What people don’t understand when they buy the container of monster strawberries is that the “healthy” food they’re going to bring home and feed to their family is filled with pesticides and other toxins that made the berries deform into these hulk-like fruits. Not only do these pesticides and chemicals affect the food itself but what about the environment? Water, soil, and air are all polluted because of run-off from pesticides and fertilizers. Not to mention the pollution from shipping all this food all over the world. People read things like “corn-fed” and assume that is a good thing because isn’t corn healthy? It must be better for the cows. When in reality they are being tricked by clever labeling to buy a product made from tortured animals. Animals whose lives were spent not being able to turn around or lie down. These poor creatures were in fact fed corn, which is not their natural food source. The corn is used to make them gain more weigh faster so, along with the growth hormones such as rBGH, they can reach full growth at a much faster rate and be killed. These drugs have horrible affects on the animals. rBGH can cause a disorder in cows called mastitis, or inflammation of the udders along with the long list of side affects Monsanto, the manufacturer of rBGH, puts on the package. These drugs also affect humans. Studies show that the US has the highest consumption of milk. Some of the effects the drugs found in milk can have on humans include different cancers, osteosarcome, the growth of new blood vessels, and the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the body. Is this really the right way to go about getting nourishment?
No, it isn’t, and we have the technology to change it. There are many community-based farms that are self-sustaining and much better for the environment. These farms mimic an animal’s natural environment to get the full benefits from each animal. By following nature’s template, many other things are accomplished on the farm. While chickens are let out to walk around the farm, they eat bugs and grass (their natural food source), which cuts down on feeding costs and reduces the need for pesticides. These farms also plant a variety of fruits and vegetables in their fields to keep up soil fertility. Most of them do not ship their products, but rather they sell it either at the farm or at farmer’s markets where you can find a variety of locally grown foods that may look like what you got in the store but is in fact much better for you. Some of these farms also sell their food to local markets Shopping at farmers markets also helps to support sustainable agriculture. The more you support this type of agriculture and the more popular it becomes, the more power you will be taking away from the larger corporations that run the industrial farms that are damaging our environment.
May 18, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Food is a resource that everyone in the world needs to survive. Places like the United States can overuse food, where places like Africa go into famines because there is simply not enough. Malnutrition is also a result of not consuming enough calories or eating a variety of foods. This is a problem because some parts of the world can only grow certain crops. Everyone needs to consume carbohydrates, grains, fruits, vegetables, smaller amounts of meats, nuts, and other foods that have more fat and protein. It will not come as a surprise to learn that the United States is the leading producer of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. This is only a problem in the way in which it is produced. All of this food is not produced naturally, and that is a health and morality issue. Fruits and vegetables for example, are grown unnaturally, and are being sprayed with pesticides. These pesticides are supposed to kill off unwanted animals from eating the crops, however they are carcinogens for humans and cause disruption in the nervous system. The problem is increased if the pesticides are persistent; meaning that it doesn’t break down quickly. Therefore they stay and stack up in soil and water. However, it does not stop here; the animals we eat are also deeply affected by the way we raise our crops. Much of the time, the livestock are being fed crops that are sprayed with pesticides. This can get into their bloodstream and cause the same effects on them that it does on humans. This may seem like an indirect way of animal cruelty but it gets worse. The livestock are injected with growth hormones and steroids to make them grow muscle faster, or produce milk faster. These hormones include rBGH, made by Monsanto, which can cause a sickness for cows called mastitis, which is an infection of their udders. The animals are also raised in confined areas which limit their ability to walk, or even move. This is the same for all factory farm raised animals, including chickens, pigs, and cows. The effects on the animals are bad enough, but they also cause a terrible effect for humans as well. “…a serious human health risk for increased breast and colon cancer. In addition, scientific studies have recently been brought to the attention of the World Health Organization that injecting mammals with genetically engineered growth hormones very likely increases their susceptibility to deadly, incurable brain-wasting diseases such as BSE, commonly known as Mad Cow Disease, or its human variant, Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease”(http://www.awionline.org/farm/rbgh.htm). “…associated with increased risk of several common cancers, including those of the prostate, breast, colorectum, and the lung”(http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/dairy/what-research-shows).
There is a way to prevent this torture and helth dillema from continuing. The best weapond against this ongoing epidemic is knowledge. Know where your food is coming from. Support rBGH-free products, pesticide-free products, and locally grown animals and crops. This is the number one way to prevent this torture. To buy from local farms, and inquire how they raise their animals, their dairy products, fruits and vegetables. In an ideal world, if everyone could buy locally, we could not only cut down on the amount of tortured animals, health diseases and risks, but also cut down on air pollution because of the amount of fuel and energy it takes to ship the food places. Best of all, there would be fresh and safe food.
September 18, 2008 at 12:24 pm
At the community garden, there were many interesting facts and sights that I saw. I had learned that when a tomatoe has turned green on the stem, you are able to pick it and place it into a plastic bag next to the window to keep it fresh which will still grow. Many interesting foods were grown there that I never knew would have grown there such as eggplant, squash, peppers, cabbage, and lettuce. Also, I never heard of the 3 sister technique, which is growing squash, corn, and green beans in the same soil. It was also cool to pick some fruit for them. I had a good time there and excited to go back.