Opinions Story

Has the industrialization of agriculture helped or hurt humans? 

As a country industrializes towards a manufacture-based society, agriculture also industrializes and changes. But is this change in the way we produce food for better or for worse?

Industrialization has resulted in a rise in commercial agriculture, which produces more product and a stronger profit than in subsistence farming.  Commercial agriculture also has created more jobs, and has provided an faster and cheaper way to feed a growing population.

But the effects from the rise in industrialized agriculture are not all positive. Commercial agriculture may seem productive on the surface, but there are hidden environmental, economic, and social costs that come along with it.

Industrial agriculture has also resulted in agriculture that degrades and depletes resources, destroys economic opportunities, and increases food contamination, resulting in more food-borne illnesses.

Commercial farming has effected the environment in a number of ways. One way is by the enormous amount of energy and water it uses. Agriculture is responsible for about 20% of fossil fuel use in the U.S., and accounts for 70% of global water use. 

Agriculture has also effected the atmosphere by emitting harmful gases and particulates that are not easily absorbed and cycled, which has led to a contribution to global warming. The runoff from factory farms contains hazardous waste and pollutants that effect people and other organisms living near the farms. 

Although industrial agriculture has created more jobs, the low wages and horrible labor conditions resulted in a pay cut for local residents. Because of this, most farms must hire immigrants to work for them. 

The rise in commercial farming has closely followed the sharp rises in industrialization that the world has seen in the past 200 years. 

The increased use of industrialized types of agriculture will only continue to rise, because local farms cannot compete with the low product prices of commercial agriculture. Local farms eventually switch to factory style farming, just because it is cheaper and there is a bigger profit gain. 

Some argue that the industrialization of agriculture has raised the general standard of living around the world. Although this was once true, we are now regressing in time. Pollution and climate change are now global issues, which have resulted directly from the use of commercial agriculture. 

Although the amount of people who are concerned about the effects of industrialized agriculture is low, we are here, and we can make a difference. We must get more people informed of the negative consequences of factory farms, and how that effects us, as humans. 

Commercialized farming simply cannot meet the needs of a growing population in a world running out of resources. The only solution for the consequences produced by industrial agriculture is to switch to sustainable agriculture. Switching to sustainable agriculture is not an option; it is necessary to the survival of the human race.