...The research of organic food The research of organic food Organic foods are foods that are produced without using modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. (Wikipedia, 2011, para. 1). Some people think organic foods are healthier than the traditional foods, some people oppose this opinion. The most important difference between organic foods and traditional foods is the farming method. The different farming methods have the different levels impacts on the environment. Traditional Foods Farming V.S. Organic Foods Farming Traditional foods are produced with traditional gardening, the production based on hybridizing. Before we use chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, the farmers used to use the animal manure to give nutrition to the seeds. The seeds absorb the nutrition from the land and the animal manure to grow up. The traditional agricultural system can classify into “Mixed Subsistence Farming”, the livestock and crops combined into one ecosystem (Biology, 1998, para.1). Organic farming method restricts to use natural pesticides and fertilizers. The organic farming focus on keeping good soil structure and fertility, and the farmers need recycle and compost crop wastes, animal manures, crop rotation, and green manures.(Infonet, n.d., para. 2). The Environmental impact of Traditional Farming Traditional farming has a vast impact on the earth. Fertilizers and pesticides are major causes of water pollution. The...
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...Livestock Domestic sheep and a cow (heifer) pastured together in South Africa Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. This article does not discuss poultry or farmed fish, although these, especially poultry, are commonly included within the meaning of "livestock". Livestock are generally raised for profit. Raising animals (animal husbandry) is a component of modern agriculture. It has been practiced in many cultures since the transition to farming from hunter-gather lifestyles. History Animal-rearing has its origins in the transition of cultures to settled farming communities rather than hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are ‘domesticated’ when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour, life cycle, and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild. Dogs were domesticated in East Asia about 15,000 years ago, Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BC in Asia. Swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BC in the Middle East and China. The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BC[1] Older English sources, such as the King James Version of the Bible, refer to livestock in general as "cattle", as opposed to the word "deer", which then was used for wild animals which were not owned. The word cattle is derived from Old North French catel, which meant all kinds...
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...Food production capacity is faced with a number of challenges. Among the benefits are the use of pesticides for crop protection these products are vital to increasing food production. Crop losses would double if existing pesticide uses were abandoned, significantly raising food prices. Even after harvest, crops are subject to attack by pests or diseases. Bugs, rodents or molds can harm grains. However, pesticide use may cause an increased risk to human health, and the natural environment (Atreya, Sitaula, Johnsen, Bajracharya, 2011). In addition to increasing crop yields, crop protection products used in stored products can also prolong the viable life of produce, prevent huge post-harvest losses from pests and diseases, and protect food so it is safe to eat. The crop protection industry’s aim is for farmers to grow an abundant supply of food in a safe manner and prevent costs from increasing. Food production processes benefit from advancements in agricultural technologies. In addition, incompetent pesticide use in agriculture is likely to degrade human and environmental health leading to a decline in human productivity, economic and social consequences limiting groups whose livelihood depend solely on agriculture ( Atreya, Sitaula, Johnsen, & Bajracharya, 2011). Agricultural productivity is key to ensuring that this demand can be met at an affordable price, and crop protection products help increase productivity and useable crop yields. I personally am concerned about the...
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...INGREDIENTS OF THE FOOD SYSTEM BACKGROUND READING "How we eat determines, to a considerable extent, how the world is used."1 –Wendell Berry, author and farmer Food holds many meanings and serves many roles. At its most basic level, it is a source of nourishment, without which we would cease to function. On a global scale, nations depend on food for political stability.2 Among the one in six people worldwide who lack adequate access to food,3 it may be viewed as a rare and precious commodity. Others who enjoy access to an abundant food supply may take it for granted; in many parts of the world, consumers and food industries discard it in great quantities.4 Beyond its biological roles, food has deep social meaning; it can serve as a mark of culture, values or taste, a gathering point among communities or an opportunity to reinforce relationships.5,6 On a personal level, food and emotion are closely tied.7 Food may provide temporary relief from anxiety, depression, loneliness and boredom.7 Feelings of joy and other positive emotions may inspire healthier, more pleasurable eating experiences.7 These examples illustrate just a few of the ways that food is an integral part of human lives. We all experience food, if for no other reason than because we all consume it. Our relationship with food, however, extends far beyond the act of eating. Food takes a complex journey from its origins on farm fields, ranches, rivers, oceans and other sources to consumers’ plates. Along the way...
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...Caula Rogers Bio-220 Environmental Science July 6, 2014 Professor Sharar Sustainable eating for health and humankind final report Food can become the instruction manual of our choices in becoming more healthy or to become a “junk food addict.” Still the food obtainable to us can be further harmful to us than good- both to our health, as well as to the health of the earth. Next, to the climate change which contributes to the extreme weather that loom protect food supply. “ For instance, the consumers , and the employees of the corporations, they make the decision about the foods being sold, which gives us the way to create, process, conveyance, and use foods. Also the United States as well as other countries, has a great deal of support from the government for commodity crop such as “wheat, corn, and soy production this also goes through the use of government subsidies. The government support for commodity crop has successfully made farmers ignore, more healthy crops; furthermore, a great deal of industrial crops grown here in the United States are being used for animal feed in “concentrated animal feeding operations ( CAFOs), also better known as factory farms.” With the support of the government the industrial crop production has increase in corn, as well as soy-fed animals, this also increased production for foods that use corn that is high fructose corn syrup; this ultimately contributing to the commonness of health problems for instance, heart...
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...In today’s day and age where food production yield is critical, protection of the environment is imperative, and the state of American health is distressing nutritional health has become a very heavy and conflicting topic in society, especially where meat is concerned. The inception of the fast food industry in the mid 1900’s saw the demand for cheaper meat in the U.S skyrocket. With cheaper meats more readily available the average meat consumption by U.S citizens also increased significantly. In order to accommodate this high demand for cheaper meat, the raising of prime meat animals such as cows, hogs, and chickens was rapidly moved away from traditional pasture and barn raising methods to a wholly subsidized industrial system (Sherman 10)....
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...such as carbon dioxide are the main causes of global warming since presence in the atmosphere leads to absorption of heat energy from the sun rather than emitting it to the space (Silver 135). The issue of climate change is a global concern since affects all regions and not just the countries where there are huge emission of greenhouse gases. Despite this, the initiatives to control global warming mainly lie with the governments, environmental organizations, and industries whereas there is little input of the individuals. These agencies are characterized with deep information about the consequences of global warming that is linked to strong intervention practices adopted. There are numerous researches conducted on global warming and consequences whose discussions are embraced in government and environmental agencies. Greater success of intervention practices would be achieved through increased involvement of the people. Since the knowledge of global warming impacts is influential to the development of control measures, greater understanding of the impacts of global warming would be instrumental to attain increased involvement of individuals in intervention practices. Global warming causes extreme temperatures, which affect quality of life and could be unbearable to people and other living organisms in highly affected regions. Global warming involves a general increase in atmospheric temperature and is experienced around the globe (McNall 1). Increased temperature affects people...
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...One value in Buddhist teaching is interconnectedness. It discards the notion that people hierarchically are above all other beings. People tend to forget that the world is interconnected and that once we exploit our resources they are gone. As humans control the earth and do with as they please they can an in many cases unintentionally destroy the earth and its natural resources. One environmental issue caused by human impact is the overfishing of the Bluefin Tuna to the point where it has been placed on the critically endangered species list. Bluefin Tuna are being overfished at an alarming rate this human greed from a Buddhist perspective will cause the depletion and over all extinction if nothing is changed. Bluefin Tuna populations in the Atlantic Ocean have declined over 70 percent in the last thirty years yet because seafood is a global commodity being flown into markets around the world the demand has become unquenchable. Overfishing for Bluefin continues scientist expect the fish to become extinct by 2012 if nothing changes. (PBS.org) The Bluefin Tuna is a species of Tuna native to both the western and eastern Atlantic Ocean as well as the Mediterranean Sea. This is a relatively large species of fish. A full grown male can average six to eight feet long and can weigh up to 770 pounds, although the Bluefin is capable of reaching over one thousand pounds. Bluefin Tuna are robust and rhomboidal in shape. They have dark blue upper body and grey below with a gold glint...
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...an image of large fields where cows and other animals are free to roam and graze. In reality, however, most farms today are actually large corporate factories, not the vast fields and red barns that most Americans imagine. These consolidated operations known as CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are able to produce meats in high volume but have little to no regard for animal or human welfare, the environment, or food safety. CAFOs in the United States are able to produce and process these large amounts of meat year-round by providing sheltered farms for a range of livestock such as cattle, swine, and sheep. However, within these farms animals are confined in limited spaces, making living conditions increasingly unhealthy and unsanitary. Brian Walsh, an environmental columnist at Time Magazine, observed that pigs are sometimes “packed so tightly with other swine that many of their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another.” Conditions like these are prime locations for diseases to thrive and spread throughout the livestock. Although antibacterial immunizations are provided to the pigs, the bacteria and other viruses are constantly altering, leading to untreatable infections that can be easily passed onto workers and consumers. Contributing to the threat of new diseases, CAFOs contain massive pileups of feces and other excrements which do not provide safe living or breeding grounds for animals. With over 100 million tons of feces and urine...
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...fed. With food deprivation being at its highest in history, industries have had to think of new ways to feed more people faster, thus leading to the creation of factory farming, an inhumane and unjustifiable way to get food faster. After World War II, the main goal of farmers was to mass produce as much product as possible at the lowest rate possible. This then led to the unethical treatment of these animals because they were kept in a very confined environment. These giant animal farms started in the 1970s, livestock farmers weren’t able to keep up with the rise of these massive confined animal feeding...
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...of Science and Technology December 2014 Contents Introduction 1. Impacts of deforestation 2.1. Deforestation contributes to global warming 2.2. Deforestation loses biodiversity 2.3. Deforestation impacts soil negatively 2. Causes of deforestation 1.1. Population growth is an indirect reason of deforestation 1.2. Deforestation is rooted by urbanization and industrialization 1.3. Agriculture leads to deforestation 3. Solutions Conclusion References | 111233345567 | Deforestation: A threat against our planet Introduction Forests play an important role in our lives. Not only do they maintain biodiversity, for example providing food and shelters for animals and plants, but they also provide important sources such as food, woods, and herb medicines for human beings. They, moreover, help control climate and prevent soil from erosion. Forests, however, are under threat by deforestation – an act of clearing trees to exploit resources like woods, minerals, medicines and to create land for agricultural activities or space for building facilities, for instance houses, roads, etc. Deforestation is a pressing problem, and it is killing our planet because of many reasons. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of deforestation on our planet, the causes of deforestation, and some necessary solutions to reduce deforestation. 1. Impacts of deforestation 2.1. Deforestation contributes to global warming ...
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... you can assume that the meat comes from a factory farm or Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). A CAFO functions as an industrial plant and its only purpose is to produce meat products as rapidly and as lucratively as they possibly can. A CAFO is an agricultural operation that congregates animals, feed, manure, urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area. The production methods used in these operations is the cause for measurable damages across a wide range of environmental, biological, and economic factors. (Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy, 2008) One of these factors is a public health one. The extensive use of antibiotics in livestock CAFO’s, especially for non-therapeutic uses such as growth promotion contributes to the development of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms that are more difficult to treat and are causing food-borne diseases in humans. It is important to identify and reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics on these animals in order to prevent the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Some of the Difficulties For decades, antibiotics such as Tylosin and Monensin have been used for the treatment of diseases in animals and humans. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved in the 1950’s their use in animal feed as long as they are given “in low doses to help animals grow faster, produce more meat, and avoid illness.” (Food Market Institute, n.d., p. 1) According to Tam & Willson, (2011)...
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...forever because of the technology revolution. Technological advancements come at us so quickly in the United States that we barely have time to absorb and understand the changes before the next changes are upon us. One of the most recent technological advancements is the development of GMO’s, or Genetically Modified Organisms. GMO’s are being used to develop our crops and everyday food, causing many consumers to worry about the effects of GMO’s on our health, environment, and our ecosystem. Questions are being raised as to whether GMO technologies have more negative or positive effects both now and in the future. The use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’S) in our crops is more detrimental than it is beneficial because GMO’s have possible negative environmental and health impacts and the consequences of using GMO’s is unknown and unpredicted. The benefits of using Genetically Modified Organism’s in our crops do not compare with the possible detrimental impacts on our environment and ecosystem, health, and the future of our planet. The use of GMO’s in food production is creating major environmental concerns both to the FDA and consumers. Unknown and unstudied chemicals that are being put into our environment with the GMO’s leave us uncertain about the damage being caused. Chemicals such as herbicides are being used in greater quantities to control weeds creating a possible vicious cycle. As weeds develop resistance, it forces a greater use of herbicides to control increasingly...
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...Organisation today are begin asked to address an increasingly complex set of environmental issues, as noted in the quote. Sustainability is achieved when we understand the economic environmental and social consequences of our actions and make deliberate choice that allow, all people to lead heathy productive and enjoyable lives. Your response should include a discussion of: * Complex environment ussies * Methos of measuring an organisation environmental impact * Methods of managing an organisation environmental impact * Methods of reducing an organisation environmental impact. Sustainability refers to continuance preservation and renewal the capacity for a business to keep doing what it does without depleting the resource necessary for it is operation and without permanently damaging it is indirect linked resources and environs interacting with the totality of the surrounding conditions is ways that do not cause harm and will allow responsible generation. Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking action that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life. It is an important topic at the present time, as people are realising the full impact Environmental sustainability is about making responsible decisions that will reduce your business' negative impact on the environment. It is not simply about reducing the amount of waste you...
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...The Future of Food Production The process that food consumed in America goes through to make its way to our mouths is like a Rube Goldberg contraption. The seemingly straightforward process of growing, raising, harvesting, and slaughtering goes on every day, completely hidden from consumers. Very few Americans are aware of the highly complicated, mechanized, and convoluted journey that any given bite of food takes from its origins in nature (or some manipulated approximation of it) to its destination on our plates. Although some people criticize the state of our food system, it is clear that it grew to be the international machine that it is because of demand. More than 300 million Americans want lots of food, meat especially, and they want it cheap. So like every other production process in this country, our food system has been industrialized to produce maximum food calories for the American people at minimum cost. This industrialization of our food system has allowed for population increase and higher standards of living. But there are significant problems with the industrial food system. Caught up in a drive to maximize production and profit, the industrial food system has grown to an unsustainable size. As food production has become increasingly industrialized, concern for the environment and the animals we eat has taken a backseat to expansion. Specialization, rather than integration, has become Forman 2 the hallmark of America’s farms. Rather...
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