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Running header: RESEARCH PAPER Miguel Munoz
Davenport University
Research Paper
December 17, 2014 RESEARCH PAPER 2 The world of the farmer is one that is comprised of many aspects that may seem simple in
nature but in all actuality they are some of the most complicated aspects of our society that only
a few people know about. Raising livestock or crops may seem simple enough but there are
many different ways a producer can raise them. A producer can raise crops and livestock in a
industrial manner which involves the use of hormones, fertilizers, and even the use of crude
vaccines. There is also a different, more profitable manner of raising crops and livestock; this is
the organic and free-range of raising livestock and crops. In this manner animals are allowed to
freely roam a large area of land where there is access to food, water and shelter whenever it is
needed. Crops are raised in a fashion where there are alternating rows of different crops with a
minimal use of pesticides and a use of organic fertilizer in various forms. Industrial farming is
heading towards a major decline in its popularity due to the overuse of hormones and
vaccinations that lower the quality of the meat. Although the total crop acreage in the United
States is less than one percent, the United States is lagging behind other countries such as: “…
Switzerland (11 percent), [and] Italy (9 percent)” (Haynes, George, 2011, pg. 11). Despite this
lagging, certified organic crop and livestock acreage has grown rapidly since 2010.
Organic Agriculture and produce has been a subject of many debates over the past few
decades, much of those debates were about Organic Agriculture being: better for the
environment, better promotes biodiversity, better for soil replenishment, better tasting products,
and longer shelf-life in certain situations. Organic Agriculture is defined by the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “Organic agriculture produces products using methods
that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and
antibiotics” (United States Department of Agriculture, 2014, n.p). Industrial Agriculture, as
defined by the Union of Concerned Scientists is “…the system of chemically intensive food RESEARCH PAPER 3 production… featuring enormous single-crop farms and animal production facilities” (Union of
Concerned Scientists, n.d, n.p). Industrial Agriculture has also been on the debate platform as
well in the past few decades due to the fact that it has been known to use pesticides; pesticides
that have been known to cause diseases and various other health problems. Health problems that
include, but are not limited to: cancer, blood disorders, nerve disorders, birth defects,
reproduction defects, and hormone disruption. Although there are some advantages to Industrial
Agriculture, which include but are not limited to: lower costs, higher yields, resistance to the
elements, and year-round growing. These advantages only come after various disadvantages and
risks are diluted by the apparent advantages. Organic Agriculture is far more superior than
Industrial Agriculture due to the greater positive impact it does to the environment when
compared to industrial agriculture. When there is a label on a food product that instructs the buyer to ‘wash first’, there is a
cause for concern. Pesticides leave behind a residue that is very miniscule but causes harm to the
consumer when the product is consumer over a long period of time. This is especially true for
children, fetuses, and elderly people because of their age, immune system, brains, and bodies are
still developing or are diminished. Women who are pregnant are more susceptible to the side
effects of pesticides due to the stress associated with pregnancy. Pesticides can be passed from
mother to child and mother to fetus via breast milk that is tainted and absorption of pesticides
through the skin which ultimately reaches the blood stream and the fetus. One of the most used
pesticides in the United States is Atrazine, “… researchers in Indiana are finding that a rare birth
defect called ’gastroschisis’ shows up more among babies conceived when atrazine levels are
high” (Schafer, 2011, n.p). Industrial farming still uses Atrazine as a herbicide to control weeds RESEARCH PAPER 4 in corn, soy bean, and tomato fields, but it is primarily used in corn fields it is applied to 69% of
all the corn acreage in the United States. The main dangers of Atrazine and other traizine
chemical herbicides fall upon those who work in the fields, such as farmers and migrant workers
who are tending to the crops. The chemicals enter their bodies through the skin, inhalation, and
ingestion of the produce that has been treated with Atrazine.
The chemicals used in Industrial agriculture are never used in Organic agriculture; this is
why there is a greater biodiversity- a biological diversity, on farmlands where Organic
agriculture is used. In the farmlands where Industrial agriculture used, there is little biodiversity
because the chemicals used in the process of growing produce are often lethal to various animals
and insects, which are actually beneficial to the produce being grown. Those organisms that are
not killed by the chemical are quite often mutated, as is the case in a UC Berkeley study on
Atrazine and leopard frogs. The study showed that atrazine at levels often found in the
environment from runoff often demasculinizes tadpoles and turns them into hermaphrodites;
organisms with both male and female reproductive organs. The study also found lower levels of
the male hormone testosterone in sexually mature frogs by a multiple of 10, these levels of
testosterone are lower than that of normal female frogs. Frogs are not the only organisms that are
affected by the use of pesticides, herbicides, and the runoff of these chemicals. “The herbicide
also contaminates drinking water supplies in many communities in the Midwest…” (Sanders,
2002, n.p). This is cause for concern for not only the biodiversity of the environment but also for
our lives, for humans need water to survive, it is a vital resource that is needed by not only
ourselves but also the flora and fauna of the environment. In contrast organically farmed areas
have, on average; there are 30 percent more special and 50 percent more individuals when
compared to non-organically farmed areas. The main causes of such an increase in biodiversity is RESEARCH PAPER 5 largely in part to the forgoing the use of herbicides and chemically synthesized pesticides, as
well as the implementation of a more diversified agriculture structure, a conservation of tillage
and a more diversified crop rotation with a higher clover grass percentage. It is through this
agricultural structure that the produce and products have a far more concentrated amount of
nutrients and minerals.
There has been a decrease in nutrients in industrially grown produce, specifically corn,
broccoli, and wheat. There are various reasons as to why this is occurring, the two major causes
are: monoculture, and the over-use of fertilizers. A monoculture is a field that is composed of a
single crop rather than multiple crop species, in order to grow the same plant year after year in
the same place there is an over use of fertilizers because of the constant and numerous sowing of
seeds within the same year. The over use of fertilizers and herbicides depletes the soil of natural
nutrients and minerals that plants rely on, the only way to quickly replenish the nutrients is by
using synthesized fertilizers. Pesticides are used due to the fact that monoculture fields are a vast
attractant to certain insect pests and weeds. There has been “…a sharp decline in minerals,
vitamins and other nutrients in many foods…” (Barak, Lyne, 2000, n.p). Minerals are a vital part
of a human’s diet and metabolism, we as humans get the vital nutrients, minerals, and
antioxidants from plants and occasionally animals. However there is no plant or animal that can
incorporate vitamins and minerals into its body when there is none in the soil from which it
obtains feeds. Organic plants have been found to have more vitamins, minerals, and “… have 60
percent more antioxidants than their conventionally grown version” (Douglas, 2014, n.p). This is
because plants produce chemicals that ultimately produce antioxidants when responding to
environmental stress which include pests, diseases, and a lack of soil nutrients. Since industrially
grown produce and products are more sheltered from these environmental factors and other RESEARCH PAPER 6 various stresses, through pesticides, other various growing practices, and other agricultural
structures, the plants have no need or particular impetus to produce antioxidants. Whereas
organically grown produce has fertile soil which is fertilized through compost, manure and other
organic matter. Through this type of fertilization and growing process, “… organic crops [have] a
18 to 69% higher percent concentration of antioxidant compounds, which are said to have many
health benefits…” (Bonar, 2014, n.p). These health benefits include, but are not limited to
helping prevent and fight: coronary heart diseases, strokes, heart attacks, and certain cancers.
This is also partly due to the extremely low to nonexistence of the heavy metal Cadmium, which
has been linked to kidney failure and nerve damage. Organically grown produce has a Cadmium
content which is four times lower than that of conventionally grown produce.
Organically grown produce and products made from the produce are healthier than their
industrially grown counterparts. Though there are some advantages to conventionally grown
produce such as a lower price at the supermarket; at least 20 percent cheaper, a higher production
and yield rate, more resistant to the elements, and a growing season that can last all year.
Although these advantages may seem to be very enticing to the consumer, there are far greater
reasons for choosing organically grown produce over conventionally grown produce. Such
reasons include on average a: higher concentration of antioxidants, lower concentration of
Cadmium, and a lower content and residues of pesticides and herbicides when compared to
conventionally grown produce in various areas, regions, and climates.
Due to the various health and environmental benefits of Organic Agriculture which
include increased levels of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Organic Agriculture and
produce is intrinsically superior and exponentially healthier than industrially grown produce.
Higher prices for a far more superior product at a supermarket is rightfully priced due to the RESEARCH PAPER 7 produce having lower nitrate levels in the produce and in the environment, a greater biodiversity,
and a balance of habitats. Therefore based on the research completed, organically grown produce
is superior to industrially grown produce RESEARCH PAPER 8
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