The Trees Were My Only Defense
Imagine running through the forest dodging behind every tree within a short running distance as you are under attack by evil forest creatures. The trees and underbrush become your only allies but luckily you have a huge array of places to hide as well many tools for protection against any creature that may get too close for comfort. This simple adventurous game I used to play as a very young child may not have lasted for long, but it did serve a major role in producing the passion I now have towards agriculture. We have all experienced some crazy or silly childhood game similar to this, but surprisingly enough this game did more than fuel my imagination while wasting time; it made me step back and observe those trees and underbrush I was using for protection to gain an insight on how simply astonishing they truly were.
Agriculture has always served a major role in my life and has even instilled ideas into my mind that have put me where I am today. If it weren’t for my agricultural experiences as a child, there is no telling what my life would now consist of. Through my experiences, I have learned a wide range of agriculturally related skills that I’m able and to use on a daily basis. In addition, I have used these skills to make a major decision in my life, specifically my career choice. Although I’m merely a freshman in college, still classified into my sisters phrase, “you still have time to figure our your life goals”, I believe that my decision to work in a field of agriculture is definite. Considering the fact that I have a true passion for agriculture and the verity that almost all areas of human life involve agriculture, I don’t see how a career in agriculture would be a bad decision.
I did not grow up on what is considered a farm; the land was once part of a large farm. By the time I came along the farming had been long gone. However, even without the true farming experience, I was able to connect to agriculture very closely just by examining those trees in my adventurous game. I would first walk all around the base of a tree just to get a feel of its size, and then I would slowly raise my head and gaze into its branches. It always amazed me to look at its structure; I mean, how does a tree even get the idea to grow that way? Its not like it has a brain! By now you may think I’ve gone crazy for being so fascinated with trees, but just wait until you’ve seen my nerd side! It was not until middle school that the science side of things began influencing my perspective. Within all the lessons on forest production, cell anatomy, and photosynthesis, I was beginning to make some connections in order to become a “nerd” of agriculture. I decided to branch out into other areas of agriculture rather than only focusing on trees. In doing so I became interested in rivers and animals. It all became overwhelming as everything I had once viewed as a simple ant or stream was now this part of the bigger picture of life. For example, when I was young trees were just this thing that grew from the ground, looked pretty and every now and then a few would have tasty fruit. Several years down road, I would learn that trees are in fact living and breathing creatures, even compared to humans by many scholars. In scholars eyes they have cells that are almost identical, use similar transport systems, and even have the same reproductive concepts. That just goes to prove that everything in this world was produced for a very specific reason and intended to work together in order to create this captivating place we call Earth. These locks and keys in nature are now part of agricultural life and are the amazing facts that have drawn my interest towards agriculture.
To me, life has always been about learning. I have always strived to learn something really neat or important each week. In the same way, I feel that teaching goes hand in hand with learning. Who are we as people in society if we don’t step out and try to learn new things every day? We live in a nation that is constantly evolving, constantly embracing new technology and new ideas; therefore we must continue to expand our knowledge to remain adapted to society. If we as people would then begin to understand part of what living in a nation is all about. Nationalism is simply people working to support those in their nation as well as helping to advance the nation as a whole. Often time’s people just sit back and let others embrace nationalism but I feel that everyone must do their part even if it’s something small because even small things matter greatly. For this reason, my enthusiasm for agriculture is what I see as my part towards nationalism; I am more than willing to teach, and convey my thoughts for others.
One major way I’ve been able to express my agricultural passion in the past was through an agricultural program at my high school. The program is called Future Farmer of America or FFA for short. You may not believe it, but statics say that this program is the largest youth organization in America. Although its name says “future farmers”, you do not have to intend to be a farmer to be interested in this program; in fact hardly any of the members actually become farmers, hence the reason the name was later changed to The National FFA Organization. The goal of FFA was to be simply known as an organization that promotes agriculture advocacy and education. As a two-term officer in this program while in high school, it was my duty to help convey this message of agriculture advocacy to other members as well as the community. One of my favorite parts of being an officer was getting the chance to go to the local middle and elementary schools to discuss the importance of agriculture with younger people. I loved walking into a classroom filled with small children. The children’s attention would quickly turn towards me as their teacher introduced me. As I began a simple presentation trying to include my enthusiasm, theirs would surpass mine. Although it was often disheartening to discover that some ten year olds didn’t realize that eggs came from chickens and milk from cows, I was glad to become a pawn for their agricultural learning.
The food we eat, clothes we wear, paper we write on, and cars we drive all relate back to agriculture. You can actually look at anything in a superstore and trace some part of it to an agriculture operation. Since agriculture is so evident in our world, I hope to have an opportunity to work with, and give back to my passion of agriculture. I even have the chance to tie in my new large interest of chemistry into an agricultural career. By taking some chemistry classes in high school, I have grown to love the biochemical career field. This could relate towards biofuels, or biomedical areas but I want to go towards an agricultural aspect. Through a biochemical degree, it is my hope that I can get involved in research that not only expands on my knowledge, but also the knowledge of others. Lastly through this career path, I hope that I will get the opportunity to learn something that can be applied back to influence agriculture industries positively whether it is by understanding a better growing environment for plants, or a way to assist the demand against farming operations.
Agriculture is a huge characteristic of our lives, without it we would most definitely be in a heap of trouble without it. I may be overly passionate about agriculture, but I feel that we all have that one area of our lives that we are driven by. I’m glad that my career interests closely coincide with my passion for agriculture, as I would find it extremely difficult to resist the urging of my agricultural passion while following a dissimilar interest. My background in agriculture has supplied far too much enjoyment and direction in my life to turn away now. As a college student, I want to fully embrace my career goals while remembering where I have come from and influences that have shaped my life. Agriculture has indubitably sown me; I’ll just have to wait and see what type of fruit I produce.
“Bacon Comes from Cows”
“Bacon comes from cows!” “Paper can’t possibly come from trees.” “Don’t eat McDonalds chicken nuggets, they kill baby chickens for them!” These phrases are just a few of the misconceptions that I have heard from fourth graders within my local school system. It is amazing to hear comments similar to these that are bluntly incorrect. It becomes intensely disheartening to realize that portions of the general public today, not limited to young people, have no clue where their food comes from or what the daily materials they use are made of. Basic agricultural facts have slipped out of the thought process of our current society. It doesn’t occur to people how difficult the process behind getting food on their table and other materials in their homes really is. This mindset is completely inaccurate because agriculture is the basis of all life.
Agriculture not only relates to the food we eat but also to the foundation jobs of society such as plumbing and mechanics. Without a simple understanding of basic agricultural knowledge, people are unable to realize what they are truly eating, understand the amount of hard labor put into our food as well as other products, and respect the blue-collar workers that make sure our world operates in the way we desire. For these reasons it is extremely important that our school systems implement basic agricultural knowledge into its curriculum. In a 1991 scientific study titled “A Definition and the Concepts of Agricultural Literacy” conducted by Martin J. Frick and Alan A. Kahler, professors at Purdue University, insight was shared on the importance of agricultural education. Within the introduction of the journal, it states: “The Committee of Agricultural Education in Secondary Schools felt that ‘agriculture was too important a topic to be taught to only a relatively small percentage of students considering careers in agriculture and pursuing vocational agriculture studies’” (49). By implementing agriculture education into our elementary schools today, we would revive a generation astray from the facts of agriculture. This generation would build a stronger sense of humbleness and respect for each other becoming able to connect life in all its forms, the poor in need of food would be able to better survive, and prominent figures in society would be able to help decrease the stress put on the agriculture industry.
Agriculture education is often evident in high schools across America due to classes on horticulture, animal science, and agriculture mechanics; however, with classes like these listed as electives many students are missing out on the important knowledge and skills that agricultural classes have to offer. In animal science class students learn the process of raising animals for production whether it is for eggs, meat, or dairy. This class allows everyone to understand where their food comes from, the efforts put into raising animals, and the struggles farmers face to meet demand. Students that have taken this class could be inspired to start their own animal production farm to help meet the demands of society or simply to share their knowledge of the efforts behind agriculture with others. In horticulture, skills learned are how to grow houseplants, cultivate gardens, and understand what other products come from horticultural aspects. Students would be better equipped to maintain houseplants within their homes as well as outside landscape for aesthetic and environmental reasons. Additionally, gardening fundamentals would be available for students use if they find the need or desire to produce their own food. Lastly, agriculture mechanics covers all the fundamentals behind several blue-collar jobs. These fundamentals range from fixing a plumbing leak, replacing that wobbly step on the porch, or tightening up that ground wire on a light switch. Every single one of those simple lessons can become an impacting factor once that wobbly step is found or a flooding kitchen ruins your day because half a turn of a wrench or adding four nails is much more efficient than calling that plumber or construction worker out to a home for a hefty price. By having skills like these people could become more independent on simple things, invest in their own gardens rather than depending on local stores, and find ways to assist farming operations through support.
With a lack of agriculture knowledge evident in our society, we must turn somewhere and implement a plan of recovery to combat this lacking of information. Within the journal by Frick and Kahler, the NAS recommended:
1) The subject matter of instruction in and about agriculture be broadened and 2) beginning in kindergarten and continuing through twelfth grade, all students receive some systematic instruction about agriculture. It also suggested that colleges of agriculture, particularly in land-grand universities, become more involved in curriculum reform and the development of instructional materials and media. (49)
Allowing students to choose to take agriculture classes in high school is not sufficient enough to help the general public grow from the great skills that many agriculturalists have greatly benefited from. By integrating lessons of agriculture into our elementary curriculum and maintaining it throughout the other years of education as the journal stated, we will have a great defense against this dilemma of agriculture ignorance. It will definitely be a long fought battle by starting this integration at such a young age. By doing so, once that generation has grown into working adults living day by day in the “real world” an impact will have been made in the efforts to understand that all life is connected and action needs to be take to ensure a solid connection. If the next generation fails to reform the solid connection that has been broken, our environmental issues will only worsen leaving us “hanging by a thread” here on Earth. Also, the demand against farming industries will continue to rise constricting not only our accessibility to food but our economy as well. Farmers and agriculturalist already have a tough task by not only focusing on their job but also trying to reconnect all areas of life; it will take an entire society to assist them in fully sealing this connection.
With the economy being difficult at times we often learn that more and more people lose their ability to put food on their table. Once our economy starts a decline, the incomes of households are pressured as inflation raises, and in turn constricting budgets. One way that families could save money would be to start producing some of their own food. Through a simple five square foot garden, a numerous amount of fruit and vegetables could be produced given the families have an understanding of garden cultivation. This is a skill that one might pick up on or maybe even seek out amongst neighbors and friends, but had someone taught them gardening earlier while they were in school they would already be set to start their garden successfully sooner. Today people who live in a city environment may miss these lessons of garden cultivation as they live in an area that doesn’t have the option to have standard farms, and therefore are not introduced to agricultural skills in school. This is one example of how integrating agriculture into school curriculum can be extremely beneficial to many people later on in life. The fact is that you don’t necessarily need a large space to grow your own food, as there are ways to grow sufficient amounts of food in confined spaces. People in cities still have the capability to supply their own produce just as rural areas, although, only on a small scale. Therefore, since everyone across the nation has the capability to garden our school systems are failing at integrating life skills into its curriculum and instead are only focusing on fostering the education our government, who is often unlettered in agriculture, believes we need.
Government officials and other authoritative figures that are brought up having a focus on agriculture would have the knowledge that allows them to connect to the general public far better than people today who are certainly unknowledgeable in agriculture. Those people that are in high regard would gain more respect and favor if they themselves are able to look back on their agriculture knowledge and remember those blue-collar jobs that make society work or the farmers that work dawn to dusk making sure they produce enough for the world. Through an understanding of agriculture, authoritative figures are able to show compassion and respect to lower classes. Additionally, by understanding that agriculture in influenced by its surrounding environment, authoritative figures will be more likely to take preventative measures for agricultural entities. We need officials that cannot only realize the importance of agriculture but also the importance of agriculture education for it will be the government that ensures the expansion of curriculum including agriculture. Through the governments understanding and implementing of curriculum expansion, agriculture entities will gain a support system to help them in their difficult tasks. Furthermore, society will reconnect with the agriculture knowledge that no one should be left without.
“The failure of our secondary schools and liberal arts colleges to teach even rudimentary courses on agriculture means that an enormous majority, even among well-educated Americans, are totally ignorant of an area of knowledge basic to their daily style of life, to their family economics, and indeed to their survival” (49). Agriculture is an important aspect of life that is hugely overlooked. Without agriculture our lives would be completely inexistent. This foundation of agriculture that has been set down before us is one that we must not ignore because without this it we would not survive. Trying to reverse the ignorance about agriculture and embrace the tremendous foundation we are built upon will fill our lives with the information necessary to form basic ideas, understand hard work, and gain respect for life and all its forms. Not only will we have this foundation to fall upon, but also through embracement we will have a set of skills that differs from any of history or math as these lessons are richly life impacting.
Works Cited
Frick, Martin J., and Alan A. Kahler. "A Definition And Concepts Of Agricultural
Literacy." Journal of Agriculture Education 32.2 (1991): 49-57. Journal of Agriculture Education. CyberSense LLC, 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. <http://www.jae-online.org/attachments/article/758/Frick,%20M_Vol32_2_49-57.pdf>.
Taking Agriculture Education to a New Level
“How is it that 300 million Americans, all addicted to eating, have become so disconnected from the people who grow our food?” (Osborne). This question was asked at a National FFA (Future Farmers of America) convention by Mike Rowe, well known from his television show Dirty Jobs. The answer to this question is one that is not defined since the underlying cause or causes have not yet been fully discovered. Despite having the answer, Ed Osborne has discovered a solution to this fascinating question. Ed Osborne, the Professor and Chair at the University of Florida, gave a lecture at the 2010 Annual Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education titled “Taking Agriculture Education to the Next Level”. In his lecture, he starts by discussing the history that has brought agriculture to its position today before expanding on his opinion that agriculture education is on the brink of a major change towards a new level. Osborne clearly states his assertions and effectively supports each of them throughout his lecture while keeping a motivational tone for his selected audience.
Four main assertions are made in Osborne’s lecture and are not included in the beginning, but rather implied throughout his lecture. Although he does not include his thesis till the end of his speech, he clearly states his assertions by saying:
My message to the profession today and to each of you is that our best work is ahead of us, and we must jointly commit to creating a new agricultural education, one characterized by (a) a unified discipline with greater disciplinary capacity; (b) a stronger and deeper scientific base; (c) a broader purpose in colleges of agriculture; and (d) faculty members with broad perspectives and deep expertise in their discipline. (7)
Since Osborne does not state his ideas in the beginning of his speech, readers are more interested in what he is saying and also have a better understanding of his main assertions. Through this method of stating a point and backing it up one topic at a time, Osborne fully gets his message across that agriculture education is an important broad social science. He then states that more research in agriculture needs to be done in order to advance our world, and that colleges and professors are the major factors that can influence this step to a new level of agriculture education.
Approximately two pages are devoted to each of Osborne’s four assertions. Within those two pages, ample evidence is used to support the assertions. As Osborne is an agriculture educator himself, he includes numerous personal experiences as well as opinions to support his main points. However, aside from all his opinions and personal accounts, Osborne also includes statistics and facts that remove all doubts against his opinions. For one example, when Osborne was arguing his point that agricultural research needs to be embraced in order to advance our world, he brings up the 2009 National Research Council report titled A New Biology for the 21st Century. He states that this report
Makes a powerful argument that only through an integrated science approach will solutions be found for major societal needs in food, the environment, energy, and human health. The report states that only a fully integrated approach among the many science disciplines will create the research capacity required to tackle these broad and complex problems. (3)
By using this report Osborne proves that agriculturists need to be more involved in research in order to succeed at facing the major problems in our world today. Through this report and many other statistics and facts that Osborne uses, each statistic or fact is not cited which could easily bring them into question. Throughout the article Osborne only introduces the source of the information, for example one time he states, “As suggested in the NRC report…” (6). Although this gives a good idea of where the information came from, Osborne doesn’t include any citation pages to give any details of the information’s location. Simple research might show that they are in fact trusted sources and could possibly be found rather easily, however it is interesting to why Osborne does not find the need to cite his information. The main reason as to why Osborne does not use any form of citation is because he knows who his intended audience is. As an agriculture professor at the University of Florida speaking towards peer agriculture educators, Osborne understands that his audience has either already heard the information or is very familiar with the source.
Lectures are often very tailored for their audience, which is extremely true for this lecture by Osborne. He is obviously directing his assertions to those who are agricultural educators as they are in fact the ones who Osborne believes have the ability to bring agriculture to a new level. Osborne brings himself down from a speaker level to more of a relatable peer educator level and focuses his point on areas directly related to agriculture education. Despite the audience being defined, agriculturalists and concerned individuals are still able to understand and relate to the assertions laid out in Osborne’s lecture because the points made are all on current issues in today’s world. For people that are aware of today’s currents issues, and understand proposed solutions, rely upon agriculturalist, and they too are able to gain the motivation that will bring agriculture education to a new level.
Ed Osborne does a great job at laying out his main points for his lecture as well as supporting each topic. Additionally, he also implements a great usage of speaking with a motivational tone. The benefits of a good motivational tone allow the author to persuade his readers in an easy and effective way. With this lecture, Osborne uses phrases such as, “Agriculture education colleagues, it’s time to take our discipline and our profession to the next level!” (1) and “The opportunity to make a high level impact in agricultural education lies before us today like never before. How will we respond?” (2). Through statements like these, Osborne is able to connect to the listeners on a deeper level and convince them of what he is saying. This not only allows the listeners to enjoy his lecture more, it also allows Osborne’s points to be persuasive and retainable.
The structure of this lecture flows extremely well as Osborne keeps a chronological structure before going into a problem-solution layout. First, by detailing the history in order, readers are able to grasp the timeline and understand why the solutions Osborne mentions later will work off of the timeline. Secondly, by laying out the problem in a detailed way, the solution is then comprehended better in an easier and faster manner. This problem-solution structure gives Osborne the opportunity to precisely convey the problem allowing room for a lot of information before laying out the solution in a step-by-step process.
In the conclusion of his lecture, Osborne directs his attention solely to his peer agriculture educators and leaves them with eleven fundamentally important questions that are up to themselves to answer. After giving his peers in charge of answering these questions in order to transform the world and bring agriculture to a new level, Osborne quickly revisits his main points and stresses the importance that lies upon the implication of these solutions. Through Ed Osborne’s strong assertions and supporting evidence, the message that agriculture education could in fact be on the brink of a new level is conveyed. Additionally he stresses agricultural educators to reach towards that new level as their efforts can easily make it a reality. This motivational lecture definitely convinces those readers that can relate to the issues’ importance and leaves us all with the hope and encouragement that agricultural education can and will hold true to its vital part of today’s world.
Works Cited
Osborne, Ed. "Taking Agricultural Education To The Next Level: Distinguished Lecture Presented At The 2010 Annual Conference Of The American Association For Agricultural Education, Omaha, Nebraska, May 25, 2010."Journal Of Agricultural Education 52.1 (2011): 1-8. ERIC. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
Growing
Agriculture to be More Sustainable
Sustainable agriculture is not merely a package of prescribed
methods. More important, it is a change in mindset whereby agriculture
acknowledges its dependence on a finite natural resource base—including the
finite quality of fossil fuel energy that is now a critical component of
conventional farming systems. It also recognizes that farm management
problems (weeds, insects, etc.) cannot be dealt with in isolation but must be
seen as part of a whole ecosystem whose balance must be maintained. (454)
This quote from an article discussing the
impact that agriculture has on the environment not only points out several
negative impacts, but also proves that agriculture is not as environmental
friendly as portrayed. (Horrigan) Our environment is a factor of our lives
in which we should protect and tend to as much as possible. The balance of life
we depend upon can easily become solely dependent upon the condition of our
environment, and it is for this reason that agriculturalists should step back
and rethink their actions. Between the harmful effects of chemical runoff, land
and water depletion, as well as energy use, serious agricultural solutions need
to be initiated in order to reverse the degradation of our environment.
Upon
reading the article, “Effect of Flower Farming on Environment, Social and
Health With Special Emphasis on Oromia in Ethiopia”, written by Girma
Gebresenbet from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, one will
discover numerous pictures throughout the article. Some pictures are just tools
helping describe the farming operation in terms of its facilities as well as
its workers. However, a few pictures are somewhat disturbing as they point out
visible and tangible skin damage on workers caused by chemicals used within
this flower farming operation. The pictures certainly grab the reader’s
attention. Located within the opening paragraph, the true eye-opening
statement, “chemicals used in
agriculture compromise health of agricultural workers, biodiversity and
environment as a whole” (150), lays out the importance of this article. Despite
the fact that Girma is discussing the specifics of Ethiopia, in respect to
these chemical compromises, her message is interpreted worldwide (150-160).
Throughout Girma’s article, on
several occasions, health concerns are mentioned in regards to chemical use. Between
the use of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, human life is
susceptible to negative effects. Direct contact with chemicals causes many
harmful effects not limited to skin damage. Among those effects are
infertility, lower sperm counts, cancers, flu-like symptoms, as well as other
neurological conditions. In addition to direct contact, the issues of
groundwater contamination is another negative side effect of farming
operations. As the misuse of chemicals often lead to groundwater contamination,
not only is biodiversity destroyed, but that water is also a potential source
of toxin ingestion leading to further human damage through secondary direct
contact. In connection to groundwater contamination, biodiversity is
continually destroyed (150-155). The ecosystems in the world are extremely
important towards maintaining homeostasis within our environment. The destructive
nature of these chemicals used in farming operations is directly proportional
to the stability of our environment. If farmers continue to neglect the use of
chemicals, our environment will swing out of balance and result in uncertain
negative impacts.
As mentioned and detailed in the
article, “Agriculture and the environment” by William K. Reilly, strides have
been made towards making agriculture sustainable. Some ways used in the United
States include services such as The Department of Agriculture, the Food and
Drug administration, as well as laws such as the Food Security Act and Farm
Bill. Each one of these examples has and continues to make a difference towards
sustainable agriculture, specifically in terms of chemical use (137-138).
Despite these changes, Jonathan A. Foley thinks more should be done to reduce
chemical pollution. His idea of change
is focused on the fact that chemical use cannot be avoided and should therefore
be better controlled. This control method goes beyond the chemical licenses
required to apply chemicals and centers on the idea that we should capture the
polluted water and reuse it only for agricultural operations (Foley). The idea
of recycling the contaminated water takes care of two major problems: it
greatly lowers the possibility of secondary direct chemical contact as well as
making fewer impacts on our ecosystems.
Deforestation has been a common
environmental issue within the last decade and, surprisingly enough,
agriculture is not helping matters. In Ethiopia, research shows that,
“intensive increasing level of deforestation activities . . . resulted in
destruction of about three-quarter of the country’s tree cover is attributed
mainly to expansion of farming fields” (151). How far must agriculture expand
in order to maintain its task of meeting production levels? This is a difficult
question that must be answered. If agriculture operations continue to expand
and degrade forests, then biodiversity as well as increased levels of carbon
dioxide emissions will further impact our environment. In Jonathan Foley’s
article, “Can We Feed the World & Sustain the Planet?,” it is mentioned
that the reduction of deforestation only has one side effect, a slight
constraint on global food productions. As
food production is the only reason behind agriculture, it is safe to assume that
agriculturalists are afraid of jeopardizing their main objective. Although this
is certainly true, Foley does point out that with the reuse of abandoned
farmland and the integration of new technologies in order to increase yield,
the constraint would hardly be noticed (Foley). According to an Environmental Health Perspectives magazine
article, “The annual global cost of desertification has been roughly estimated
at $42.3 billion”(447). If we were in fact spending this much world wide in
deforestation, the investment of new agricultural technologies would not only
save money that no longer needed to be spent, but it would also be an
investment well spent towards the preservation of our environment.
Soil and water depletion are also
important environmental factors that spur from agriculture. Chemicals polluting
the water supplies, irrigation distributing ground water unevenly, erosion, and
soil structure damage are all slowly evolving problems that can significantly
impact the environment on a long-term scale. Henry Vaux Jr. discusses the fact that the
global population is expected to increase by 50% in 2050. This statistic has
agriculturalists scrambling to find ways to meet this future demand on
agriculture production. However, Vaux Jr. wants agriculturalists to closely
examine water usage problems before embarking on new innovations. Throughout
numerous pages, Vaux show statistic after statistic to prove the problems of
water allocation for agriculture. His proof demonstrates that water must not be
taken for granted and its use must be controlled in order to protect a huge
shift in our environment. Vaux Jr. does not believe that a solution to this
issue has yet been proposed, leaving him to only hope that his work will raise
awareness for others and eventually be useful in finding a system to better
allocate water (136-145).
Just like water, the soil used for
agricultural processes is also becoming jeopardized. The overuse of soils leads
to the lack of nutrients needed for crop growth. As crops are grown, nutrients
are sucked from the soil and used within the plant. All plants give back
nutrients to the soil, but using the same land for a specific crop over and
over only leads to a area of soil filled with useless nutrients. To combat this
nutrient deficiency, farming operations result to the use of even more
chemicals to produce the crop. However, if these farms implemented cover crops
as the article “How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the
Environment and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture” suggests, the use
of chemicals could be lowered. Cover crops are used to regenerate soil
quality by planting crops that give off nutrients that the intended crop needs.
By cycling through a cover crop to a production crop, nutrients of the soil
would be replaced allowing for better production without the need for chemicals
(452).
One last major impact that
agriculture plays on the environment is through the massive amount of energy
used for farming operations. According to estimates by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, “Agriculture is directly responsible for about 20% of
human-generated emissions of greenhouse gases”
(Horrigan). The major reason behind this large percentage directly
related to agriculture falls upon two factors: the energy factories use to
process farms’ produce and the carbon dioxide emissions caused by extensive
transportation methods. The energy required to process food is energy that cannot
be lowered, as the demand for food is persistent, and we can only wait for new
energy methods to become readily available to use in farming operations. This
leaves the problem of transportation energy, or more importantly the carbon
dioxide emissions that occur. Leo Horrigan states, “The Department of Defense estimated that the average
processed food item produced in the United States travels 1,300 miles before it
reaches consumers” (448). This distance is most definitely too large not to
harm the environment, and thus is the area open for improvement. Society needs
to stray away from merely supporting large farming operations and focus on the local
agriculture around them. Buying local produce is not only healthier, but also
dramatically reduces the need for long distance transportation of goods. As transportation
distances decrease, so will the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into our
atmosphere, all-resulting in a healthier and more stable environment (453).
We should also consider what Riley Dunlap said; “It is
time to bring environment into the sociological study of agriculture” (217). By
understanding the importance of our environment and its protective role in our
lives, we realize that agriculture is drastically harming the one and only
environment we have. We must stop being compliant and look towards change in
the areas of chemical runoff, land and water depletion, as well as
energy use. Solutions to these areas are out there to be found or acted upon
and members of society must take their part in growing agriculture to be more
sustainable.
Works
Cited
Dunlap, Riley E., and Kenneth E.
Martin. "Bringing Environment Into The Study Of
Agriculture:
Observations And Suggestions Regarding The Sociology Of
Agriculture." Rural Sociology 48.2 (1983): 201-218. SocINDEX
with Full Text. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Foley, Jonathan A. "Can We
Feed The World & Sustain The Planet?." Scientific
American 305.5
(2011): 60-65. Environment Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Gebresenbet, Girma. "Effect Of
Flower Farming On Environment, Social And Health
With Special
Emphasis On Oromia In Ethiopia." Journal Of US-China Public
Administration 9.2 (2012): 150-161. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Horrigan, Leo, Robert S. Lawrence,
and Polly Walker. "How Sustainable Agriculture
Can Address The
Environment And Human Health Harms Of Industrial Agriculture." Environmental
Health Perspectives 110.5 (2002): 445. Environment Complete.
Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Reilly, William K.
"Agriculture And The Environment." Vital Speeches Of The Day 53.5
(1986):
136-139. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Vaux Jr., Henry. "Water For
Agriculture And The Environment: The Ultimate Trade-
Off." Water
Policy 14.(2012): 136-146. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 13 Nov. 2012.
Service Learning Journals:
A Short Reflection: Its Just Begun
Working in the campus garden located behind the cafeteria has been a very great way to embrace agriculture and learn many new things. Kelly, my supervisor, is a senior at UNCA and is very enjoyable to be around. She has been very sociable and interactive in helping me learn my way around the garden. Within the five hours I’ve spent with her and the rest of us volunteers, I’ve stayed pretty busy with simple work. On the first day I went we harvested the last of the tomatoes before clearing them out to make room for fall plants. After that we weeded out the herb hill and watered all the new seeds we planted; among those seeds were cabbage, radish, and kale. These were all simple tasks that I am very familiar with, but it was exciting to get to plant seeds that I’ve never grown before. I have been very anxious to see the kale and radishes sprout. The next week, just yesterday, we did quite a bit of harvesting. We got numerous eggplants, (a vegetable that I’ve yet to try in my life time but will soon) along with a full crate of peppers of different varieties. After this we harvested a full bag of basil and two full bags of spinach. After all the harvesting we had the opportunity to take some of the produce home if we wanted but even after that we were left with a gracious amount to be donated to a local food bank, a huge incentive for working in the garden as helping the needy is an awesome benefit. After a small break we set forth to more weeding in order to plant all the new herbs that Kelly had bought. We planted lavender, dill, and even rosemary. After all of this we finally did a little re-mulching on the pathways to help control weeds and give the garden a better look. Just over these two days and five short hours I’ve already had a blast in the garden. I’ve been able to work with agriculture in a way that I’m not familiar with; I’ve been learning all about the types of season plants as well as several new plants I’ve not worked with. Aside from this huge learning experience, I’ve had a great way to escape the stress of college essays, calculus two homework, and that ‘Nazi’ chemistry lab professor. Through all the weeding and harvesting I’ve been able to escape the reality around me and just relax for a while, relaxation that is very much needed and deeply appreciated. Lastly, through these two days I’ve been able to grasp the effects that UNC Asheville is doing on its community through their garden. Even though the garden is small, we still are able to donate a lot of food to local shelters and food banks, which can be a huge impact on someone’s life. Its simply amazing how a simple task like this can easily help those in need, if only we the environmental center could get more people involved in order to expand to do more for the community.
Working Full Swing!
Within the past few visits to the campus garden here on campus, I have been experiencing the same
type of work each time. Everyday I go, collectively as a group we weed the growing beds and water
everything we want to keep growing. After this we always tend to anything that needs to be harvested which surprisingly enough has been plentiful even with cold weather approaching. If time
is willing we also set to planting winter plants as well as starting seedlings for the spring. Here
recently we have been very successful with what we have planted mainly because Kelly, the lady in
charge, finally found a way to control to pests that were killing all of the new plants. In response to
that we have also been able to continue harvesting what is considered a large volume given the size
of the garden. Between watermelons, peppers, spinach, eggplant, and lettuce, the garden crew has
had a few tasty snacks while working before donating all of the rest to local food banks and
homeless shelters. Each week the hard work we put into each little seedling is turned into a great
sense of accomplishment due to the fact that our efforts are helping someone in need. This has been a huge encouragement to work in the garden each week with a sense of destination instead of having
the mindset of "I'm just here to work". By taking looking ahead towards the destination of my
efforts I've been able to get past the boring hours spent weeding or watering which has also caused
me to gain the other positive outcomes to gardening. I have always thought that I was fairly
knowledgable in agriculture related areas, however, through working in the garden I have still had
the opportunity to learn a great deal each week. It is simply amazing how much you may learn by
just hanging around other people in a garden. I've learned more in depth details about small
gardening, large farming operations, as well as dairy farm all due to others personals accounts. All in
all, my service work is going absolutely fantastic. I've been able to gain and grow so much as a
person all while helping others in need; for this reason I've decided that I should no longer complain
about weeding but rather sit back and make the weeding experience something enjoyable.
The End is Here
Working for in the campus garden this past month has been just like the others, relaxing, productive,
and rewarding. However, I just wish that November’s Thursdays had not been so busy. I would have
loved to spend more time in the garden, as I needed the extra stress relief. Despite not getting to go
work as often this month, I suppose it helped that I was slightly reducing my garden visits before the
semester ends, allowing me get a new schedule worked out for next semester. Throughout this semester
of working in the garden, I have had a tremendous opportunity to grow in so many ways here at UNC
Asheville. Not only have I been able to reach out and meet new peers, I have been able to make some
connections with those people that will be beneficial later in my college career. Secondly, I have had a chance to help the Asheville community through my simple efforts. The fact that I’ve been able to help
grow so much food through the campus garden that in turn is donated to local needs is beyond
rewarding. Through every: weed I’ve pulled, seed I’ve planted, crops I watered, and produce I’ve
harvested, I’ve been able to impact people I do not know in a huge way. Due to the fact that at times I
have been overjoyed by the harvest and pleased by its destination, I strongly feel that my visits to the
campus garden do not end with this class. I know that throughout my college career I will need a stress
reliever. For that reason I hope to continue my work in the garden so that I can help my new
community while strengthening my own experience here. I am glad that I have had this chance to take a
class centered on service learning. Service to others has always been a huge part in my life, and through
this class I have found a place to serve while here in Asheville. Without this class I doubt that I would
have found a place to help this community, nor would I have found the nice little plot of land behind
the café.
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