Critical Response Essay
Ace250
Organicfarming.docxOrganic Farming
Abraham Ceja
University of Arizona Global Campus
ENG 121: English Composition I (PTD2109E)
John Thorburn
3/15/2021
Wendell Berry’s Wisdom by Michael Pollan shines a light on organic farming and gardening. It gives the American public a clear view on creating and taking pride in growing healthy food with a significant rise in health issues and obesity caused by unhealthy food with farming and gardening could help control what we feed our body. Farming practices have been used to service the purpose of feeding the world. Not only people but cattle, fish, and poultry but the practice from our grandfathers have been forgotten to provide a healthy crop and reading what the land needs to stay healthy.
Growing up in the California San Joaquina Valley farming is our lively hood. Surround my fields and orchards one can admire the vast cite of this giant production that helps feed the world. Agriculture has been my life my father’s life and my grandfathers as the industry has had its up and downs many of those lows have been cause of unsafe and unregulated practices. Here in the valley large amount of illness and pollutions is created due to chemical pesticides and herbicides to help grow healthy crops. Other than dust and pollen which triggers allergies far more server illness have arisen and people’s body amun to medicine. As a farmer we have slowly began using cover crops and crop freely inspects like Lady Bugs to help promote organic farming. This has allowed us to move away from chemicals and use what the land naturally provides. Keeping farming simple and healthy will always pay off on the long run. From a health crop to a health consumer.
Organic farming created an agriculture system that has rapidly changed farming for the better. Bringing the fundamentals from our grandfathers about farming and delivering the best crop to market has been forgotten and replaced with harmful practices. The ease of using toxic pesticides and herbicides to help produce more yield. This opinion has been favored in this industry without considering the side effect caused by them on humans, plants, and wildlife, for farmers that began the transition from non-organic to organic fields and operations. It can be a costly and time-consuming process. This process can remove the excessive chemicals from soil naturally with the use of cover crops and natural grasses.
As organic farming continues to develop new ways to improve, farmers provide a healthier crop to market. The creation of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 created a framework of regulations and material to help farmers undergo this new farming method. Using green manures, animal manures, and crop rotations as fertilizer. This activity promotes long-term soil health, weed controls, insects, and diseases.
The only disclaimer to this is the price difference between non-organic and organic at the market sale. They are raising why I should purchase this organic tomato that is $1.25 versus the non-organic $1? Bring a healthier crop to market has brought a higher price than average, around 10-20% price difference between them, which is caused by the labor involved in keeping an organic farm healthy. From weed control, tillage, and hand labor. One should consider and make a personal consideration on which one to purchase.
As society began to fill with illness and health issues from unhealthily food due to chemical enhancement. When farming became a factory system many health-related illnesses started rising due to pesticides or fertilizers that the product absorbs. The use of these products may have created bigger yield for farmers but created major side effects. Impacting people, wildlife, and the environment. Such issues like the Chesapeake Bay pollution or the 12 dirty food list. Improving practices for improving farming is slowing down and taking the time to improve your soil. Starting simple and reading what the land needs. The practices of cover crops and no till farms helps the us avoid another dust bowl. Using natural plants and micro life to help remove pest and fertilizes the crop has been proven to work best. Slowly the United States has planted 17 million acres with this method, which only makes up 10% of the farm acreage farmed in the United States.
https://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/the-nation-magazine-wendell-berrys-wisdom/
https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means
https://soilhealthinstitute.org/
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/features/?cid=nrcseprd1307111
