Now a short discussion on Industrial Ag.

Once again, an exert from my independent research:

On the other hand, industrial agriculture is as recent as the last century. It uses powerful chemical inputs to replace the knowledge and wisdom that was produced over thousands of years by traditional agricultural systems (Traditional Agriculture: Overview). Industrial agriculture was developed with regard to money and world market systems—while it attempts to take care of the fundamental act of nourishing people (the objective of traditional agriculture), it is disillusioned by the prospects of profits (Pame). Because industrial agriculture has developed with world markets in mind, food has become much more commoditized than ever before (Sachs). When people commoditize food they lose respect for it as a basic need for human survival and exploitation results. Exploitation of the land and of people’s health through the application of chemical pesticides, chemical herbicides, chemical fertilizers, using large amounts of water, and using vast amounts of petroleum and petroleum-based products. Furthermore, while industrial agriculture can produce dramatically higher yields than traditional agriculture, it is also generally not well adapted to local conditions and therefore many problems occur (Traditional Agriculture: Overview). These problems include destruction of the environment, failure of crops, high costs of chemicals for local populations, and a lack of means to continue the buying and maintenance of chemicals and machinery after the group that introduces them leaves.

However, this conflict is by no means a simple issue. As mentioned above, industrial agriculture is the direct result of the development and spread of globalization and the world capitalist system of economics. Globalization is generally seen as something beneficial for developing countries. However, in actuality it is very detrimental and only binds the developing country into a relationship of power and exploitation where the oppressor (developed) always wins over the oppressed (developing) (Freire). In this paper, I argue that while industrial agriculture can rapidly produce high crop yields never before seen in the area of introduction, it is by no means a beneficial long term solution for a transitioning community.