by Catherine Haug
The Sustainable Food website (from change.org) has a new post titled “4 Reasons Why ‘Modern’ Agriculture is Bad For You.” I suspect our ESP community is already aware of most of these reasons, but you might want to check out this post and the referenced articles anyway. Here’s the 4 reasons; for more detail, read the post.
- Genital feminization of male humans and animals:
- Herbicides linked to cancer, neurological disorders;
- Antibiotics fed to livestock have created antibiotic-resistant bacteria; and
- Plants absorb antibiotics from soil amendments.
While these are all certainly important (and scary) reasons, we can find even more important (and hopeful) reasons much closer to home:
- Sustainable ag is fresh and local. Growing your own at home or in a community garden is healthful and rewarding. Buying from a local farmer allows you to learn first hand about his practices, and your input matters. And your money stays in the community.
- Sustainable ag builds community – you get to know neighbors you might otherwise never encounter. Having a strong community built around mutual need is sacred; it’s good for your spirit (and that of your neighbors).
- Sustainable ag yields a more nutritious product. Such a diet could significantly decrease personal and national health care costs.
- Sustainable ag requires less external energy (and more manual energy) so is good for the environment.
- Sustainable ag is good for our local tourist industry.
My guess is that you can think of more, if you put your mind to it. Why not start a conversation via the comment window at the bottom of this post.
See also my posts: