Commercial VS. Organic farmingBW 11/14- Grocery Store Wars

Agriculture

• Commercial Agriculture

Term used to describe large scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor forces, and the latest technology.

- roots are in colonial agriculture

- today, global production made possible by advances in transportation and food storage

World Map of Agriculture

Cash Crop and Plantation AgricultureCotton and RubberLuxury CropsCommercial Livestock, Fruit, and Grain AgricultureSubsistence AgricultureMediterranean AgricultureIllegal Drugs

Agribusiness & the Changing Geography of Agriculture

• Commercialization of Crop Production

With the development of new agricultural technologies, the production of agriculture has changed.

- eg. Poultry industry in the US

production is now concentrated

farming is turning into manufacturing

Example: the Meatrix

Environmental Impacts

• The growing demand for protein-rich foods and more efficient technologies are leading to overfishing.

• Industrialization and commercialization have led to the destruction of the landscape: soil erosion , presence of chemicals in the soil and groundwater

• Growing food has become more about manufacturing food instead of farming

Organic Agriculture

• Organic Agriculture –

The production of crops without the use of synthetic or industrially produced pesticides and fertilizers or the raising of livestock without hormones, antibiotics, and synthetic feeds.

- sales of organic foods on the rise

- grown everywhere

- demand in wealthier countries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexXYzLQwDo

Organic Agriculture

Loss of Productive Farmland