Student Article High School Science Journal Author: Ari Schechter

Organic Farming

July 19, 2007

            Imagine biting into a sweet, juicy, sugary, and tasty apple. Now, imagine that the apple is covered with cockroaches, millipedes, praying mantises, and caterpillars. Now it's not so pleasant, is it? But the truth is, those bugs are actually better for the body than what is really on the apple—pesticides. Over time, we build up more and more of these toxic chemicals and hormones, similar to biomagnification through the food web. Organic farming is defined as a form of agriculture that does not involve fertilizers, pesticides, or any type of hormone. To do this, farmers use unconventional methods to produce their harvest; such as crop rotation, in which the area of growth is seasonally alternated throughout a plot of land. Inorganic farming is immoral in that it lies to society; promising healthy, nutritious food, while polluting our environment.

            The environmental pollution that is caused by conventional farming is substantial. There are large quantities of wastewater because of intense agriculture that have chemicals in it. Also, the machines used to plow and perform other farming tasks use our Earth's fossil fuels, thus adding to the global warming problem via carbon dioxide emissions. This also depletes our supply of fossil fuels. What's worse, is that organic farms that do use manure don't use an organic kind: meaning the animals it came from were not fed organic foods.

            Hormones are frequently used in the chickens and beef that we buy in the store, as well as every other meat. Harsh chemicals are contained in the buffalo chicken wings we eat, the ribs we eat, and the turkey we carve for Thanksgiving. Because of this, the little boys and girls of this generation are maturing at a ridiculously early age, and it is scary. There are seven year olds with breasts and seven year olds with deeper voices. We can't let this happen to society.

            Inorganic farming is just another way for our government to make money off of us, the innocent and helpless people, without even caring about our well-being or health. The government and farmers led people to believe for so long that the fruits, vegetables, and animals they were eating were safe, when in fact, they were harmful. Only after the effects of the harsh chemicals were found, such as DDT, the government finally decided to admit that they knew that the foods were toxic. However, many of the chemicals banned in the United States are still frequently used all around the world, due to overpopulation and food supply problems. And as we develop different chemicals to treat different bugs with, we never really know until much later what the effects it will have on the environment as well as the people.

            These practices need to stop immediately, and organic farming needs take over conventional farming. The time for change is now, and if we aren't able to make it shortly, the most dire predictions that scientists make may come true. Plus, our people will continue to get sick more frequently. Though it is hard due to economic reasons and global problems to make the transition, it needs to happen now.

 
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