Industrial Farming Vs. Sustainable farming

1. The End of Industrial Agriculture:
“Going Home”
Presented by
Pat Murphy,
Executive Director,
Community Solutions
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
March 2010

2. Community Solutions – Vision & Mission
 Vision – To reduce energy consumption everywhere in every
way through personal and community action
 Mission – To provide knowledge and practices to support low
energy lifestyles in the household economic sector (food,
housing, transportation)
 Key Assumptions
 Peak Oil and Climate Change forcing change
 Must become “sustainable” – watchword of our times
 “Sustainability” can be, and must be, measured

3. Community Solutions’ Historical View
 For 10,000 years the world was “Agrarian”
 200+ years ago Industrialism began
 Steam Engine – James Watt – 1769 (technology)
 Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith – 1776 (philosophy)
 Fundamental to colonialism – past and present
 Industrialism – based on fossil fuels, machines and competition
 Agrarianism – based on land, biology (water, air) and cooperation
 Industrialism is not sustainable
 Agrarianism is sustainable
 World will become more Agrarian – one way or the other
 An Agrarian world can include bypass surgery and Internet
 There are many intermediate technologies

4. U.S. Food System – “8 for 1” Ratio
 Replaced labor with fossil fuels
 From .05 to 8 fossil calories
 Labor-efficient, energy-negative
land-inefficient, soil-destructive
 Varies by food type
 All foods – 1 for 10
 Factory meat – 1 for 16
 Sodas – 1 for 30
 ROW (5.7 billion people) is quasi-agrarian – mostly sustainable
 Takes no fossil fuel calories to provide food calories
 This means 25-50% or more of people grow food

5. Post WWII Policy – Destroy Family Farm
 In 1945 U.S. was still “Agrarian” to a degree
 U.S. “Declared War” on Farmers in late 1940s
 Ezra Benson – Eisenhower era (1950s) “Get Big or Get Out”
 Earl Butz – Nixon era (1960s) “Adapt or Die”
 Battle was over by the 1970s

6. Needed to Slander Agrarians
 We are: worldly-wise, cool, hip, sophisticated, blasé, trendy,
upscale, tony, chic (we being machine people)
 They are: provincial, unsophisticated, hayseeds, bumpkins,
yokels, hicks, peasants, hillbillies, natives, indigenous, country-cousins,
rednecks, clodhoppers, (they being land people)
 Our work – empowering. Theirs – back breaking & mind
numbing
 Probably the biggest blunder (or crime) in history
 Hurt hundreds of millions of people around the world
 Including tens of millions of Americans
 Assault continues with WTO programs
 Indigenous farmers (U.S. & worldwide) are becoming serfs

7. Industrial vs. Agrarian Comparison
Country
U.S. China Ratio
Population (106) 300 1,320 4.400
Total area (acres) (106) 2,378 2,370 0.997
Cropland – acres (106) 437 306 0.700
Ag workers (106) 3 510.8 170.267
CO2/capita 19.7 3.9 0.200
Cropland/ag workers (acres) 145.7 0.6 0.004
 Agrarian countries use more labor – for healthier foods, soils
 Agricultural workers: U.S. 1%, China 38%
 China gets 6 times the calories per acre – while preserving soil
 U.S. generates 5 times the CO2 per person

8. Cuba’s Move to Modern Agrarianism
 Experienced Peak Oil 1990
 Severe and rapid
 Extreme societal change
 Searched country for farmers
 In 18 months became 80% organic
 Major reforestation program
 Urban gardens 50% of vegetables
 Cubans diet changed
 Pork to veggies
 Free medical care/education/sports
 Few cars/goods, tiny houses

9. Cuba Before
 Rapid change dictated
by hunger, not Fidel
 Average Cuban lost
20 lbs.
 Government changed
land policies rapidly
(like Roosevelt)
 Cuba only country to achieve sustainable development award!
 World Wildlife Fund 2006 Living Planet report
 UN Human Development Index & Ecological Footprint

10. Understanding the Food System
 Can’t manage if you can’t measure – “to measure is to know”
 Need to understand energy/food numbers
 Ignore the supermarkets (agribusiness) – look in the fields
 Two key divisions of our food system
 Meat and animal products – “feed” and fodder
 Contained Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)
 Corn, soybeans, hay as raw materials
 Most of acreage devoted to this
 Plants – food
 Basic food is healthy – grains, vegetables, grass-fed meat
 Manufacturing process depletes plant food value

11. Harvested Acreage – The Basic Numbers
 268 million acres planted – the source of our food
 All food is plant based – animals are intermediaries
 The top 3 support manufactured/CAFO products

12. Grains – Main Staples (Calorie) Crops
 Grains are the basis of animal “manufacturing” process
 Limited grains for personal consumption

13. The Big Grain Crop – Corn
 U.S. is world’s largest corn producer
 11.8 billion bushels produced in 2004 – 10 billion domestic
 Land provides 1,900 pounds per person per year
 2,200 pounds average food weight per year per person
 Little corn eaten directly – a raw material for meat and sweets
 6.2 billion bushels used for CAFO meat
 Much of rest for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
 “Heroin” of the food system
 Michael Pollan – “We are the corn people”

14. Grains – Wheat
 Largest grain crop after corn
 Used primarily for human food rather than feed
 Domestic use 1,172 million bushels
 184 pounds unprocessed wheat consumed per person
 Wheat for humans is highly processed – (97% white flour)
 White flour (1907) is a nutritionally stripped product
 Vitamins added back by processors inadequate – 20 out, 4 in
 Raw material for poor quality manufactured foods
 Processing removes fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals
 Fed to animals along with 79 million bushels plain wheat
 Other grains – sorghum, barley, rice, oats, millet, rye – 12%
 Example of lack of variety

15. Oilseeds
 Soybean – Unnatural food for animals; bad fats for humans
 Barely existed in early 20th century

16. Soybeans
 U.S. is world’s largest soybean producer
 3,123 million bushels produced in 2004
 2,021 million bushels used for domestic consumption
 400 pounds per person per year
 For animal feed and manufactured food
 Soy beans consist of oil, meat, and hulls
 After oil extracted, carbohydrate residue fed to animals
 Made into harmful trans-fats (hydrogenated soybean oil)
 “Cocaine” of the food system
 Sunflower, peanut, canola, flaxseed, safflower, mustard – 6%

17. Hay – Largest Crop after Grains and Oilseeds
 Largest crop after corn & soybeans
 Perennial grasses/legumes used as feed
 158 million tons in 2004
 1,073 pounds per person
 Enters American diet through beef cattle
and dairy cows
 If corn provides meat, hay provides milk

18. Healthier Crops (F-V-N=Fruits, Veggies, Nuts)
 Very small part of acreage
planted
 Priority is for bad food

19. Sugars, Legumes and Nuts
 Sugars
 Sugars mostly replaced with high fructose corn syrup
 Sugar acreage 60% beets and 40% cane
 Legumes
 Dried beans, dried peas and lentils
 Low energy replacements for CAFO products
 .7% U.S. harvested acreage for beans, peas and lentils
 Two pounds of beans about equal to one pound meat
 Nuts
 .3% of harvested acreage for nuts
 Nuts can replace some CAFO meat

20. Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts (F-V-N)
 Surprisingly small amount
of acreage
 Americans eat about half
what’s recommended

21. Vegetables
 Vegetables divided into fresh vegetables
and vegetables for processing.
 30 Main Vegetables:
artichokes, asparagus, snap beans, lima beans, beets, broccoli,
cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, sweet corn, cucumbers,
eggplant, endive, escarole, garlic, head lettuce, romaine and
leaf lettuce, mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, potatoes,
radishes, spinach, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, green peas, chili
peppers, spinach, and other miscellaneous vegetables
 Only 1.1% of farmland is used for growing vegetables.

22. Very Little Vegetable Diversity – (lbs)
 Most potato consumption is French Fries

23. Fruits
 Divided into fresh fruits and
fruits for processing.
 35 Main Fruits:
apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, cherries, cantaloupes,
cranberries, grapes, grapefruit, honeydew, kiwifruit, lemons,
limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches,
pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, strawberries, tangelos,
tangerines, temple oranges, watermelon, blackberries,
boysenberries, cranberries, dates, figs, loganberries, olives,
raspberries, and other miscellaneous fruit and berries.
 1.1% of farmland allocated to fruit production

24. Lack of Fruit Diversity
 Much of the fruit is consumed as beverages

25. Acreage Distribution Implications
 Most of acreage for meat products and manufactured foods
 Corn for CAFO feed and HFCS for grocery manufacturing
 Soybeans for CAFO feed and hydrogenated oil for
manufactured foods
 Wheat for white flour

26. Industrialized Food Results
 Bad health
 $5,000 yearly medical expenses, $2,300 food expenses
 Cheap food contributes to bad health
 Tortured animals
 Lack of diversity
 Deteriorating soil
 Poisoned waterways
 Fossil water drawdown

27. Bad Food and Poor Health
 U.S. is the unhealthiest of industrialized rich nations
 Life expectancy of 77, lower than Canada’s 80
 U.S. medical costs per capita twice European countries
 Cheap food means expensive medical care
 Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese
 Food system the main culprit
 Two major flaws – CAFO meat and Manufactured Foods
 Two major destructive foods – Corn and Soybeans
 Foolishness vs. Wisdom
 U.S. spends ~$2,500 for food and $5,000 for medical care
 EU spends ~$3,500 for food and $2,500 for medical care

28. Atwood Study – Poor Food Choices
Nutritional Density Popularity
What People Should Eat What people Eat
(Highest to lowest) (Lowest to highest)
Broccoli 1 Tomatoes
Spinach 2 Oranges
Brussels Sprouts 3 Potatoes
Lima Beans 4 Lettuce
Peas 5 Sweet Corn
Asparagus 6 Bananas
Artichokes 7 Carrots
Cauliflower 8 Cabbage
Sweet Potatoes 9 Onions
Carrots 10 Sweet potatoes
Sweet corn 11 Peas
Potatoes 12 Spinach
Cabbage 13 Broccoli
Tomatoes 14 Lima beans
Banana 15 Asparagus
Lettuce 16 Cauliflower
Onions 17 Brussels Sprouts
Oranges 18 Artichokes

29. Torturing Food Animals for Cheap Meat
 Animals, like humans, have a natural way of life
 Cows, goats, and sheep graze, pigs root, chickens scratch
 CAFOs deny these natural behaviors
 Extreme stress (pain) for the animal
 No sunshine (constant artificial lighting!)
 No fresh air (never go outside)
 Many other torments
 Very short horrible lives
 Live in fecal material (ground/air)
 Antibiotics required to keep animals alive
 High risk to human health

30. Animal Products – Not Grandparent’s Meat
 Animals earlier always part of diet
 Hunting and grazing
 Animals no longer graze freely
 Inhumane CAFO conditions
 Fed wrong foods
 Diet injures them
 Growing feed crops requires enormous amounts of fossil fuels
 FAO Report – Livestock's long shadow 2006
 Livestock rearing creates more CO2 equivalent than cars
 Americans eat twice the meat they used to
 U.S.-271 lbs, Asia-60 lbs, Africa-40 lbs,
Central America-103 lbs

31. Manufactured Foods – Little Diversity
 320,000 food and beverage products in U.S.
 Average supermarket carries 30,000- 40,000
 People don’t eat 30,000 to 40,000 different things
 Recipes not food –combinations of white flour, corn
sweeteners & hydrogenated soybean oil with chemical
flavoring & coloring
 America’s “Flavor Industry” along New Jersey Turnpike
 Manufactures 2/3 of flavor additives sold in U.S.
 Flavoring/coloring industry annual sales: $1.4 billion
 Also provides shaping and texturing products
 Takes a lot of fossil fuels for a small number of foods

32. Soil Destruction & Water Drawdown
 Agriculture uses most of U.S. water
 Ogallala drawdown occurring
 Irrigation vital to food supply
 Not sustainable
 Erosion
 Topsoil becoming more shallow
 Part of giant monocultures
 Quality of top soil declining – pesticides
 1948-50 million lbs. 7% loss to insects
 1965-35 million lbs.
 1989-806 million lbs.
 2000-985 million lbs. 13% loss to insects
 Agrochemicals changing soil composition

33. Why Don’t We Know This?
 Major cigarette companies are major food companies
 Grocery Manufacturers of America control food info
 Michael Pollan – “If it has a health claim, don’t eat it”
 $30 billion advertising for food – $10 billion for children

34. Conspiracy with USDA
 Marion Nestle – Food Politics
 Explains corporate control
 Recommends: Eat less, eat
fruits, vegetables and whole
grains, avoid junk food
 Following her advice
would destroy industrial
agriculture
 And harm medical providers
 Food companies control nutrition
 And information
 USDA supports agribusiness

35. Summary – Changing Times
 Peak Oil and climate change will dramatically alter our future
 Can’t have 8 to 1 fossil fuel to calorie ratio any longer
 At the core of the change will be a changed diet
 Sustainability implies “measurable” Agrarianism
 Must reverse tragic move from agrarianism to industrialism
 From 2% of employment farmers to 25% (or more)
 U.S. will become more Agrarian – like it or not
 Agrarianism implies health – of people, animals,
landscapes,
soils
 Industrial Agriculture is destructive of almost everything
 Food consumerism is a disease, not a lifestyle

36. Recommendations
 1. Learn – ignorance of food system is appalling
 Due to deliberate action of food industry and USDA
 Learning includes understanding plight of workers & animals
 Everyone must master nutrition
 2. Cut consumption to minimal healthy levels – 40% less
 3. Change your diet to a healthier one – starting NOW
 Coming crisis cannot support current medical spending
 Eat seasonally and locally
 4. Buy from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers
 Rebuild family farms
 5. Plant a backyard garden – must see food as life

37. Wendell Berry – The Unsettling of America
 “Earth’s growing numbers raises the spectre of a famine more
catastrophic than the world has ever seen.”
 Wendell Berry: “…we should be at work overhauling all our
assumptions about ourselves and what we have done….If we
are heading toward apocalypse, then obviously we must
undertake an ordeal of preparation. We must cleanse ourselves
of slovenliness, laziness and waste. We must learn to
discipline ourselves, to restrain ourselves, to need less….We
must understand what the health of the earth requires, and we
must put that before all other needs...let us undertake the
labors of wisdom and make the necessary sacrifices of luxury
and comfort.” – The Unsettling of America, 1977