HEADER • SECTION
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY • OVERVIEW
(Above) This corn is an example of monocropping or monoculture. Fields like this can go on for hundreds of
thousands of acres.
What is industrial agriculture
and what are its impacts?
Industrial agriculture is a system of intensive farming that has taken over much of American
farmland. It works to control nature, instead of work with it. One hallmark of industrial
agriculture is monoculture, the practice of intensively growing a single crop on a really large
scale.
“Corporate agriculture doesn’t reliably grow more
food in the future—or even today.” 1
Initially seen as a technological advancement that would be able to feed the world’s quickly-
growing population, it was heavily supported by government and corporate groups and
quickly became a popular trend. Instead of solving world hunger, it has been busy eroding the
biodiversity of farms and surrounding environments and wildlife.The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) estimates that, over the twentieth century, the world’s agricultural diversity
declined by 75 to 90 percent. 2 Imagine you originally started with five types of apples: Red
Delicious, Golden Delicious, Green, Fuji, and Pink Lady. Now imagine you only have one or
two left. That is what happens when we lose agricultural diversity, and it is due in part to the
practice of monocropping.
GOOD FOOD PURCHASING PROGRAM • GOOD FOOD RISING
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