Monocropping reduces the health and
fertility of soil, making farmers dependent
on chemical fertilizers that are often
expensive and dangerous.
Dead zones: Marine
areas where most life has
died or left because the
conditions are so toxic
they can’t survive
Confined animal
feeding operations:
Also known as “CAFO”s
or factory farming,
these intensive livestock
operations keep over
1,000 animals in
extremely confined
spaces. CAFOs
are responsible for
widespread
groundwater and
air pollution.
As the soil erodes from repeated use, the land is left vulnerable to
the effects of climate change and limits what’s possible for future
food production. Because the soil is repeatedly made unhealthy by
use of these chemicals, farmers have to continue to add chemical
pesticides and fertilizers, creating an expensive (and harmful) cycle
of dependency. 3 That’s not all those chemicals do: they’re also linked
to the decline of pollinators, like bees, 4 and the spread of “dead
zones,” 5 marine areas where most life has died or left because the
conditions are so toxic they can’t survive .
While most people haven’t knowingly felt the direct impact of dead
zones and the decline of pollinators, there are many others who have,
and who are harmed by the use of toxic chemicals: farmworkers,
rural communities, and especially low-income communities of color.
These groups face more of the environmental impacts of industrial
agriculture. 6 For example, intensive livestock operations known as
confined animal feeding operations or CAFOs are responsible for
widespread groundwater and air pollution. Workers and people who
live nearby are at high risk for respiratory diseases like asthma and
chronic bronchitis—with rates as high as 30 percent for factory farm
workers, compared to 8.3 percent of the rest of the population—
all from exposure to CAFO emissions. 7 Fertilizer and manure runoff
cause nitrate contamination in drinking water, leading to skin rashes,
hair loss, and birth defects. 8
Exposure to these chemicals isn’t limited to rural communities or
farmworkers, either. For example, some of these chemicals, like
glyphosate (also known as Roundup), can be bought in your local
hardware store and used on the lawn at your house or school. Anyone
applying the chemicals is at high risk of exposure, which can result in
cancer, Parkinson’s, and infertility. 9 Talk about serious health risks!
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