h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Never before has a people been so out of touch with the way their food gets to their table.

We in the West have a romantic image of agriculture. The one that views a farm as a small self-sufficient happy place, where the old, flat-capped farmer (woken up in his farmhouse by cockerel) tends to his handful of cheery, peaceful animals, and tills the soil in a leisurely manner with his old, faithful tractor.

Every child has played with farmyard toys, sung songs about animals ('moo' cows), and learned the alphabet with the help of this traditional view of the farm. It's this image that persists in the public consciousness, and this indoctrination is reinforced by the food industry.

This is so far from the reality of modern agriculture, it's laughable. Agriculture today is heavily industrialised, high-tech, and automated. Livestock are pumped full of antibiotics, and crops are sprayed with pesticide. Crops that have had foreign DNA inserted into their genomes grow in the fields.

What problems arise due to this clash of realities?

Is being utterly detached from the source of your food a bad thing in the first place?

If everyone knew what farming was like, what would be the response?

Should we be aiming for an alternative to intesive, industrial agriculture, or it is alright as it is?



Ste

Having lived a largely rural, but not agricutural, life, I have a slightly more realistic approach to modern agriculture than some, but only slightly.

Taking the questions swiftly and in order:


What problems arise due to this clash of realities?

Animal rights campaigners campaigning for the banning of a sport and industry which would result in a few hundred animals each year being killed in a different way, the slaughter of tens of thousands of foxhounds, and a drop in the price of petfood.

For example.


Is being utterly detached from the source of your food a bad thing in the first place?

My instincts say 'yes' - but I cannot come up with a justification - on the other hand I think it is a bad thing to be utterly detached from the source of my clothes too - I buy cheap indian dresses which must - surely - come from cheap indian sweat-shops. In fact I think it is pretty bad to be utterly detached from the source of most manufactured goods.


If everyone knew what farming was like, what would be the response?

Hmmm. Initially, disgust. Consequently, probably an apathetic realism. But then, I am a cynic.


Should we be aiming for an alternative to intesive, industrial agriculture, or it is alright as it is?

Again, my instincts tell me that we should be aiming at low-intensity, non-industrial agriculture, but I find it hard to justify - I also suspect that for simple economic reasons we should *not* be aiming for this.

B

1.) No current opinion.

2.) No, because most people are too stupid, uninterested, or uneducated to understand the issue anyway. I'm not convinced the traditional view of the farm was ever that accurate for the majority of farmers. If you're trying to grow crops to sell and feed your family, are you really going to be doing it that leisurely? Those people who have any interest in the subject and are capable of rational discussion on it can easily find out about the source of their food. That the average person doesn't know or care doesn't really matter, because, if they knew, they either wouldn't care or would react illogically.

3.) A lot of people who didn't understand the subject would riot about the way farmers grow crops and demand impossable alternatives.

4.) Intensive farming is a necesity unless we want to lower our population a lot. I think lowering it is a good idea for other reasons, but most would probably disagree with me. I think intensive agriculture is fine, altough some research in hydroponics might be a good idea.

Every once in a while you'll see someone warn us about overpopulation. Industrial agriculture seems to be preventing food from being the limit to the size of our population. It feeds me, so I'm pretty happy with it.

>>If everyone knew what farming was like, what would be the response?
>Hmmm. Initially, disgust. Consequently, probably an apathetic realism. But then, I am a cynic.

Ditto. I think if they saw what farming was like when 90% of the population was engaged in agriculture, they'd feel the same way. We're just oppressing animals and vegitables more efficently now days.

I have no complaint about the population in western nations (ie. Australia, US, the UK, Canada, Western Europe,)

However, the populations in most non-industrialized nations are above the ability of even industrializedof agriculture to support at what we might consider an acceptable standard of living. And as long has they keep having 4 kids per family, it'll only get worse.

"Initially, disgust. Consequently, probably an apathetic realism."
Yeah, except for those fanatics who have no interest in realism.

I think there's a more general issue here, too. Some people I know seem to be so disconnected from the processes of production (opinion/personal experience, I know) that I get the impression that goods and sevices, and the money in their pockets that pay for them (whether social security check or the salaries of CEOs) are deemed to appear by magic (ie processes beyond their ken or control). I think this has potentially serious consequences for economic decision making and democratic processes in general.

Noggin

Maybe I'm not right for this discussion. I don't really care where my food comes from. I don't see the importance of it. I make a paycheck, and people are willing to sell me food of reasonable quality. That's all I should have to care about.

I don't see how it can have serious consequences for economic decsion making and democractic processes. Although, I will briefly note that I'm opposed to farm price supports, subisdies etc. Producers of food should compete in the marketplace just like other industries.

I think the view of agriculture we have today keeps us away from the disgust that a large proportion of the population would feel if they find out how their food gets on the table.

The whole GM debacle (in Europe) shows what a misinformed public is capable of. Namely, misinformed reactionary political decisionmaking. Would the BSE/foot and mouth crises been as bad if the public actually *knew* what farming practices were going on?

My instinct is also to go towards an organic, low-intensity, idillic-sounding form of agriculture. But I also think that this is another facet of the romanticisation that I spoke of initially. It's just a matter of practical reality and economics that agriculture is the way it is.


Ste