Agricultural sustainability’s goal is to meet the needs of a society’s food and textile needs, without putting future generations at risk. In post-industrial times, many consumers and environmentalists, alike, have looked only at sustainability as an industrial-manufacturer, corporate, and urban life concern. However, ensuring that those who are involved in any sort of agricultural practice are well aware of the risks that may occur if proper precautions are not taken. In contrast, all individuals who are involved in food retail, consumption, distribution, processing, and waste management are all responsible for creating a sustainable process and plan for agricultural management.
The premise of sustainable agriculture is to ensure that future generations have the same opportunities in agriculture, as current generations, and thus, can continue these practices without detrimental anthropogenic change to the planet. It is crucial to ensure that the needs are met of current generations, but still not compromising the welfare of future generations; this means that the needs of our current population must be equally as important as those of the future. This touches upon the stewardship ideologies.
Stewardship of Natural Resources: This concept includes a multitude of concerns for environmentalists and manufacturers, alike. The foundation of this ideology is that each aspect of the agriculture process is highly monitored to ensure that there are no disastrous effects of any action that is directly involved with the cultivation of agriculture, in any way, shape, or form. This includes greenhouse gas emissions, management of nutrients, water, maintenance of biodiversity in soil, preserving pollinator habitats and restoring any ecosystems that have been previously impacted by irresponsible agriculture practices. Furthermore, those involved in agriculture must understand Climate Change and thus, adapt to ensure that their agricultural practices are not contributing to the continual breakdown of the environment.
There is a multitude of dangers that are caused by irresponsibility in the agricultural industry, which make its processes incredibly unsustainable.
The issue with livestock I have recently touched upon in a previous blog, regarding the impact of the meat industry, in terms of sustainability. As I have recounted, raising livestock leads to contributions that make up 18% of greenhouse produced emissions, created by humans.
Additionally, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has reported that there are about five-hundred million tons of manure produced within the United States each year; this statistic is highly alarming, as the waste management system in the United States is faltering. As a result, the growth in pollution in bodies of water, such as lakes and rivers, has been reported and it is evident that such waste pollution is a result of poor waste management. This is not only an ecological threat but could be considered a potential public health threat and possibly an impending crisis. Furthermore, the mismanagement of animal waste can impact biodiversity in the soil which is essential to all of the earth’s ecosystems because all plant growth and nutrition rely upon such and eventually, humans would not have access to proper nutrients via crops.
Mismanagement of animal waste can be easily reduced by ensuring that all procedures that are mandated by law are filed and that there is no drainage of animal waste in bodies of water, that could spread disease. There are strict procedures to reduce and prevent contamination of animal waste, especially in densely populated areas; there is easy to follow instructions to provide information about one’s farm, its number of livestock, etc. to curate a plan with a local Public Health official. By ensuring that waste is properly handled, there is a lessened threat of not only a public health crisis but also that soil maintains its biodiversity, and crops can develop healthily.
The issue of pollination is critical to ensuring the livelihood of crops, as three out of four crops rely upon pollinators and without the work of bees and other pollinators, there would a lack of pollinator-dependent food products. However sustainable agriculture can help reduce the threat to pollinators by ensuring to diversify agricultural landscape ad utilizing sound and proven ecological processes throughout food production.
Stewardships of Human Resources: This concept focuses on ensuring that people have access to healthy, responsibly sourced food and textiles. Furthermore, there is a social-human aspect of this ideology; there is a need to protect the workers, consumers, etc. involved in the production of agricultural goods. The agritourism industry is a commercial enterprise that educates tourists and visitors on agricultural practices such as farming, working with livestock, harvest, etc. and produces additional revenue for the operator of each respective farm.
To ensure that agricultural sustainability is even feasible, the individuals who work in the agriculture industry must be treated with respect and given an adequate and fair living wage. However, based on the most recent National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), the median income of farmworkers is between $15k-18K for a year. But for a farm working family, the average income that is generated will usually not go over $25K, annually. For additional perspective, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation states that in the 2019 Poverty Guidelines that for a family of four, the poverty line is $25,750. This means that for an average family of four, they are living below the poverty line; the wage to poverty ratio only gets worse as family size increases.
If the government does not enforce livable wage standards for farmworkers, there will not be a future for those looking to work in agriculture. This is not socially nor economically sustainable for such workers, who will find jobs elsewhere and finally, abandon the industry.