The Business of Food (1)Traditional Family Farms versus Agribusiness Farms Past: small farms, sell...
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The Business of Food (1) Traditional Family Farms versus Agribusiness Farms • Past: small farms, sell produce locally • Present: huge farm businesses, export produce worldwide • large farming corporations are able to sell farmers products at lower prices. This means less profit for the local farmer • smaller farms can’t survive since there product is being sold at low cost. Many small and family owned farms have to fold • farmers may be employed by the large company for low wage or immigrant workers are hired and paid low wages • money is taken out of the local economy
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Transcript of The Business of Food (1)Traditional Family Farms versus Agribusiness Farms Past: small farms, sell...
The Business of Food
(1) Traditional Family Farms versus Agribusiness Farms
• Past: small farms, sell produce locally
• Present: huge farm businesses, export produce worldwide
• large farming corporations are able to sell farmers products at lower prices. This means less profit for the local farmer
• smaller farms can’t survive since there product is being sold at low cost. Many small and family owned farms have to fold
• farmers may be employed by the large company for low wage or immigrant workers are hired and paid low wages
• money is taken out of the local economy
The Business of Food
• food selection decreases. Produce grown depends on durability during shipping
• quality may suffer - preservatives, additives, and genetic-engineering may be used to prevent spoilage. More than half our tomatoes are harvested and shipped green, and then artificially ripened
• the soil quality degrades from basic misuse and improper care
• large farms use greater quantities of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers that can cause environmental damage
• export of products around the world from large farms burns great amounts of fossil fuels adding to our global warming problem
The Business of Food
• Farm Aid – started as a benefit concert to raise money for family farms in the US
• supporters include Neil Young, John Mellencamp & Willie Nelson
• http://www.farmaid.org
The Business of Food
(2) Traditional Fishing Versus Aquaculture
• aquaculture refers to the growing of plants or animals under controlled conditions in water
• aquaculture is a fast growing food production industry
• fish pens are good examples of aquaculture in Newfoundland
• local examples include: blue mussels, steelhead trout, Atlantic salmon
The Business of Food
(2) Traditional Fishing Versus Aquaculture
Benefits
• as the Earth’s population increases, wild stocks cannot meet the demand for food
• remove fishing pressure from wild stocks. This is debatable because these fish are often fed with wild species.
• provides economic benefit to local areas (industry in NL)
The Business of Food
(2) Traditional Fishing Versus Aquaculture
Concerns
• animals that are closely packed are susceptible to disease
• escape of pen fish into the ecosystem which may interbreed with wild stocks
• feces and uneaten food build up below pens and may damage the ocean bottom
