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