Return.

What we learn from both Food Inc. and Symphony of Soil is that going forward into a sustainable future in terms of food means going backwards in time: going back to basics, returning to nature. In Symphony of Soil, soil scientists, microbiologists, ecologists, and organic farmers shed light upon the great importance of healthy soil for all life on Earth with emphasis on its importance to humanity’s ability to produce food sustainably. There is not one cure for all types of soil and chemical means and machinery do more harm than good a lot of the time. Every farmer in every region of the world needs to adapt their farming practices so that they mimic the natural way in which the foods they are trying to grow grow in nature without human intervention. There are certain types of soils native to all regions and they are formed that way due to the plant-life that is native to that area and, firstly, due to the minerals, nutrients, and microorganisms that were present there before the plants even were there. In order for the correct amount of nutrients in the soil to be present, there must first exist these conditions and in order for the soil to continue being productive these conditions must be maintained by the cultivator. Doing things like planting a cover crop such as lentils, a hearty legume, adds and maintains the vital nutrient nitrogen into the soil because of the relationship that this plant has with certain nitrogen-fixing microbes in the soil. Therefore, immensely harmful chemical fertilizers (that are also very expensive) to supply nitrogen are not needed. It is better to not use these chemicals because they cause a lot of harm not only to the environment in which they are being directly added but also the environments elsewhere. For example, if a farmer in the heartland of the United States sprays such chemicals on their monoculture farm, it damages the local environment by depleting the soil’s ability to replenish its nutrients itself and therefore potentially causing devastating erosion. It damages environments that are further away because tonnes of these chemicals run off into local streams and rivers and wash away with the rain and wind. Eventually, these chemicals filled with nitrogen run-off into the ocean (for example, the Gulf of Mexico). In the ocean, this excess amount of nitrogen leads to excessive algal blooms that do damage for example by blocking sunlight from reaching down to the deeper parts of the water because they float at the top of the waves and also they deplete the oxygen in the ocean which causes many other organisms to die off. Therefore, a situation called a dead zone is created. It is extremely sad.

Similarly, with the other film we watched, Food Inc., we see how the mechanization of animal farming leads to environmental degradation as well. Today, in CAFOs, humans farm and kill over 70 billion animals per year. These animals require so much water, food, and medicine to survive. Also, they release greenhouse gases into the air that would be fine if there were a few of them here and there but when there is such an excessive amount of them on the planet at all times, the damage is very concerning. For example, cow’s release methane when they pass gas. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas. Also, the amount of energy out into things like the refrigeration of tonnes and tonnes of meat every day and the fossil fuels burned during the long-distance transportation process of these meats as well also greatly contribute to climate change. Also, these animals are kept in terribly stressful conditions that are immensely overcrowded, filthy, and scary. For example, cows and pigs often have to constantly stand on grated floors where their feces falls through and also sticks to their feet constantly. If one cow or pig gets a disease, it is very likely that the other cows that it is surrounded by in such conditions will also get sick. Therefore, these animals eat a cocktail of antibiotics along their meals every single day. It is extremely sad to witness their suffering on such a heartbreakingly large scale.

I will note that these two situations, that of current plant agriculture and animal agriculture are both relatively new. Humans have only been doing these terrible things within the past fifty years, and therefore we are not doomed to do it forever because we did it for thousands of years without these practices beforehand. Also, humans face direct negative health effects from having these practices as well. For example, we eat vegetables and fruits with the residues of toxic pesticides and fertilizers on them that our bodies do not know how to digest properly (because we are not meant to eat them in the first place!). Also, when people eat these cows and pigs and chickens filled with tons of antibiotics cocktails, these people ingest these antibiotics secondarily as well. Therefore, it is dangerous to people’s immune systems.

We must return to how things were before. I will elaborate what I mean by this by discussing how I envision a future in which these problems are a thing of the past in the following sentences. A much larger amount of the population are employed as farmers, perhaps around 40 percent (which is a large difference from the current percentage which is about 2 percent). It is a career that is respected and celebrated and sought after for its peace and importance. For those not directly employed as a farmer, this does not mean that they do not grow food! Every person has access to and actively works on during their non-work hours in a home garden (useless green grass lawns are a thing of the past) or a community garden. Food is as local as it gets. There are more vegetarians and vegans as we increasingly learn about and accept the supporting scientific research demonstrating the health benefits of it. For those who still eat meat though, they eat much less of it (as people did before modern times), perhaps around once per week. With this decreased demand, people only need a few family animal farms everywhere and the need for sprawling acres with thousands of suffering animals is gone. The dead zones begin to heal and the amount of fertile soil is once again increasing in ecosystems around the world. We no longer view ourselves as separate from nature after bearing witness to these great visible improvements to the planet. Everything and everyone is much healthier and feels a greater sense of community with everything and everyone else.

How do you think we can bring about this future as quickly as possible?

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