Farming is a major part of daily life, even if the overwhelming majority of folks don’t do any farming of their own – or even step foot on a farm, for that matter.
These major agricultural endeavors provide the human population with plenty of food straight from the land. This has allowed us to focus predominantly on other areas of our lives (especially in the technology and productivity of arenas) to make the most of the world around us.
At the same time, not everyone’s all that crazy about conventional farming techniques, tactics, and the tools necessary for producing more and more crops on smaller and smaller plots of land.
Let’s dive a little bit deeper into the pros and cons of conventional farming.
List of Pros of Conventional Farming
1. Conventional farming practices were established to meet – and, in an ideal scenario, exceed – the nutritional demands of a population.
2. With new technology, new tools, and new tactics for conventional farming it’s possible for major agricultural operations to produce larger vegetables and fruits (and more of them) to feed mouths that are as hungry as they’ve ever been.
3. On top of that, the cost of food production is significantly lowered when farmers take advantage of these conventional measures. Systemized agriculture as repeat taken hold all over the world, and provides for a much more efficient and effective way of working the land to cultivate more food.
4. Finally, the right conventional farming approach is going to result in significantly lower costs of farming. This means that farmers are able to spend less money (and less time) farming and then can pass those lower costs along to the consumer at the market.
Talk about a win-win situation!
List of Cons of Conventional Farming
1. Conventional farming approaches may or may not be quite as healthy or as beneficial for the overall environment, however.
2. Depending upon the research study is that you pay attention to industry insiders and outsiders believe that conventional farming techniques – especially those designed to squeeze more out of the land than was possible previously – can be very destructive.
3. There are also concerns about cruelty to animals that are slaughtered for food, the overall impact that these high-yield farms have on the surrounding environment, as well as whether or not be chemicals and genetic modifications used to maximize food yield on these farms is worth the potential risks they may pose humans later down the line.
At the end of the day (and like anything else) there are pros and cons to conventional farming for sure. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever have an answer to the question of whether or not conventional farming is wholly beneficial or wholly destructive for years and years to come – if at all.
