agriculture

This is us:

We as a species evolved with the planet. The way we eat, the way our metabolic processes function, even the way our brains work in relation to our eco-cultural environment. The human race has a habit called anthropomorphism: to apply human characteristics to things that are not. At first glance this seems a little arrogant, certainly, an egocentrically asserted assumption, but…is it really? How can you shame a habit maintained by an entire species that just wants to understand.

The Origins of the Farm-To-Table Movement

Certainly, deeply, vehemently, Alice Waters, thank you. To begin a discussion of the farm-to-table movement anywhere else would be nothing short of disrespectful. Alice Waters is a near mythical figure in the world of food, agriculture, and sustainable practices. A community leader, a movement originator, and, both literally and figuratively, a force of nature.

While eating your dinner, you are probably focused on the hectic day you had or listening to someone else’s rant. You might be serving everyone and holding off eating until everyone is happy. You might be proud of the meal you prepared. But did you ever think about where it all came from? Your salad could have lettuce from California. Your potatoes might be from Idaho. Your stew has ingredients from all over the world.

It’s not easy to combine one’s gifts and passion for agriculture with a need for housing and a salary in an urban environment. Farmer-in-Residence Zaro Bates has been lucky enough to do just that in the courtyard of a Staten Island apartment complex, known as Urby. Bates runs this 4,500-square foot organic city farm and the business Empress Green Inc. with her husband and co-worker/beekeeper, Asher Landes.

Contrary to popular belief, recent research shows that eating sustainably sourced meat is not taboo. In fact, eliminating meat from our food system could actually be unsustainable.

There are more than 500 seed libraries across the country in 46 states and 15 countries. Such libraries allow people to grow food and contribute back to the community. Like the seed library in Richmond, California, they create a web of integrated, food- and community-focused farming. These libraries create local models for sustainability. People learn seed saving techniques and how to promote rare and unusual plant varieties.

Seed saving, or the collecting and preserving of seeds from wild or agricultural plants, is a practice that dates back to the origin of farming.

It was by learning to save seeds from the plants we used that we were able to start cultivating crops, rather than going out and foraging for them in the wild. Simultaneously, the practice allowed people to bring their favored crops with them wherever they went. 

Before the Industrial Era, the common practices for farming were largely much more organic in nature. The Industrial Era that began at the end of the 19^th Century expanded into agriculture, and continued past the 1920s, which saw the  introduction of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. In 1939, Paul Muller developed DDT - the chlorinated hydrocarbons used in pesticides. Farmers embraced DDT, resulting in a marked move away from the previous agriculture methods that had dominated agricultural life for centuries.

Monocultures: you’ve probably seen them. They account for the majority of those squares you see on the ground when flying in an airplane. But monocultures are more than agricultural art: they are the crux of agricultural production in the United States. Interestingly enough, though, they could simultaneously prove to be the downfall of the agricultural system as we know it.