Blog post via Vital Communities
SHARE
"Across the Upper Valley, farmers are implementing climate-friendly, sustainable practices that improve the health of the soil, bolster their farms against the effects of climate change, and foster community resilience and local food security. They use a number of agricultural practices that give back to the land and soil, in stark contrast to the extractive nature of industrial agriculture.
Large scale commercial farms and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) were born from a philosophy that sought dominion over the land and profit no matter the cost. Much of this can be credited to Earl Butz, the Secretary of Agriculture in the early 1970s. He pressured farmers to “get big or get out” and focus on planting commodity crops like corn “fencerow to fencerow”. These policies helped facilitate the rise of agribusiness corporations and the further decline of the small family farmer.
Large scale commercial farms can be defined by their use of petroleum based fertilizers, harsh pesticides, genetically engineered crops, lack of natural access for livestock, and massive equipment." read MORe
