There have been too many farms that have been practicing mono-cropping and it is killing the soil and making food unhealthy. Not to mention it is not a sustainable way to farm. The use of monocropping is when a farm uses the same soil repeatedly and plants crops year-round, even if they are not in season. This causes lots of strain on the soil and deprives it of nutrients and adds to the ongoing obesity epidemic. To maintain mono-cropping, farmers need to use large amounts of toxic pesticides and unsanitary fertilizers. Again, this adds unnecessary amounts of toxic chemicals that end up in our food that we do not need. This process also creates an unhealthy environment for farm workers or anyone who is handling the food.
There are ways to farm without mono-cropping. Farms are too worried about making money instead of focusing more on public health. Not to mention that the water then runs into streams and possibly becomes drinking water, which is deprived of soil that was once contaminated with pesticides and cow manure. But I don’t blame them. They work very hard and are underpaid. We can start by paying farmers a more livable wage and provide more resources for them. We could also encourage farmers by creating regulations where they would not be able to mono-crop unless absolutely necessary. This would mean they couldn’t mono-crop to produce an excess amount of crops to make more money unless it was done with no or fewer pesticides and fertilizers. This would help them have more sustainable farms and have a healthier team of farmers. This would create food that would be healthier to consume and handle. In turn, helping with the obesity epidemic.
There would need to be a change in the cost of living and even in the cost of the crops. Monocropping is great because it produces large amounts of food very quickly that can be sold at a lower price. But is that all really worth it? Working-class families want to eat healthier but it gets so hard with prices being so high and the access they have to “healthier” options are not all that healthy because of the toxins and fertilizers. This is questionable food and the entire food system needs to be evaluated. Let’s start with real healthy food that is grown in sustainable ways for a reasonable price. –Maksim Rotar
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