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Great post, Aphid.
The industrial agriculture system's heavy production and use of nitrogen based chemical fertilizers contribute to a score of environmental and health harms. Ironically, the advent of mass chemical fertilizer production has sustained billions of human lives, and continues to be largely responsible for the results of the "green revolution" that allowed crop production to meet the needs of a population that literally quadrupled between 1900 (1.6 billion people) and 2000 (over 6 billion people). The very means that have granted so many lives are now becoming increasingly responsible for potentially irreversible changes to the climate and natural resources upon which we depend. Fortunately, industrial agriculture as it is currently practiced is not the only way to feed the world.
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Nitrogen fertilizers are typically produced by combining hydrogen, derived from natural gas, with atmospheric nitrogen, under intense heat and pressure. The result is nitrogen-containing ammonia. Plants soak up the nitrogen through their roots, using it to produce essential proteins for growth and survival.
The production of chemical fertilizers requires enormous amounts of natural gas to produce hydrogen, and electricity to drive the process and create the conditions under which the reaction can occur. Furthermore, the application of nitrogen fertilizers contributes to the release of Nitrous Oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
Finally, farmers apply typically more than twice the necessary amounts of nitrogenous fertilizers to ensure high yields. Excess nitrogen runoff, as the TIME article describes, creates massive "dead zones." The area in the Gulf of Mexico, roughly the size of New Jersey, is one of many regions affected by fertilizer use; The World Resources Institute identifies over 100 eutrophic (excess chemical content) and hypoxic (too little oxygen) sites along the coastal U.S. alone.
Chemical fertilizer production and use is one of a number means by which the industrial food system impacts the natural environment and human health. On the whole, the U.S. food production system accounts for 17% of the fossil fuel use and 20% of all anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. In addition, 2/3 of water use worldwide is accounted for by agricultural needs.
None of this is to suggest that food, agriculture or fertilizers, chemical or otherwise, are inherently "bad." In fact, the Haber-Bosch process, by which nitrogen fertilizers are created, is responsible for providing billions with food. The process' inventors, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, won the Nobel Prize for their contribution to human growth and survival.
Without chemical fertilizers, four-fifths of the world's population may not exist today, and many more might be suffering of hunger and starvation. However, at the current rate at which our agricultural production system is consuming natural resources and fossil fuels, polluting air, water, and soil, and producing greenhouse gas emissions, we are outstripping the earth's capacity to sustain human life faster than it can be replenished. The irony is that the technologies designed to feed humanity are now contributing to polluted waterways, depleted soil, droughts, sea level rise, coastal storms, and the spread of disease.
But this is not a blog about doom and gloom. I think I speak for both Tim and I when I say we write for hope, change, awareness, and a simple desire to share the literal and figurative fruits (and vegetables) of our labors. While much of the food industry is - for the moment - utilizing methods that compromise the health and well-being of current and future generations, there is a growing realization among the American people that we can experience healthy, affordable, and delicious food that satisfies both body and spirit without causing harm to the planet or its inhabitants (human or otherwise). More and more people are attending farmer's markets, joining community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, reducing red meat consumption, choosing organic and locally grown foods at the supermarket, and rekindling the close relationship to the soil beneath our feet by growing crops in our own backyards, or even on our rooftops (the soil over our heads). This is a revolution of sorts, or if that's a bit too extreme sounding, perhaps just a much needed change - and we're happy to share the experience with you.
Cheers and happy eating, growing, cooking, or whatever it is you love,
-Brent
The industrial agriculture system's heavy production and use of nitrogen based chemical fertilizers contribute to a score of environmental and health harms. Ironically, the advent of mass chemical fertilizer production has sustained billions of human lives, and continues to be largely responsible for the results of the "green revolution" that allowed crop production to meet the needs of a population that literally quadrupled between 1900 (1.6 billion people) and 2000 (over 6 billion people). The very means that have granted so many lives are now becoming increasingly responsible for potentially irreversible changes to the climate and natural resources upon which we depend. Fortunately, industrial agriculture as it is currently practiced is not the only way to feed the world.
________________________________________________
Nitrogen fertilizers are typically produced by combining hydrogen, derived from natural gas, with atmospheric nitrogen, under intense heat and pressure. The result is nitrogen-containing ammonia. Plants soak up the nitrogen through their roots, using it to produce essential proteins for growth and survival.
The production of chemical fertilizers requires enormous amounts of natural gas to produce hydrogen, and electricity to drive the process and create the conditions under which the reaction can occur. Furthermore, the application of nitrogen fertilizers contributes to the release of Nitrous Oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.
Finally, farmers apply typically more than twice the necessary amounts of nitrogenous fertilizers to ensure high yields. Excess nitrogen runoff, as the TIME article describes, creates massive "dead zones." The area in the Gulf of Mexico, roughly the size of New Jersey, is one of many regions affected by fertilizer use; The World Resources Institute identifies over 100 eutrophic (excess chemical content) and hypoxic (too little oxygen) sites along the coastal U.S. alone.
Chemical fertilizer production and use is one of a number means by which the industrial food system impacts the natural environment and human health. On the whole, the U.S. food production system accounts for 17% of the fossil fuel use and 20% of all anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. In addition, 2/3 of water use worldwide is accounted for by agricultural needs.
None of this is to suggest that food, agriculture or fertilizers, chemical or otherwise, are inherently "bad." In fact, the Haber-Bosch process, by which nitrogen fertilizers are created, is responsible for providing billions with food. The process' inventors, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, won the Nobel Prize for their contribution to human growth and survival.
Without chemical fertilizers, four-fifths of the world's population may not exist today, and many more might be suffering of hunger and starvation. However, at the current rate at which our agricultural production system is consuming natural resources and fossil fuels, polluting air, water, and soil, and producing greenhouse gas emissions, we are outstripping the earth's capacity to sustain human life faster than it can be replenished. The irony is that the technologies designed to feed humanity are now contributing to polluted waterways, depleted soil, droughts, sea level rise, coastal storms, and the spread of disease.
But this is not a blog about doom and gloom. I think I speak for both Tim and I when I say we write for hope, change, awareness, and a simple desire to share the literal and figurative fruits (and vegetables) of our labors. While much of the food industry is - for the moment - utilizing methods that compromise the health and well-being of current and future generations, there is a growing realization among the American people that we can experience healthy, affordable, and delicious food that satisfies both body and spirit without causing harm to the planet or its inhabitants (human or otherwise). More and more people are attending farmer's markets, joining community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, reducing red meat consumption, choosing organic and locally grown foods at the supermarket, and rekindling the close relationship to the soil beneath our feet by growing crops in our own backyards, or even on our rooftops (the soil over our heads). This is a revolution of sorts, or if that's a bit too extreme sounding, perhaps just a much needed change - and we're happy to share the experience with you.
Cheers and happy eating, growing, cooking, or whatever it is you love,
-Brent
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