Week 5 Assignment Marketing Manual
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Unity College *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
101
Subject
Geography
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
18
Uploaded by CorporalSteelMule40
Executive Summary
In this Marking Manual you will find a summary of and how to use the materials included in the manual. This manual contains information and solutions for sustainable agriculture and how to use the information properly. Technology advancements over the last 60-plus years has changed the agriculture industry. With these advancements, large-scale farming has thrived, leading to the closure of smaller family farming businesses limiting the number of farms operating today. These advancements not only helped decrease labor and cost but also increased productivity and income. Unfortunately, technological advancements also came at a cost to our ecosystem. With our human population expanding, so are the demands of agriculture production, increasing climate change, land-use, and causing natural resources to be unsustainable. Adapting to sustainable agriculture practices aims to meet the demands of production while limiting the negative effects of industrial agriculture on our planet. Think of this as returning to the old farming way. We need to rethink the direction of agricultural technology making advancements to help farmers decrease the need for pesticides, herbicides, and other harmful chemicals used in agriculture while giving them ways to monitor nitrogen and animal waste runoffs. Further, increasing information about the positive use of cover crops or rotational crops can have on topsoil and decrease topsoil erosion, the old way of farming will allow for the smaller family farms to thrive. Getting incentives and reliable information to farmers can continue to encourage them to make solid decisions for their farms. Improving the agroecosystem and restoring natural resources should be a top priority. In the references provided about what Sustainable Agriculture stands for, one can learn about what
practices and policies farmers can adopt and how each state should form its own policies that work with their state's soil conditions. Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and ways to decrease carbon emissions. Provided in this manual you will also find suggestive key discussions
and slogans we are using to raise awareness.
Testimonial Essay
I have always had a love for animals. I have a certain connection to them. In my first year at high
school, I had the opportunity to join FFA. My high school was Zephyrhills High School, and when I attended Zephyrhills, it was a small town, limited to youth activities. I had agriculture for one of my electives and became extremely interested in raising and caring for a dairy heifer. At the time that I joined, there were only 2 unclaimed chapter dairy heifers left to choose from: an unnamed calf and one other kids called Psycho; I chose the unnamed heifer, and my friend chose
Psycho. They had an instant connection. We raised and cared for our calves together every day after school and began to halter-break them and get them fit for showing. The next 4 years were the best years, I was hooked on raising and showing cattle. My second year of high school and FFA I raised my first steer for market. Learning how to raise a calf for market was extremely rewarding. I raised steers the next 2 years and showed my dairy heifer all 4 years of high school. I also had the chance to buy my heifer, which I did, and I had her until she sadly passed after an illness she did not recover from. Consequently, seeing the importance of the small experience I had of farming, I did not understand the true effects industrial farming has on our ecosystem. In my first couple of classes here at Unity, my project was pollution caused by Industrial Agriculture. Through my research, I learned the effects and some solutions farmers could use to help reduce pollution. For this class, I
chose Agriculture Sustainability for my research project. I find this an interesting subject and I would like to know the solutions farmers are already implementing in their businesses. What solutions do they use to reduce waste runoff? How are they planting crops to ensure healthy soil without using copious amounts of synthetic fertilizers? What methods are they using for pest control? We know the heavy use of chemical pesticides can stay in our waters and soil. Studies
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
have shown that pesticides can be found in the bodies of farmers. Farmers are using new ways to
sustain their farms by using less pesticides, fertilizers, and supporting fertile soil for crops. Farmers today can produce healthier products and more per acre than generations before them. It is clear these changes needed to be made and safety measures needed to be put in place for future
farmers, so they do not suffer in the same way as farmers before them. Agriculture Sustainability works towards bettering the earth’s ecosystem, works towards solving issues with pollution, and decreasing the carbon production farming emits. I am excited to learn from this project, I feel a deep connection to farming, having ancestors who had dairy farms. I would love to have a small hobby farm in the future.
Advocacy Essay
Agriculture has advanced since the end of World War 2. Advancements in machinery, technology, and agriscience have changed the way farmers run their land today. The advancements have decreased labor and have increased production. In 1940, one farmer could supply eleven consumers; however, by 2002, that same single farmer was feeding ninety (Spiccia, 2019, para 9). Big Agriculture, also known as industrial agriculture, has changed the way we view farming. Indeed, most of the advancements in agriculture have been improved, but they have also caused negative effects on Earth’s ecosystem in the form of increasing synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and greenhouse gas emissions. There have also been
reported increases in carbon emissions, air pollutants, waste runoff, and nitrogen runoff into our waters. This shift towards large-scale agriculture has had a myriad of negative effects, such as topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, degradation of rural communities, harmful conditions for farmworkers, and increased production costs (Dvonch, 2021, para 3). Without changing the way large-scale farming is done, we will continue to see a rise in negative effects on our plants and animals, including humans. Further, sustainable Agriculture integrates three main goals such as environmental health, economic profitability, and social equity (Brody et al., 2011, para 3). Guidelines for practicing sustainable agriculture must still meet the demands of production but keep our ecosystem in mind. These same guidelines aim to preserve natural resources and protect viability in the future. Farmers are taking an interest in adopting sustainable agriculture practices, but most are hesitant. According to a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) study, the top reasons farmers are hesitant to adopt sustainable agriculture practices is because they have a lack of financial resources, economic incentives, and reliable information (O’Shaughnessy, 2020, para
8). Providing farmers with incentives and reliable information will provide what they need to make the correct decisions for their farms. Groups such as Solutions from the Land are working with local chapters to form policies. Additionally, they are working with local farmers, state governments, and state agricultural leaders to form their new state’s policies allowing these individual states to have individual policies that work specifically for their location and environment. These new plans will include agricultural leaders in the environmental discussions which is vital to agriculture sustainability acceptance. Considering that there are over 20,000 types of soil in the United States, a solution that works for one region may not work for another, so adaptive solutions are more likely to gain traction amongst rural stakeholders (O’Shaughnessy, 2020, para17).
Moreover, the biggest effect Industrial Farming has had is on our country’s topsoil. The estimate is that we are now losing about 1 percent of our topsoil every year to erosion (Spiccia, 2019, para
8). Adopting practices that include crop diversity, cover-crops, and no-till farming can help to restore topsoil fertility. Cover-crops can help with erosion, reducing soil compaction, and increasing nutrient content in soil. Adoptive practices also allow the farmer to practice no-till farming. Stopping soil erosion helps to control nitrogen runoff and animal waste runoff in our groundwater. Some may describe sustainable agriculture as returning to the old way of farming before the heavy machinery, fertilizers, and pesticides. Consequently, some may say that Industrial Farming is beneficial to the environment. Explaining
that agricultural advancements allow farmers to be equipped with the latest technology and machinery allows farmer to meet demands while controlling and decreasing herbicides and fertilizer use giving the farmer the benefits of low to no-till farming. According to 2012 data from the most progressive, technologically savvy growers on the planet (Lusk, 2016, para 2),
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
large farms, making up fewer than 8 percent of all farms are responsible for 80 percent of the food sales in the United States. The farmers who run these large-scale farms are concerned about the overuse of fertilizers and water and the effects these fertilizers can have on the environment. With agricultural technology advancements, farmers have lowered the use of energy, water, and greenhouse gas emissions significantly. My thoughts are that industrial farmers are still practicing a form of sustainable agriculture. They can still work on their large farms with the help of adapting to new practices. Lastly, whether farmers continue to use advancements in technology or practice sustainable agriculture, they have the same goal in mind, leaving the planet in better shape than when it was making it better for farmers and the environment in future generations. Social, economic, and environmental sustainability are closely intertwined and necessary components for a truly sustainable agriculture (Brodt et al., 2011, para 19). Reconnection of the agroecosystem back to the internal cycling of key plant nutrients is beneficial for nitrogen and phosphorus and may also be responsible for stopping deforestation and restoring a declining diversity. According to Geenpeace.org, animal farming and the business of growing animal feed is accountable for 80% of global deforestation. We can see the effects of large-scale agriculture has had many negative effects, such as topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, and degradation of rural communities. Sadly, without changing the way large-scale farming is done, we will continue to see a rise in negative effects on our planet and our planet's animals, including humans. Agriculturists need to plan for our future with our well-being in mind.
References
O’Shaughnessy, S. (2020, July 22). Sustainable Agriculture is good for the environment and the bottom line
. EESI. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/sustainable-agriculture-is-good-for-
the-environment-and-the-bottom-line
Dvonch, L. (2021, April 22). Sustainable Agriculture: The Future of farming
. The Farmlink Project. https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/sustainable-agriculture-the-
future-of-farming
Spiccia, J. (2019, April 18). Industrial vs sustainable agriculture. what’s the difference?
Fresh Harvest. https://blog.freshharvestga.com/industrial-vs-sustainable-agriculture-whats-the-
difference/
Lusk, J. (2016, September 23). Why Industrial Farms are good for the environment
. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/opinion/sunday/why-industrial-farms-
are-good-for-the-environment.html
Brodt, S., Six, J., Feenstra, G., Ingeis, C., & Campbell, D. (2011). Sustainable Agriculture
. Nature news. https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/sustainable-agriculture-
23562787/
Multimodal Compositions
With my Instagram post, I wanted to use compelling images. The images needed to express more
than the words in my caption. The top images needed to grab the attention of the readers, and visually speak for themselves. I needed them to be so much more than pictures. The bottom images are needed to show what can be accomplished with change to our agricultural industry. To me, the bottom images express caring, the farmer cares about his crops and the animals he raises. I tried to keep my caption short and simple, allowing the images to express concern and
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
empathy for every living creature involved with agriculture. I ended the caption with a question opening the door for the reader to explore how he or she can be involved, asking themselves: How I can help? What can I do? And how do I learn more about this cause?
In my Twitter post, I wanted the post to be simple, direct, and blunt. The image is peaceful, showing cattle in a field with plenty to graze on and not overcrowded at a feedlot where they are shoved into tiny corrals in desert-like conditions. I placed two links that explain what sustainable
agriculture is. My hashtags are direct and simple. When you see #sustainable and the image it
speaks for itself. #agroceosystem is what we are trying to rebuild the balance of agriculture and the ecosystem by giving back to the land with sustainable practices. I wanted to show what the other side of agriculture looks like. It does not have to be horrifying, abusive, or destructive. It can be peaceful, kind, and as productive as a large-scale farm.
Summary, Talking Points, and Slogans
Summary of “Industrial vs sustainable agriculture. what’s the difference?”
Joe Spiccia article explains industrial agriculture and the advancements over 60 years of farming.
How it affects nature, resources, society, and our health. Leading to stronger chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics, allowing bacteria and pests to mutant into superbugs. As the demand grew so did its machinery, causing damage to topsoil, causing erosion and the demand to expand leading to deforestation declining diversity. Spiccia suggests sustainable agriculture as returning to the old way of farming, restoring diversity, improving soil conditions, and decreasing the need
for chemicals and pesticides.
Talking Points
Reversing topsoil erosion.
Deducing greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and water pollution.
Resistant bacteria and superbugs, caused by the overuse of antibiotics.
Reducing the use of chemicals, herbicides, and pesticides. Allowing pests or weeds to be nature’s mechanisms for creating equilibrium and repairing degraded landscapes.
Restoring diversity and building a healthy agroecosystem.
Stopping deforestation caused by the demands for agricultural production.
Benefits for health, farmers, and society. Incentives.
Returning to older methods of farming, but still using technology to ease the labors of farming. Slogans Better farming, healthier food
No land, no life
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Annotations
Citation
O’Shaughnessy, S. (2020, July 22). Sustainable Agriculture is good for the environment and the bottom line
. EESI. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/sustainable-agriculture-is-good-for-
the-environment-and-the-bottom-line
Summary O’Shaughnessy’s article explains reasons why farmers are hesitant to adopt sustainable agriculture practices. Farmers need to have incentives and reliable information. The group Solutions from the Land works with the state chapters to form policies. Working with local farmers within that state, state government, and state agriculture leaders to form state policies that work for their state. Including agricultural leaders in environmental discussions is vital to agriculture sustainability acceptance.
Evaluation
I believe this to be a credible source. O’Shaughnessy has an education and experience in environmental science. She provides sources to support her findings. I feel this article can help support my research by providing the views of farmers. Their concerns and how to provide them with correct and useful information with incentives for each individual state.
Important Quotes and Data
According to Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) study the top reasons farmers hesitate to adopt sustainable agriculture practices is because of a lack of financial resources, economic incentives, and reliable information. (paragraph 8)
According to a report from the Nicholas Institue for Environmental Policy Solutions, the politicization of climate change has turned many farmers away from the subject altogether. (paragraph 10)
Considering that there are over 20,000 types of soil in the United States, a solution that works for
one region may not work for another, so adaptive solutions are more likely to gain traction amongst rural stakeholders. (paragraph 17)
Citation Dvonch, L. (2021, April 22). Sustainable Agriculture: The Future of farming
. The Farmlink Project. https://www.farmlinkproject.org/stories-and-features/sustainable-agriculture-the-
future-of-farming
Summary
Lauren Dvonch explains the importance of Sustainable Agriculture. The decreased number of farms in the United States produced a negative effect. Sustainable agriculture practices aim to preserve natural resources and protect viability in the future. Common practices include crop diversity, cover crops, and no-till farming.
Evaluation
Lauren Dvonch earned her degree in Environmental Science and Policy. She is a member of a sustainability and carbon credits team. She is passionate about leaving the environment in a better place. I would consider this article a credible source as she provides detailed information on the different practices of sustainable agriculture. She provides links to studies on greenhouse gas emissions. This article is effective at explaining the advantages of sustainable agriculture.
Important Quotes and Data
In 2019 agriculture accounted for 10 percent of the United States total greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, deforestation which often occurs to clear space for livestock grazing and farming, was responsible for another 10 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. (paragraph 2)
The shift towards large-scale agriculture has had a myriad of negative effects, such as topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, degradation of rural communities, harmful conditions for farmworkers, and increased production costs. (paragraph 3)
About two million people on Earth are currently experiencing moderate to severe levels of food insecurity. (paragraph 5)
Citation Spiccia, J. (2019, April 18). Industrial vs sustainable agriculture. what’s the difference?
Fresh Harvest. https://blog.freshharvestga.com/industrial-vs-sustainable-agriculture-whats-the-
difference/
Summary
Joe Spiccia bluntly explains industrial agriculture and the advancements over 60 years of farming. These advancements affect nature, resources, society, and our health. Leading to stronger chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics, allowing bacteria and pests to mutant into superbugs. As industrial agriculture grew so did its machinery, causing damage to topsoil, causing erosion and the demand to expand leading to deforestation declining diversity. Spiccia explains sustainable agriculture is returning to the old way of farming, restoring diversity, improving soil conditions, and decreasing the need for chemicals and pesticides.
Evaluation Joe Spiccia has a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia-Terry College of Business. He is currently the Content Director at Fresh Harvest and is one of their storytellers. The credibility of his blog is questionable, he does provide quotes from sources but does not list references or citations to where to find that information. His writing style is biased, providing mostly opinions on industrial agriculture. I am not sure if I would consider this a credible source,
but he does provide detailed information on sustainable agriculture.
Important Quotes and Data
The estimate is that we are now losing about 1 percent of our topsoil every year to erosion, most of this caused by agriculture. (paragraph 8)
There is nothing inherently bad about pests or weeds; both are nature’s mechanisms for creating equilibrium and repairing degraded landscapes. (paragraph 9)
In 1940, one farmer supplied 11 consumers. By 2002, that single farmer was feeding 90. But as with many new things, these advancements came at a steep cost to our physical health, society, and nature and its resources.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Citation Lusk, J. (2016, September 23). Why Industrial Farms are good for the environment
. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/opinion/sunday/why-industrial-farms-
are-good-for-the-environment.html
Summary
Jayson Lusk explains the benefits that can come from industrial farms have on the environment. The benefits from technological advancements. Farmers are equipped with improved farming machinery, technology, and the latest scientific achievements. With agriculture advancements farmers can decrease the use of herbicides and fertilizers and the benefits of low to no-till farming has on soil.
Evaluation Jayson Lusk is a professor and Department head in the Department of Agricultual Economics at Perdue University. In his article with The New York Times, he writes of the benefits of industrial agriculture. With most articles I have researched, are quick to blame industrial agriculture for greenhouse gas emissions, air, and water pollution. He expresses the benefits of technology and machinery advancements can improve soil and reduce nitrogen runoffs. His article showed a different side to sustainable agriculture.
Important Quote and Data
Large Farmers, who are responsible for 80 percent of the food sales in the United States, though they make up fewer than 8 percent of all farms, according to 2012 data from the Department of Agriculture, are among the most progressive, technologically savvy growers on the planet. (paragraph 2)
Farmers are also concerned about fertilizer use and soil runoff. (paragraph 4)
Improvements in agriculture technologies and production practices have significantly lowered the use of energy and water and greenhouse gas emissions of food production per unit or output over time. (paragraph 16)
Agriculture is using nearly half of the labor and 16 percent less land than it did in 1970. (paragraph 18)
Citation Brodt, S., Six, J., Feenstra, G., Ingeis, C., & Campbell, D. (2011). Sustainable Agriculture
. Nature news. https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/sustainable-agriculture-
23562787/
Summary Agriculture has changed drastically after World War 2. Increasing production and technologies, but at a cost to our ecosystem. Sustainable agriculture emerged to offer alternative practices. Forming an agroecosystem and food systems. Agroecosystems must have adaptability. Sustainable Agriculture must meet demands, but also manage natural resources and meet the needs of society.
Evaluation This is an old article written in 2011, but it provides the early definition of sustainable agriculture
and how it all began. They provide a brief history of agricultural advancements after World War 2. The need for change in agriculture has increased in the last 20 years. This source is useful as an unbiased source. They provide references and supply additional reading. This to me is a creditable source.
Important Quotes and Data
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals- environmental health, economic profitability,
and social equity. (paragraph 3)
Agricultural Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (paragraph 4)
Agroecosystems are envisioned in the broadest sense, from individual fields to farms to ecozones. (paragraph 5)
Due to a high reliance on chemical fertilizers, agroecosystem functioning has been disconnected from the internal cycling of key plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. (paragraph 11)
Social, economic, and environmental sustainability are closely intertwined and necessary components for a truly sustainable agriculture. (paragraph 19)
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help