The reason that we have not all turned to some form of large scale sustainable system is because it uses to much land. With so many cities sitting on good agricultural land and the amount of demand for production we need a system that can produce the most production for its acre.
This is the main reason we are still committed to the industrial forms of production. They can produce a much great quantity without using the huge acreage and labor needed in most sustainable systems.
I am not saying I think the industrial system is perfect it needs to be changed but unless we get new technology to increase production and maintain sustainability we will have to stay in an industrial system to keep up with demand and keep down prices.
Do you think we need to switch to sustainable?
Should we compromise?
What new technology might change our system?
I like how your posts have included topics we've covered in class as well as other topics that come to mind. Nice job doing that! For the class readings, be sure to summarize the main points of at least one reading. I didn't see that for today, although you do provide a thought-provoking response about whether or not land availability is an issue with more sustainable agricultural practices. This is a big debate, with many taking your position, but others arguing that sustainable ag actually is actually more productive, though more labor-intensive and therefore considered less "efficient" in purely economic terms. Others say we simply can't know, since we've never tried. At any rate, this is a very big question and one that actually doesn't yet have a clear answer. As we mentioned in class on Tuesday, as with most issues, the answers that are out there depend on who's asking them and doing the research. Which brings me to one more suggestion for your blog. In a previous post about organics, you make some arguments that would be stronger with links to evidence. I'm interested to see the articles or citations for what you cite from other classes--do you happen to have sources for the information in your post? If so, could you either send them to me or create a link to them on your blog? This is an important part of academic writing, and we'll be emphasizing it a great deal throughout the semester. For now, you can see an example in my own blog post on organics at www.somuchonourplates.blogspot.com . Although the blog is meant to be a more informal venue for writing, in cases like this some citations would be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for your comments!
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