Calculating The True Cost Of Agribusiness

"Raising Less Corn More Hell" asserts that modern farming methods actually are counter-productive to countering world hunger.

1 minute read

July 22, 2005, 11:00 AM PDT

By Brenda Meyer


"What the agricultural economy needs, he argues, is a truly free market -- not one kept afloat by federal subsidies and unaccounted environmental damage. The root cause of hunger, he claims, is usually a lack of money. Yet the fear of not having enough food has driven the rise of chemical fertilizers, massive machinery, genetically modified seed, and whatever else will help squeeze greater yields out of every acre. Meanwhile the true costs of the industrial system -- eroded soil and depleted aquifers, polluted water and air, desperate and indebted farmers, rundown main streets, unhealthy diets, and a food supply at risk –- are not factored into the price of food."

Thanks to Brenda Meyer

Wednesday, October 26, 2005 in Salon

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