Pursuing Long-Term Food and Agricultural Security in the United States: Decentralization, Diversification, and Reduction of Resource Intensity
Pursuing Long-Term Food and Agricultural Security in the United States: Decentralization, Diversification, and Reduction of Resource Intensity
This chapter focuses on the impact of decentralization, simplification, and resource intensity on the agriculture-of-the-middle. Reducing complexity in midsize agriculture farms to increase productivity comes with the price of reducing the resiliency of the farms during natural, social, or economic disruptions. The chapter discusses the exploitation and degradation of nature by humans through increased consumption of resource-intensive products and foods. It also looks at the effect of societal centralization reinforcing risks—loss of democracy, cultural diversity, and biodiversity on modern societies, along with emerging risks for agriculture, public health, and livestock biodiversity. The importance to farmers of midsize farms of finding sustainable ways to continue their traditional methods of farming instead of collaborating with high-tech agribusiness is emphasized.
Keywords: decentralization, resource intensity, biodiversity, public health, agriculture
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