-- Using specific examples from the two articles in the reader and from the guest lecture, discuss (1) the problem of food security and its origins in socioeconomic and environmental problems; (2) the struggle to define and practice sustainable agriculture; and (3) the links between food security, environmental sustainability, and traditional ecological knowledge.
In the article, Purity and Danger: Regulating Organic Farming by Valerie Wheeler and Peter Esainko, the problem of food security and its origins are a socioeconomic problem, as well as, environmental problems which arise when dealing with the traditional way of farming and the use of agricultural chemicals as opposed to the "organic" way of farming. As Wheeler and Esainko address in the article the problem of food security in the United States is put into jeopardy when the use of "agricultural chemicals pollute surface and groundwater" as well as having the "toxic residues of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides compromise the food supply." When the uses of agricultural chemicals are used in farming it depletes the soil, as well as the crops. As a result to the harmful effects of agricultural chemicals cause on both the land and its crops organic agriculture was introduced. Although organic farming was "found to be both economically viable and ecologically superior" (Esainko and Wheeler) the traditional farmers resisted against it with the use of more technology. The environmental problems of food security at its origins are the use of agricultural chemicals on the soils and its crops and its effects on human health. For example, the use of consistent agricultural chemicals on a farm will affect the sustainability of the soil, in turn affecting the use of the land for continued use of farming. With organic farming, Wheeler and Esainko state the alternating of crops in the land benefits the sustainability of the soil and will allow a farmer to maintain the soil in a healthy state. This results in the struggle to define and practice sustainable agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is defined as a "feel good term that attracts everyone, neutralizes challenges" (Esainko and Wheeler). Sustainable agriculture is also a weary subject for the traditional farmers who oppose to a new way of farming that will not cause any harm to the farming land, the crops, and the health of humans. The links between food security, environmental sustainability, and traditional ecological knowledge is the decision of the farmer and the consumer who are willing to spend more on organically or to spend less in growing crops which are grown with agricultural chemicals. The link of ecological knowledge and food security is lost with each passing generation in America because Americans don't know how to farm, as addressed by Dr. Kirner.
In the article, Resource Access, Environmental Struggles, and Human Rights in Honduras by James Phillips, discuses the globalization of Honduras and the struggle of the Honduran people in their fight for their human rights when they were displaced from their lands and their home by their government. The problem of food security in Honduras is a fight that the peasant farmers are losing to the large land owners who take over their land; land which their own government has recognized as theirs. Since the peasant legally own the land through land grants their own government awarded them (Phillips). An environmental problem the Honduran people face as a result of agricultural farming is "deforestation, generally cited as the most apparent environmental problem in Honduras" (Phillips). As discussed by Phillips deforestation results in soil erosion and depletion, water contamination, and lack of urban waste management. Deforestations is a big concern for the Honduran people because it results in food scarcity, since the soil is eroded and depleted they can no longer crop there, water contamination and lack of urban waste management affects the well being of the Honduran people. The socioecomic problem caused by food security is one the violation of the human rights of the peasant farmers of Honduras when they are displaced from their homes and crops. A way for the government to recognize their fault in the displacement of the peasant farmers, in 1974 land grants were awarded to approximately 10,000 peasant families, but no more were given past 1974 as addressees by Phillips.
In the Lecture by Gene Anderson on The Resilient Maya Agro ecosystem, discusses the varieties of farming methods the Mayas in the Yucatan Peninsula use to sustain their food security. The Mayas use of farming is not for cash profit making but to maintain their family's food security. Many times their families are comprised of an average of 20-30 people, all of who help maintain and grow the farms crops. The Mayas use the forest land for farming by cutting down the forest burning it and then farming on the land. Using the same small piece of land to grow a variety of different crops within the same patch of land. The environmental problems that arise is deforestation due to the cutting down of the forest to create farming land. Although if they see there is useable and strong trees they will farm around it to allow it to grow once they move to the next patch of land. Their Major staple food supply is the Maize, which is their Sacred Food. The link between food security, environmental sustainability, and traditional ecological knowledge as was addressed by Dr. Anderson is the connections the Mayas have to maintain their food security by passing down the ecological knowledge from generation to generation. This is made possible because they use their farming not for cash-cropping but for the maintenance of their family as a primary reason. And families working on their farms allows for the passing down of ecological knowledge between the generations. Dr. Anderson also pointed out the love for plants and farming the Mayas have. Also the facts that Mayas will also use all of their resources and will not let them go to waste. For example, the weeds that grow in their farming fields, the Mayas can't use chemical pesticides because it will harm the environment of their farming land, therefore they use the weeds for medicinal cures, cooking, or anything else they can find a use for them. But will not let them go to waste.
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