Youth And Sustainability

Food sustainability is quite a craze nowadays, and some people are wondering what the fuss is all about. The young generation holds the key to the future, and thus, they need to get an education on the importance of this practice and how it will affect both the environment and its people. Other than the promotion of public health, the protection of the environment and the enhancement of personal well-being, what else should the youth know about food sustainability?

Saving family-owned farms – For decades on end, people relied on farm products that got sourced from family-owned farms. With the coming of industrialized farms, the family farms were unable to keep up with the pressure, and they slowly got pushed away. Industry owned farms produce food using pesticides that are harmful to people’s health, and they are more about quantity than quality as opposed to family farms. In the United States, the family farms are facing a lot of challenges from industries, and there are at least five million fewer farms in the country as compared to the case in the early twentieth century. If this trend continues, America will lose its food security and will have to rely on chemical-filled products from the industries.

Animal welfare – Sustainable food production advocates for the humane treatment of animals. This practice allows animals to be free to go about their natural activities such as pecking the ground and wallowing in the dirt. This kind of treatment enables them to be comfortable with their surroundings, and this increases their ability to produce high-quality products. Factory farms, on the other hand, view animals as a production unit rather than living creatures. They try to make the most money that they can out of the animals by confining them to limited spaces and giving them inferior feed. The animals in such settings rarely get to see sunlight and they hardly ever touch the ground. This kind of treatment results in inferior products which then undergo processing to make them taste good.

Protection of rural communities – Sustainable farms work towards the creation of jobs in the local area, and as such, they are an essential part of the economy. Studies conducted on the conversion of local farms to factory farms show that once industrial farmers take over the land, things take a turn for the worse. Their demands are usually too high to be met by the existing local suppliers and thus they look outside for suppliers, therefore taking away jobs from the community. The large size of these farms as well as the ongoing activities can lead to the reduction in value of the surrounding communities. The pollution from these farms also affects the surrounding community by harming their health, water, and land.

Protection of workers – Workers on sustainable farms get provided with regular fair wages, respect from their employers and protection from unnecessary dangers. This kind of treatment is very different from what workers get in factory farms where they work in manure pits filled with harmful gases and get subjected to long unpaid hours. More often than not, the workers on factory farms are illegal immigrants who in fear of deportation will withstand such harsh treatment.

Tastes better – One of the great things about this food is that it tastes better than industrially farmed produce. Local food does not come laden with all sorts of chemicals, and once you get to eat it, you will love it. There are numerous reasons for the youth to take an interest in sustainable food. Not only is it friendly to the environment, but it also sees to it that the welfare of animals, workers, and farmers gets protected. With the youth informed on the benefits of sustainable food, the coming generations stand a chance of survival.