This Farming Thing; It's An Agtual Issue.

One out of sixteen kids are from an agriculture community, according to TBB statistics. Making me the go to expert with any questions of corn, tractors, or country music. Which was a lot of pressure if I do say so myself. Especially when we prepared to study sustainable agriculture in Thailand. I suppose I was able to give useful perspective and educated insight during our discussions on GMOs, Syngenta, and Monsanto (Many thanks to my ag teachers, Mrs. Julie Gilliam & Mr. Bradley McKinney). However, while the rest of the group was eager to gain knowledge around agriculture issues from the curriculum, I was struggling with my own issues.

            First of all, I am no expert and I am no farmer. I was simply blessed to have grown up in the community I did, and given the opportunity to find my passion in agriculture as well. I was most excited about TBB because of the focus on agriculture as a global issue, but as we jumped right in to our home stays and work sites I was taken back. On a personal level I was pro-industrial agriculture. I’m talking genetically modified seeds, GPS directed tractors, chemical fertilizers, and rows, and rows, and rows, of cash crops. This is the agriculture I was raised in, monoculture coated in liquid nitrogen. I was certain that the answer to feeding this hungry world was industrialized agriculture. Which is why I had a hard time taking the organic farming techniques of my family in Thailand, seriously.

I was quick to express my opinion in our first seminar, “Organic farming simply isn’t going to the feed the world.” I was understanding non-the-less. Good for my Pati, his rice fields were one hundred percent organic. No chemicals needed to feed his family. But, I refused to think that a globally based agriculture system like the one we have in the US could compete with our rapidly growing population if we suddenly switched to strict organic methods. On the contrary, throughout our studies I found that organic farming is working on an industrial scale in several places along the West coast.

So there I was, mid-way through the unit caught in the middle of what I knew and what I was learning. Sure, industrial ag certainly is not sustainable, but I doubt reverting back to the eighteen hundreds is going to be beneficial for farming in this century. Where is the happy medium? Even more, is there a medium between Round-Up Ready seeds and Swidden farming? How can sustainable practices be implemented in order to not only increase production but also protect the environment? These were the questions I was asking.

Let me remind you, I was considered the expert…now lacking the expertise.

           

When it came time to prepare media projects to wrap up our unit, I wanted to depict my personal growth throughout my time in Thailand. I had learned to look at the simple similarities, rather than the stark differences between industrial and organic farming. I wanted to express the passion behind agriculture, and the personal relationship between the farmer and the farm. So here is my artsy burst of creativity….

An Accumulation of AG-Knowledgments

At the root of the issue you'd find,

Sustainable Ag is what's lagging behind.

There they are, under all the dirt and rust,

Practices of the past covered in dust.

The light in the sky, calls on a hero.

Another day's try to defeat hunger at zero.

The masses are increasing, along with their stowing.

The solution it seems calls for much more growing.

From seedling to plant, all in a row,

Surely come November, there'll be tons of grain in tow.

What a stress this is, it seems. 

Couldn't an industry just genetically modify millions of beans?

How innovative of a solution to choose.

However, I think I'd suggest taking a walk in the farmer's shoes.

I've come to find, that indeed;

I would rather know the face behind the crop,

Than the one smiling at the front of the shop.