The Nutritional Institute

FUNCTIONAL SPORTS NUTRITION - JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

An article on farming practices is not normal FSN fare, but since the basis of the FSN concept is functional health, this information is fundamental to our understanding. Rachel Jesson exploits some unsavoury truths about food production and in the process, helps empower us towards better nourishment of health and physical performance. 

There are two main types of farming made available to us: the large commercial or intensive factory farms that normally concentrate on a single crop or animal on a very large scale or the smaller organic, bio-diverse or naturally-grown crop farms or pasture-reared animal farms, which focus on a variety of produce. By taking a closer look at the different forms of farming, it can help us to make more educated choices about the food we buy and how we can ‘pick’ our way to improved health and physical performance. 

Commercial agriculture 

Commercial agriculture is the production of crops and/or animals for sale on a very large scale, intended for widespread distribution to wholesalers and retail outlets. Most conventional farms focus on producing one type of crop (mono-cropping) for purposes of mass production and capitalising equipment availability for cheaper harvesting. 

Large scale commercial agriculture came about relatively recently after the Second World War. Massive industrialisation of the countryside ensued, and farming in tune with nature and tradition consequently dropped away, due to small-scale farmers being unable to compete with the cheaper produce that was being generated by the substantially larger mono-culture farms. In 1910, German scientists figured out how to convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia – a key ingredient in both artificial fertiliser and TNT. After the war, America adopted this technology for agricultural use. Additionally, during experimentation for the battle field, scientists stumbled on chemicals that could kill insects, and so chemicals were created for mass farming. Post-war, American ammunition plants were thereby converted into factories that made artificial fertilisers and chemical insecticides and pesticides. 

Within the conventional crop farming practices, the growing process involves spraying the crops (by humans wearing gas masks) with chemical fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and insecticides (otherwise known as agrochemicals), to keep pests and disease at bay. This process enables the conventional farmer to sell perfect end products for retail. What goes onto the product from inception to retail is not the issue; it’s about what the product looks like and their end-product yield. Featherstone’s book Grow to Live (1) states that “some 20 per cent of all agrochemicals used serve only to improve the look of the vegetables and fruit.” Farmers understand that most large retail stores will not purchase marked produce, so most will do whatever it takes to farm the most perfect looking food, with the highest market yields. 

Every day, the environmental and health consequences of conventional farming become more apparent. As long ago as 1992, The World Summit on Sustainable development raised the alarm bells with regards to the dangers of pollution: nitrates from fertilisers and chemical residues from agrochemicals had, at this time, been detected in ground water. In fact, these pollutants have been detected as far from civilisation as the North and South Poles and in the deepest reaches of the ocean. Certainly, the food that we eat has easily detectable levels of these chemicals: Erlich et al (2) state that a non-organic apple has an average of 16 different pesticides applied to it at least 36 times by the time we get to consume it. Recent studies have indicated that agrochemicals are incredibly toxic to human health, causing a myriad of health problems because our body often can’t detoxify these pollutants. how these chemicals affect us will be explained later in this chapter. 

During the same time period that chemicals were first being applied to crop farming, so too was antibiotic and hormone use rife within factory livestock on international farms. Antibiotics are used to keep diseases among the animals at bay, because they may be living unnaturally in over-crowded factories. Instead of happily grazing on pastures like in the past, these animals might be stepping on each other, scratching and biting one another to retrieve food and water, and they are genuinely being hurt by one another in the cramped conditions, just to survive. Not to mention, they have no choice but to eat genetically modified corn (sprayed with agrochemicals) to stay alive. The hormones that they are injected with increase the growth rates exponentially to stay in line with rushed, mass production. A mentality of complete disregard for animal welfare persists. Animals are forced to grow at rates that are not conducive to their physiological make up, which may mean that they are standing around in agony because of incomplete bone growth, or they are too heavy for their constitution due to this forced growth development (3). These practices are particularly prevalent in the poultry industry, but occur in other meat and fish production too. 

Fortunately, a few of Britain’s farms still retain traditional farming practices, where animals are allowed to do what nature intended. But if factory farming practices remain unchallenged, at some point, these animals will be forced off the land into grassless pens, where they will be intensively fed concentrated feed, hormones and antibiotics to artificially fatten them and escalate growth rates. Not only is this an unhealthy practice for our animals, but it has negative consequences to our health. 

For some pretty frightening reading on this topic, and for encouragement to never consume battery produce again, read the heart wrenching book Farmageddon (3). An important point to note is that whatever the animal ate or was injected with, so we ingest. I can’t help but ask the question; “Are we assimilating their same sad energy too?” 

What we can potentially conclude about conventional and factory farming is that it has short-term economic benefits for the farmer and long-term negative consequences for humans, animals and the environment. Since the intention for good health and prosperity is not evident, this way of farming does not contribute to future health outcomes. How is it that an industry that started out with such good intentions of feeding the world, ends with such sad, negative consequences that place wealth and profits over human health? 

Organic crop farming 

Organic crop farming, also known as naturally-grown or wild-harvested farming, is the way that food has been grown for thousands of years. It is important to understand the practices and methods of this type of farming so that we can go back to eating delicious, sweet-tasting fruit and vegetables, packed with nutrients and enzymes. organic farming promotes biodiversity because it relies on crop rotation, intercropping, green manure, composting and natural-pest control practices, all of which maintain and enhance the quality of the soil. Nourishing, rich and wholesome soil is of paramount importance to the organic farmer, because this is the key to keeping diseases and pests at bay, and is often the reason why organic produce is so delicious and nutrient-dense. Most farms generate what they require on their own land and make minimal use of off-farm inputs. The central focus is on restoring, maintaining and enhancing the ecological harmony of the land. They follow a ‘law of return’ practice, meaning that whatever is taken out of the soil is put back in equal measure. So, naturally-grown farming combines tradition, innovation and science to bene t the environment and promote shared relationships and a good quality of life for everybody involved. 

Certified organic farming means that the item is grown according to a strict set of uniform standards that are verified by independent government or private organisations. This includes site inspections of the farm fields and the processing facilities, detailed record keeping and periodic testing of the soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards that have been set. In many cases, these tight regulations can’t be afforded by small scale farmers. So the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) is being explored, whereby the farmers themselves guarantee or certify the agro-ecological nature of their produce. The PGS removes the third party certifications, which are costly and places farmers at the centre of the certification or guarantee system. This type of system does exist at food markets around South Africa, although it is reliant on an honesty policy on the part of the farmer. Farms can be assessed at any time by a committee or even the public without the farmer knowing about the visit, so if the farmer wants to continue business, it is in his or her best interest to uphold the farm’s standards. 

Organic crop farms normally come with limited, but varied, livestock, because they will provide the manure for fertilising, composting and other inputs. This is called bio-diverse or bio-dynamic farming. The animals roam freely in allocated areas, which are rotated frequently so that the land is not over-used, but rather reconditioned. The livestock live naturally and choose how much sun, exercise and nourishment they need. Pasture-reared exclusive livestock farms have hectares of land available to the animals, who also roam and feed like they would in the wild. Either way, the meat of these animals is packed with nourishing goodness, healthy edible fat and exceptional flavour. When animals are given the opportunity to live happily, naturally and wholesomely, they thrive, and when we consume their meat, we ingest wholesomeness and embody their rich vibrancy. 

Nutrient density of our foods
Let’s focus on meat, poultry and dairy for a moment. Concentrated animal feeding operations (factory farming) are inhumane and unsustainable. Cheryl Long, author of The Nutrient Levels in our Food are Declining (4) explains that breeding animals for rapid growth in unnatural and often dirty, confined conditions has led to a decline in the nutrient levels of conventional meat, eggs, butter and cheese. She found that eggs produced by hens that were raised on pastures in natural conditions, contained 30 per cent more vitamin E and B12 and 50 per cent more folic acid than factory farmed eggs. She continued to say that animals that are raised ‘wildly’ on pastures, often had meats richer in vitamin E, A, d, beta carotene and healthy fatty acids (omega-3s and CLA). These meats also contained a lower percentage of total fat. 

To back up this evidence, Professor Michael Crawford in Farmageddon (3) states that “the intensification of animal farming has virtually destroyed the nutritional quality of our food.” Scientists can now predict that you would need to eat four whole chickens to get the same nutritional value as one organic chicken purchased in the seventies. We need to view meat purchases on a sliding scale. As shown in the figure below, the best quality meats on the high end of the scale come from animals that have been allowed to forage for food outdoors as nature intended, without restriction – in other words, grazing on grass and munching from bushes and hedges. When we start adding restrictions to the animals, such as decreasing the variety of foods available to eat, limiting the time spent outdoors or injecting them with chemicals, the scale tips towards the lower end, where the quality of nutrients diminishes substantially. 

The same scale can be used when assessing the amount of fat found on the animal and its meat. The meat from ‘wild caught’ animals is leaner, and the confined, farmed animals are fatter. Crawford’s research revealed that the ratio of so-called ‘bad’ fats to ‘good’ fats in farmed animals was 50:1, and less than 3:1 in ‘wild’ caught animals (3). he says “if you eat obesity, you become obese.” The same applies to fish – research indicates that farmed salmon has twice the amount of fat of wild caught salmon, and farmed trout has 79 per cent more fat than wild caught trout. 

In Cheryl Long’s research (4), she found that genetically modifying crops for higher and more resilient yields also resulted in a decline in food quality. For example, she found that the average 1950’s broccoli contained 13mg of calcium per gram of broccoli, but newer high yielding varieties in 2003 contained only 4.4mg calcium per gram. Higher yields of crops are also achieved from chemical fertilisers, and this produce has also shown to have decreased mineral concentrations. 

Concluding Remarks 

If it is not safe to spray agro chemicals onto our crops without a gas mask, how can it be safe to eat? If we’re eating abnormally fatty meats injected with hormones and antibiotics and some dosed with preservatives, are we honouring our health? Food security is not in our supermarkets, food security is in empowering ourselves with the right philosophies and education. We need to take ownership of it. 

References

1. Featherstone P (2012). Grow to Live. Jacana Media. 

2. Erlich M et al (2012). Super Nutrition for Babies. Fair Winds Press. 

3. Lymbery P (2014). Farmagddon. Bloomsbury Publishing. 

4. Long C (2011). www. motherearthnews.com.