Scary climate crisis, why it is urgent to switch to eco-friendly agriculture

-

 "From production to processing and distribution, to food waste that is thrown away...In all processes, food is inherently related to the climate crisis." The remark was emphasized by Tara Garnett, founder of the U.S.-based Institute for Climate Change. The climate crisis reminds people of fossil fuels and cars, but as he said, food is also closely linked to the environment. The food system releases 33% (Meridian Institute, 2017), about one-third of all greenhouse gases, and the environment is seriously polluted as water and land are misused for food cultivation. The resulting climate crisis is counterattacking, threatening human food. The way to solve this problem is also in the food system. This is why voices for eco-friendly agricultural products are growing around the world.



▶How Environment-Friendly Agriculture Protects the Ecosystem = Last year, the Guardian, a British daily newspaper, called for a change to a 'climate crisis' instead of the word 'climate change'. In fact, the climate crisis, which used to be like "a distant future," has now become an "urgent" issue that invades our daily lives. In Korea, unusual long monsoon rains and frequent fall typhoons are pouring in, and locusts are attacking in China and Africa, and many parts of the world are moaning, breaking weather disaster records. Some even fear that abnormal weather conditions will become more frequent in the future. Recently, the World Economic Forum (WEF) pointed out that the main reason for this was the "current food production system and consumption pattern," pointing out that "uncomfortable truth lies in it." The problem is that mankind's goal of cheap and simple eating through indiscriminate mass production has contaminated the environment and accelerated the climate crisis. In other words, in order to solve the climate crisis, the current food system must be fundamentally.

The alternative is eco-friendly agriculture. Eco-friendly agriculture, which does not spray chemical fertilizers or pesticides, protects soil. The reason why soil is important in the climate crisis is, first of all, conservation of soil biodiversity. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) expressed concern in its Global Life Report 2020 that "the land ecosystem will collapse if biodiversity in the soil is eliminated because soil is one of the largest 'biodiversity repositories' on Earth." Moreover, pollution of land leads to carbon emissions, causing air pollution. If soil microorganisms are destroyed by pesticides and the quality of the soil deteriorates, carbon trapped in the soil is released back into the atmosphere. On the other hand, a study by the Center for Climate Change (CMCC) in Europe and the Mediterranean shows that greenhouse gases emitted per hectare of land are reduced by 60 percent compared to those of general farming. At the International Conference on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2018, a study was published that "organic soil can effectively absorb carbon dioxide and reduce up to 40 percent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," and organic vegetable farming was proposed as an alternative to the climate crisis. This is not the end. If the soil is contaminated, the growth of plants is also hampered, leading to poor nutrients. "We need to eat 26 apples produced in 1998 to get the amount of minerals we consumed as a single apple in the 1950s," said Dr. August Dunning of the U.S. Alcohol-Genix Institution.


Soil biomass clusters, soil biomass diversity underpins the terrestrial ecosystem (all biomass including agriculture, cities, forests, etc.). [Photo: WWF "2020 Earth Life Report"]
Eco-friendly agriculture can reduce water pollution following soil and atmosphere. In order to obtain eco-friendly certification, contaminated water can be used as agricultural water or harmful chemicals cannot be used, thus preventing pollution from flowing into water.

The urgent task of restoring the global ecosystem can also be solved. Researchers at University College London in the U.K. warned in the latest issue of the science journal Nature that "the destruction of biodiversity will suddenly threaten us as creatures that cannot withstand environmental pollution collapse in an instant." Eco-friendly agriculture helps maintain biodiversity while protecting the ecosystem as much as possible while minimizing the damage to nature.

It is also important to the food security crisis triggered by the outbreak of a new type of coronavirus infection. In particular, Korea, which has a low self-sufficiency rate of 46.7% (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 2018), could be threatened in the event of a global food crisis, so sustainable agriculture should be realized in the future through eco-friendly farming methods. This is why the government has more than quadrupled its budget for "enhancing food security" next year from this year.


▶ Protect eco-friendly agricultural products and health.= Eco-friendly agriculture that protects the environment also protects our health. Pesticides such as pesticides are representative environmental hormones, and consumers can escape from the fear of agricultural residual pesticides, heavy metals, organic pollutants, and harmful organisms. It also helps the health of countless farmers. There are many studies on nutrition benefits as well as food safety. According to a study by the University of Illinois published in the latest issue of the International Journal Toxicology Science, environmental pollutants, including pesticides, have a detrimental effect on immune systems, changing the environment of intestinal microorganisms. On the other hand, several studies have shown that organic food lowers the risk of cancer. According to a French study (2018) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who consume more organic food are 73 percent less likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (a tumor in the lymphocyte responsible for immunity) and 21 percent less likely to develop breast cancer after menopause. Last year, a study (Texas State University and Urugui Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute) published that found that the phytochemicals that help immunity are more organic than ordinary agricultural products.


Fortunately, the value of these eco-friendly agricultural products has recently been recognized by consumers. This phenomenon has become more pronounced, especially since the Corona 19. With the "value consumption" trend taking into account the environment and ethics, consumption of organic and other "sustainable foods" is on the rise. In a study by Kearney, a global management consulting firm, released in April, about half of U.S. consumers said they "have become more interested in the environment with Corona 19, and about 11 percent of consumers said they have "changed purchases in accordance with the labeling of environmental protection for products" over the past year. The situation in Korea is similar. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KORONA) between February and April, 21.2 percent of consumers answered that "the purchase volume of eco-friendly agricultural products increased before the Korona crisis," compared with 8.1 percent who said it decreased.


▶The government is also stepping up efforts to emphasize the value of sustainable food. The certification system has also been improved to foster eco-friendly agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs changed the definition of "green agriculture and fisheries" through the "Act on the Promotion of Environment-Friendly Agriculture and Fisheries and the Management and Support of Organic Foods," which took effect in late August. In the sense of "industry that produces safe agricultural and marine products," the meaning was expanded to "the center of practice and process of preserving the ecological environment, including the health and biodiversity of the agricultural ecosystem." The move is aimed at clearly conveying the need for "green agriculture" to protect the environment, protect food security, and ensure safe food for the public. In other words, the emphasis is on creating a "sustainable agricultural ecosystem" in which both people and nature become healthy. "As awareness of health increases with Corona 19, eco-friendly agricultural products are expected to become more prominent in the future," said Joo Hyung-ro, chairman of the Eco-friendly Agricultural Products Fund. "We hope more people will sympathize with the value of eco-friendly agriculture for the health of mankind and the global ecosystem."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why a healthy diet saves the Earth?

-
Image
  "To prevent climate change from collapsing, we should reduce beef consumption by 90 percent." The report is based on a recent report published in the world-renowned scientific journal Nature. If the current eating habits are not improved, the ecological environment will be destroyed beyond the reach of 10 billion people in 2050. This warns that a change in eating habits is not a "choice" but a "must" to prevent climate change. A small 'food revolution' that begins with food choices actually has a tremendous impact on the Earth. It's hard to believe, but this is to save the Earth, which is suffering from pollution in water, soil, air and sea. Healthy diets, in particular, are a necessary change for modern people who are overcalorie and undernourished. A plant-based diet, healthier organic purchases, and waste-free food preparation keep the body healthy while also saving the Earth. 　 1. Enjoy a vegetarian diet　 　 The aforementioned report is a ...
Read more

The meat tax that Europe is worried about, if we actually introduce it...?

-
Image
  While European governments, including Denmark, Sweden and Germany, are considering the so-called meat tax, studies have shown that imposing heavy taxes on actual meat significantly reduces deaths and medical costs. The BBC and other foreign media reported on the 7th (local time) that a research team at Oxford University analyzed the impact of the introduction of "meat tax" on deaths and medical costs in 149 countries that consume meat. The researchers conducted the study assuming that the government of high-income countries imposes 20 percent tax on meat and 110 percent tax on meat processed foods. In doing so, consumers in high-income countries expected to cut meat consumption by two people a week. As a result, the number of deaths per year across the country will decrease by 220,000 and medical-related costs will decrease by 30.6 billion pounds (about 45 trillion won). The research team also predicted that if the British government applies 14 percent tax rates to meat and...
Read more

"60% of the Earth's vertebrates have disappeared in the last 40 years."

-
Image
  The WWF announced on the 30th that it will publish Living Planet Report 2018 in 89 countries including Korea at the same time. The report, published every other year by WWF, comprehensively sheds light on the impact of various human consumption and development activities on species and forests, oceans, rivers and climate change throughout the globe. It is widely cited by various governments and research institutes as references. The contents of this year's report were analyzed based on the latest data collected until 2014. The Global Life Report revealed how excessive agriculture, foreign species and new diseases affected biodiversity, health and population. The "unsustainable development" of mankind has dealt an all-round blow to the oceans, forests, coral reefs and wetlands. Twenty percent of the Amazon jungle has disappeared in just 50 years, and coral reefs have halved in 30 years. In particular, the number of vertebrates living on Earth has decreased by 60 percent ...
Read more