Farmers in 2002 earned their lowest real net cash income since 1940. Meanwhile corporate agribusiness profits have nearly doubled since 1990
–USDA, 2002

Agriculture is a double-edged sword when it comes to the environment. It has the power to revitalize the landscape, cultivate healthy communities, and maintain clean drinking water. But it also can erode soil, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and pollute our groundwater.

Consider the following:

• It takes anywhere from 20 to 1000 years for a centimeter of top soil to form, yet in the 200 years since our country's founding we have lost fully a third of our cropland topsoil.
• The average farm would show a $29 per acre loss if the costs of soil loss, water contamination, and environmental harm from conventional farming were included.
• Agricultural run-off flowing down the Mississippi River has created an area devoid of life in the Gulf of Mexico – in 1999, this "dead zone" peaked at 8,000 square miles, an area the size of New Jersey.

What can you do?

• Buy Local whenver possible. Buying locally decreases the distance food must travel. In doing so, it reduces carbon dioxide emissions from trucking and requires less packaging materials.
• Support local, environmentally-sound producers. Small, independent farms can encourage plant diversity by enriching the landscape. Such diversity also reduces soil degradation, decreases agricultural run-off into rivers and streams, and provides habitat for wildlife.
• Look for the organic label and buy from sustainable farmers. Farmers practicing organic or sustainable farming techniques do not use harmful pesticides or fertilizers; instead, as stewards of the land, they work to improve the health of the soil, to protect the wellbeing of livestock, and to preserve local water quality.

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Library Documents Eating up the Earth: How Sustainable Food Systems Shrink our Ecological Footprint Diana Deumling, Mathis Wackernagel, & Chad Monfreda - Jan 1, 2005 Using the Ecological Footprint concept, this policy brief address three fundamental questions: 1) What does it currently take to feed us? 2) How can we avoid the clash between expanding human demand and limited ecological capacity? 3) What will it take to feed us well for years to come? Pasture-raised Dairy and Meat Products FoodRoutes Network & Land Stewardship Project - Mar 18, 2004 Briefing Sheet: Pasture-raised Dairy and Meat Products are Good for You and the Environment Read more on Food and the Environment