Mara Victoria Rodrguez

Literature I
Prof. Agustina Sosa Revol
An inconvenient proposal
Intensive agriculture has undoubtedly become detrimental to the interests of
the peoples all around the globe. In Argentina, particularly, the big food
industry only benefits the corporations and exploits the citizens in the
economic, political, social and cultural spheres. Monsanto, Danone, Las Maras
(a yerba mate business) are just very few examples of all the agricultural/food
companies which affect workers and consumers lives directly in terrible
ways.
The use of agrochemicals and GMOs has never been scientifically proven to
allow the production of quality food as a solution to stop hunger. It is a lie to
say that intensive agriculture, which employs agrochemicals, represents no
danger to humans and the environment. In the case of Barrio Ituzaing in
Crdoba, fumigators using glyphosate were trialled for having produced cancer
to people living near the fumigated lands and the responsible were convicted.
Although food and agrochemical companies spend millions on media
campaigns to convince producers and the common person that their products
are harmless and that, in fact, they only bring about economic and social
progress, they cause serious effects on peoples health and on the
environment. Some transgenic products may cause cancer and hormonal
diseases in people who eat them. Moreover, they are difficult to control and
real State regulations are scarce and very limited. That is why it is hard to
really know to what extent chemicals, for instance, pollute our lands, water and
air. However, it is easily observable how agrochemicals and single-crop farming
deforest and desertify lands by wearing out their nutrients and minerals,
rendering them unfit for further use. Apart from that, as intensive agriculture is
highly mechanised, it doesnt represent an important source of employment
and, when it provides for jobs for very few people in the communities, working
conditions are far from humane in some cases. In addition, powerful companies
are usually able to get the consent of governments to uproot natives from their
land in order to exploit it for their large businesses. For all these reasons, this
kind of farming has negative social, economic and political effects, by
contaminating the environment, causing health problems, and undermining the
sovereignty of peoples.
Despite this terrible panorama, there is already a tendency to revert this
system of production and consumption. All around the world, including
Crdoba, there are more and more producers who advocate a kind of
agriculture which re-values the economies and cultures of the communities:
agroecological farming. The ecological agriculture is a completely viable way to
produce healthy top-quality food by avoiding pollution and strengthening the

social network between producers and conscientious consumers. It cares for

the environment, it cares for human health and it generates economic yield
while respecting the communities culture and work. This model is increasingly
supported by ethical producers, scientists and consumers everywhere. In our
city, there are several examples of markets where people can buy healthy food
at a reasonable price and contemplating, at the same time, the fair conditions
under which it was produced. One interesting case is the Feria Agroecolgica
which takes place every second, third and fourth Saturday of each month in
Ciudad Universitaria, at UNC. It is almost two years old and in constant
growth. Its offer ranges from fruits and vegetables to cosmetic products, and
there are usually musicians and chef cooking live, making their cultural
contribution to such a strong community of buyers and sellers.
In order to revert the perverse system of intensive agriculture, these
agroecological markets should be encouraged in Crdoba and all throughout
the country. They should be given more institutional and economic support to
develop their infrastructure, so as to enable the selling of more varied products
(including dairy products and different kinds of meat) to a wider audience, and
so that it gets even more convenient to consumers from different areas of the
city. Government authorities need to become aware not only of the importance
of this, but also of the viability of such a great and honest enterprise. The way
to make this happen is to implement legislation to curb the power of large food
and agricultural companies, to stop tax exemption to these businesses and to
give subsidies to agroecological producers. An economic activation of the
agroecological model should include the development of more infrastructure,
i.e. providing a concrete venue for buyers to shop for agroecological products
daily and to enable producers to transport and sell a wider range of products.
This is already real in Buenos Aires, in the Mercado Bonpland and the market
San Telmo Verde, so it is totally plausible to do it in a city like Crdoba. It
cant be denied that this is a feasible way to increase social justice in our
country through the improvement of such a vital sector as the food one is.
Supporting and buying agroecological food is a political choice. Encouraging
this initiative is a win-win situation for both producers and the rest of the
citizens. And it is inconvenient only for corporate interests of big food
businesses.