Agriculture+current+events

=Current Events related to Agriculture: =

1) **The first case study that we will look at is: __Buying local vs. Fair Trade.__**

"Fair Trade is a system of exchange that honors producers, communities, consumers, and the environment. It is a model for the global economy rooted in people-to-people connections, justice, and sustainability." (1) Reasons to buy fair trade are that fair trade workers and farmers receive a minimum price and also receive credit for their harvest before the harvest is ready. Fair trade purchases promote fair manufacturing and trade between the grower and the people purchasing their product. Right now fair trade is helping farmers fight poverty by helping them get away from the large agribusiness corporations. Producers decide to produce fair trade because it brings in a larger profit than the original markets. The main reason that people buying local is the convenience of how close the products are to you. People also buy locally because it creates a sense of community and the freshness and taste.

(This is the logo for the fair trade industry) []

Citation: (1) "Fair Trade." Green America . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2011. .

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Take a look at the graphic below showing both sides of the concept! <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Local vs Fair Trade graphic (click the image once to enlarge photo.)

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">2) **The Pros and Cons of GMOs**

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">The genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a contriversial subject that have been debated on for a long time. The benefits of GMOs are faster food production. This also increases the quality of the food as well as enhancing the taste. GMOs also cut the costs of some procedures which leads to a cheaper product. The drawbacks of these GMOs are the uncertainty of what results will come of long term GMO consumption. A ethical concern that is voiced about GMOs is the alteration in the plants and animals genetic makeup. Another major issue is the possible ocurance of bacteria becoming very hard to eliminate. The constant debate that is going on about the genetically modified foods is a current example of how this chapter is relevant to our everyday lives. (This is a picture showing how some people feel about GMO's) [] <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Citation: <span style="background-color: #fff9e5; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">"The Pros and Cons of GMO." <span style="background-color: #fff9e5; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Genetically Engineered Food News <span style="background-color: #fff9e5; display: block; font-family: arial,verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2011. <http://geneticallyengineeredfoodnews.com/ the-pros-and-cons-of-gmo>. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">To read the article used to make this summary click here: <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">GMOs pros and cons

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">To look at the other pages go back to our: