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Myth Busters
The Land Stewardship Project has developed a series of “Myth Busters” to address some of the misrepresentations circulated by supporters of corporate-controlled industrial agriculture.
• Myth #1:
Anti-corporate farm laws stifle rural economic development.
• Myth #2:
Strict “Right to Farm” laws help alleviate land use conflicts in rural and suburban areas.
• Myth #3:
There are so few small- and medium-sized farms left that it is not worth saving them.
• Myth #4:
The only way to get started in dairy farming is by investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-cost, full confinement systems.
• Myth #5:
The only way for family farmers to survive in the livestock market is to sign an exclusive contract with a packer or sell specialty products through niche markets.
• Myth #6:
Genetic engineering is the only viable method available for improving food crops.
• Myth #7:
We no longer have a soil erosion problem in this country.
• Myth #8:
Insecticide sprays eliminate pest problems in farm fields.
• Myth #9:
All certified organic milk comes from cows that spend most of the year grazing on pastures.
• Myth #10:
It will be prohibitively expensive to tell consumers what country their food comes from.
• Myth #11:
Large-scale factory hog farming creates strong local economies.
• Myth #12:
Global climate change will benefit agriculture.
• Myth #13
Industrial agriculture
is efficient.
• Myth #14
Meat that's labeled "all natural"
is produced in a significantly different manner than meat produced in
a "conventional" system.
• Myth #15
Organic vegetable production spawns outbreaks of deadly bacteria.
• Myth #16
Large-scale factory livestock farms succeed because of the efficiencies of the free market.
• Myth #17
Conservation tillage reduces global warming by trapping much more carbon in the soil when compared to conventional tillage.
• Myth #18
Federal law makes it illegal to favor local farmers when purchasing food for public schools.
• Myth #19
Genetically-engineered products like Roundup Ready crops will reduce the presence of dangerous pesticides in the environment.
• Myth #20
Because of petroleum-based fertilizers, we do not need to build soil using plant residue and other natural sources of organic matter.
• Myth #21:
Sustainable farming methods cannot feed the world.
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