The Future of Agriculture

This was published in the December 17, 2020 edition of The Fish Wrap

What does the future of Agriculture in our country look like?  Will it be robots in warehouses meticulously monitoring, watering and applying chemicals to plants in shelves stacked to the ceiling?  Insect protein grown in warehouses feeding our livestock that never see the light of day?  Farmerless tractors working in the fields and truckerless trucks running up and down the roads?  Or could it be nutrient dense plants and animals grown in symbiosis with the beautiful cycles of life provided to us all?

All of us have lost sight that food comes from the living soil beneath our feet, not from a box on the grocery store shelves.  Illinois grows only 4 percent of the food we currently consume, meaning we import 96 percent of our food from outside the state, most of which is neither fresh nor nutrient dense. Instead of having a relationship with our food production, we push it out of our minds and just demand cheaper goods, perpetuating the situation we find ourselves in now.  

We are becoming more isolated in all areas of our life.  We rely on the government, media, and corporations to tell us how to live our lives, who to hate today, and what horribly delicious treat we should poison ourselves with.  As we retreat and silo ourselves in our virtual, and literal, bubbles, we fear that most people and children will never even know what we are willingly giving away.

In the old days, most things communities needed to stay healthy came from within the community.  We can build towards a future of agriculture where we are once again in touch with ourselves, our soils, and our communities.  Instead of trading our energy for entertainment and cheap goods, let's put it into our food system and let food be our medicine.