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Agricultural output is usually per unit of land and/or inputs, so more output means less land, less pollution, and less ecological damage for a fixed amount of

Agricultural output is usually per unit of land and/or inputs, so more output means less land, less pollution, and less ecological damage for a fixed amount of food produced. If some fields can be reforested instead, it'd pull carbon out of the air and increase biodiversity.

tspike 5y ago
Most agricultural land was short grass or long grass prairie prior to being plowed over. Prairie is the most endangered ecosystem on the planet. Perhaps instead of "reforestation" we can look at restoring native prairie.
nosianu 5y ago
What will happen instead is that all land that could possibly be used will continue to be used. Overproduction will instead be exported, which will hit farmers in less developed countries who cannot compete hard. https://theexchange.africa/industry-and-trade/agribusiness/why-africas-smallholder-growers-cant-compete-with-european-american-farmers/ https://theexchange.africa/industry-and-trade/agribusiness/w... It's not just food from fields. Meat also is overproduced to be exported in countries like the US, UK or Germany and others. https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-imports-ranking-countries-0-106900 https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-imports-ranking-count... (some countries, like the US, are both big im- as well as exporters) I know from following relevant news that here in Germany we could significantly scale down our environmentally bad big pig farms, which also suffer from crowded conditions and not exactly a good life for the animals, if not both the businesses involved as well as government concerned about GDP and creating a lot of exports would oppose restrictions on the meat industry. I'm not even against meat at all, but this is a bad cycle. We can export more when/if we are cheap, and that requires industrialized "meat production" to the detriment of the animals. The incentives are wrong IMO. Some might argue that imported cheaper food is better for African countries, but they can't compete on high-tech, they can't compete in agriculture, how are they supposed to bootstrap their economies? There also are reports about all the worn clothing that ends up in Africa, so no local textile industry either. Unchecked, tose able to produce cheaply will never voluntarily restrain themselves and give up "productive land". Instead, they will use their advantage to conquer ever more markets.

tspike 5y ago

Most agricultural land was short grass or long grass prairie prior to being plowed over. Prairie is the most endangered ecosystem on the planet. Perhaps instead of "reforestation" we can look at restoring native prairie.

nosianu 5y ago

What will happen instead is that all land that could possibly be used will continue to be used. Overproduction will instead be exported, which will hit farmers in less developed countries who cannot compete hard. https://theexchange.africa/industry-and-trade/agribusiness/why-africas-smallholder-growers-cant-compete-with-european-american-farmers/ https://theexchange.africa/industry-and-trade/agribusiness/w... It's not just food from fields. Meat also is overproduced to be exported in countries like the US, UK or Germany and others. https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-imports-ranking-countries-0-106900 https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-imports-ranking-count... (some countries, like the US, are both big im- as well as exporters) I know from following relevant news that here in Germany we could significantly scale down our environmentally bad big pig farms, which also suffer from crowded conditions and not exactly a good life for the animals, if not both the businesses involved as well as government concerned about GDP and creating a lot of exports would oppose restrictions on the meat industry. I'm not even against meat at all, but this is a bad cycle. We can export more when/if we are cheap, and that requires industrialized "meat production" to the detriment of the animals. The incentives are wrong IMO. Some might argue that imported cheaper food is better for African countries, but they can't compete on high-tech, they can't compete in agriculture, how are they supposed to bootstrap their economies? There also are reports about all the worn clothing that ends up in Africa, so no local textile industry either. Unchecked, tose able to produce cheaply will never voluntarily restrain themselves and give up "productive land". Instead, they will use their advantage to conquer ever more markets.