Prospectus Essay: Technology & Sustainable Agriculture
The topic I would like to write about is sustainable agriculture. I care about this topic because in the future, I plan on pursuing a business career in sustainable agriculture, perhaps even consulting for farming corporations. Moreover, I grew up in the Central Valley, the agricultural hub of California, and so I have a personal connection to this topic as I have seen firsthand how important sustainability is within this industry. Food is a necessity to survive, however, if we decide to destroy the planet in the process, we won’t be able to survive. For this topic, I would like to ask the question, “How can we change our farming methods to become more sustainable and even beneficial for the environment?” As will be shown by my thesis, I will attempt to answer this question by arguing that we can utilize technology. Thus, I related my essay to philosophy Professor Firmin DeBrabander’s essay, “The Hubris of Big Data.” Debrabander discusses data in today’s age, focusing on certain privacy concerns. Although it is not the main point of the article, Debrander does write about how data has the ability to analyze and “know us far better than we know ourselves.” This is a scary possibility, but it does show just how advanced technology has become, and if we use it for the right reasons, we can better the world, including agriculture and our environment. My thesis will be: By utilizing new technology, the agricultural industry can change its farming methods to become more sustainable and beneficial for the environment. To strengthen my thesis, I will be using three sources as core pieces of evidence, backing up the major points that I will attempt to make. Firstly, university researcher Ziblim Imoro’s journal article, “Harnessing Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Management of Land, Water, and Food Resources amidst Climate Change,” discusses Indigenous farming practices and technologies that can benefit our land. This source will support my thesis and my argument about indigenous farming methods. Secondly, university researcher José Aznar-Sánchez’s report, “An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture,” analyzes the effect of new technologies such as greenhouse farming. This paper will highlight my point of utilizing developing technologies to promote sustainable agriculture. Finally, in entrepreneur Erin Baumgartner’s Ted Talk titled “Big Data, Small Farms and a Tale of Two Tomatoes,” she talks about how algorithms and data can be used to improve the productivity and sustainability of the agriculture industry. In order to effectively write about my overarching theme of implementing different forms of farming practices to encourage sustainable agriculture, I have created a roadmap that structures my essay. Firstly, I will open with an introductory claim that is my thesis. Secondly, I would open my first body paragraph with the topic sentences discussing how Indigenous technology can allow farming to not only be more efficient, but be a way to heal our lands. To support this claim, I will utilize Imoro's journal article, as well as a YouTube video directed by environmentalist Robert Greenfield, a multi-modal primary source. My second body paragraph will start off with a topic sentence of how new technological innovations help farmers to make a profit, producing at a low cost to the environment and themselves. As evidence, I plan on using Aznar-Sánchez’s report on greenhouse technology. In my last body paragraph, I will be emphasizing how data and algorithms can help improve a farmer’s methods and ensure that they don’t waste resources. To validate these points, I will use a case study on Bountiful Agriculture, a sustainable consulting company, and entrepreneur Erin Baumgartner’s Ted Talk about data and agriculture. Finally, in conclusion, I hope to wrap up my arguments by reinforcing the idea that technology, in its various forms, can help in bettering agricultural production and the environment. Ideally, my intended audience is for agricultural professionals, officials of sustainability, agricultural researchers, and students interested in these fields. These people have a significant amount of power to use the information I will write about and help to make an impactful change in our current food system. They will definitely be knowledgeable about some of the topics that I will discuss, however by putting it all together, I hope to highlight all the different ways we can work to make the agriculture industry more sustainable. For Project 3, I will likely be using all three lenses. Firstly, I will utilize a historical perspective when discussing Indigenous farming technologies, showing how the past can be beneficial for our future. Secondly, the conceptual lens of sustainability and bettering the planet will be present throughout the entire essay. Finally, some of the sources that I plan to use will be case studies where companies or organizations have attempted to implement sustainable farming practices. This prospectus essay organized my thoughts and outlined my project moving forward. I hope to continue to maintain such flow during the upcoming essay, educating and convincing the audience that technology can have a significant, positive impact on agriculture. Annotated Bibliography Aznar-Sánchez, José A., et al. “An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 2, 2020, p. 664., https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020664. This journal article written by Dr. José Aznar-Sánchez, researcher at the Department of Economy and Business in University of Almería (with an expertise on Agricultural Economics), discusses the rapidly developing new technology of greenhouse agriculture. Instead of using thousands of acres of land to grow produce, greenhouses are used instead. This allows farmers to control everything that they normally couldn’t, from temperature levels to climate to the environment. This source would help me highlight how technology does not only increase farming efficiency, but also decrease costs which in turn boosts profit. Such a method would completely revolutionize agriculture, as it would require little space and create little to no damage to the environment. Baumgartner, Erin. “Big Data, Small Farms and a Tale of Two Tomatoes.” Ted Talks, https://www.ted.com/talks/erin_baumgartner_big_data_small_farms_and_a_tale_of_two_tomatoes/transcript. In this Ted Talk, Erin Baumgartner, a former MIT Researcher and entrepreneur, discusses how technology and data is the key to creating a sustainable, zero-waste food system. This would allow for small, local farmers to be prioritized, and it would help to simplify our current, complex agricultural industry. Baumgartner is a qualified individual, however, there is room for bias because her own company uses these techniques to create a food delivery system. This source would allow me to analyze the benefits of utilizing technology, specifically data and algorithms, to sustainably improve agriculture. It will outline specific proposals and ideas that one can implement into the agricultural industry which I can use as evidence in my essay. Imoro, Ziblim Abukari, et al. “Harnessing Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Management of Land, Water, and Food Resources amidst Climate Change.” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 5, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.691603. This journal article written by Ziblim Imoro, researcher at the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Management for the University of Ghana, discusses different indigenous technologies that could help to reverse the effects of climate change. Moreover, it talks about real-life implementation, and how farmers can combine such practices into their already modernized methods. This source would be very useful for my essay because it does not only discuss indigenous farming technologies, but also acknowledges the modernized farming industry. It furthers by explaining how agriculture doesn’t need to have dramatic change but can simply add certain farming practices to their methods. M. N. Islam Sarker, M. Wu, B. Chanthamith, S. Yusufzada, D. Li and J. Zhang, "Big Data Driven Smart Agriculture: Pathway for Sustainable Development," 2019 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (ICAIBD), 2019, pp. 60-65, doi: 10.1109/ICAIBD.2019.8836982 This journal article written by Nazirul Islam Sarker, researcher at School of Political Science and Public Administration in Neijiang University, discusses Big Data and how agricultural can utilizing to create ‘smart agriculture.’ This sort of agriculture would be driven by decisions made from analyzing data and using algorithms, which would allow for less waste of resources. This source will allow me to discuss data and algorithms, and how they can have a positive impact on agriculture if used properly. It will allow for the elimination of human error when predicting yields, determining how much material to use, etc. Thus, it will increase the productivity of farms, be less harmful to the environment, and even increase profits. Rob J Greenfield, director. YouTube, YouTube, 24 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZk8j1Lhi6I. This YouTube video, directed by author and environmentalist Robert Greenfield, discusses a project in which Indigenous folk and allies came together to work on a reservation by using Indigenous-inspired permaculture methods. Permaculture focuses on crop resilience, natural productivity without extra chemicals, and crop diversity in order to be sustainable and maintain the nutrients in the land. The approach that this project took emphasized on these methods, but most importantly, on creating a culture of community, ensuring that the people and the environment are treated with respect. This source would allow me to present a successful case study of a farm utilizing indigenous agricultural technologies and practices as evidence for my arguments. It will help to support the argument that the journal article written by Ziblim Imoro will discuss of indigenous methods promoting sustainable agriculture. Works Cited (Scholarly Sources) Aznar-Sánchez, José A., et al. “An Analysis of Global Research Trends on Greenhouse Technology: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 2, 2020, p. 664., https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020664. Imoro, Ziblim Abukari, et al. “Harnessing Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Management of Land, Water, and Food Resources amidst Climate Change.” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, vol. 5, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.691603. M. N. Islam Sarker, M. Wu, B. Chanthamith, S. Yusufzada, D. Li and J. Zhang, "Big Data Driven Smart Agriculture: Pathway for Sustainable Development," 2019 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (ICAIBD), 2019, pp. 60-65, doi: 10.1109/ICAIBD.2019.8836982 |
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