Local organic farms are becoming a vast minority in the United States. I believe that this is a problem that could affect our children more than the average citizen would think.
I grew up in a small town in Vermont, and since I was young, my family and I grew our own food every summer. The food that was produced in our garden was rich, healthy food. I have distinct memories of sitting in my tomato patch and eating cherry tomatoes in my garden until I was too full to even walk back to the house.
Local organic farms keep the soil healthy and strong, allowing the surrounding ecosystems to continue to flourish alongside the farm. Large farms that work hundreds of acres of fields have a profound impact on the surrounding areas because they are injecting the soils with herbicides and pesticides. Pesticides and herbicides not only affect the soil and surrounding ecosystems, but also the food that is produced.
I believe that one way to solve this problem is for people to grow their own food in the summer in their backyards. This would dramatically reduce soil destruction, because large farms would not be producing so much food.
— Max Bressor
Asheville
