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Questions below refer to the following passage.
(1) Food is a vital part of human life; however, many people living in the United States and other Western countries see food merely as a cheap commodity. (2) Much of the food consumed in the United States and in other industrialized nations is grown on huge, industrial farms. (3) These industrial farms generally use large amounts of petroleum, pesticides, and other harmful chemicals. (4) Industrial farms are also notorious for practicing growing methods that are harmful to the environment (Collins 2003, A4). (5) Although industrial farming practices are still the norm in the United States, a new, sustainable agricultural movement is spreading throughout the country. (6) Community-supported agriculture is a relatively new method of farming that is becoming more popular in the United States (Collins 2003, A4). (7) According to Neilson (2007, 240), “less than 2% of the American population grows the food that everyone eats.” (8) Community-supported agriculture aims to get more people involved in the farming process. (9) Community-supported agriculture programs (sometimes called CSAs) vary greatly, but they focus on members of the community becoming more involved in the food-growing process. (10) Many CSAs are set up so that members of the community pay a certain amount of money to a farmer, and in return receive products grown on the farm (Neilson 2007, 249). (11) Sometimes CSAs require their members to get involved in other ways, too. (12) Besides getting the community more involved in food production, another goal of CSAs is to help small farmers make reasonable profits while maintaining their land (Neilson 2007, 235). (13) The farmers use the money they collect from CSA members to pay for their annual expenses. (14) Professor of agriculture Joan Wayne states, “When community members become part of a CSA, they take on some of the risks that farmers do, such as poor crop yields.” (15) Because farmers are not alone in the risk, they have more opportunities to use sustainable growing methods. (16) Many CSA farms use organic or biodynamic growing methods (Collins 2003, A12).
References Collins, Madeline. “CSA: The New Trend in Farming.” The New Observer, A4, A12. /25/03 Neilson, Donald. The Future of Agriculture: Farming in the New Millennium. San Francisco, CA: USA Publishing, 2007.
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