Travis Davis

Dr. KT Magnusson

ECON 2010

December 6, 2017

Food Industry

Will the food industry ever become that of the Netherlands? I believe with the reading; the

United States will need to make some very important decisions and changes come the near future as the

readings point out that by year 2050 the worlds population will push the limits of ten billion. With the

population of thousands of years almost doubling in a matter of thirty to forty years, the worlds

agriculture will need to produce more goods than all famers of those thousands of years combined in

order to feed the worlds demands.

The United States has all the resources to obtain the success of the Netherlands. America has

landmasses that in abundance are thousands of times bigger than what the Netherlands has available.

Therefor, could be used to build the massive greenhouse and animal processing buildings in the efficient

system and processes as seen in the Netherlands. Experts? The United States has a multitude of experts

in all sorts of scientific fields including that of the agriculture and horticulture realms. The United States

being a long-time leader in these fields has seen a significant decline in technique and outcomes due to

inefficiencies in processes and environmentally friendly equipment. Factories have become concerned

with creating monopolized markets to which only a certain few benefits from the success of the

industry. All of these profits seeking goals have all been at the cost of quality, morality and the very

environment to which we humans live in.

The United States is not concerned with quality or how it impacts the environment as far as the

future is concerned. Their processes in what it takes to develop animals and crops come at a cost to

where they are injecting these foods with chemicals and growth hormones that are not really intended
for human consumption. The Netherlands on the other hand have come up with solutions that yield

higher quantities with less hormones, using less water and using less land than any other country. The

Netherlands also have more government back support in improving the technology that goes into

growing crops and raising livestock.

The Netherlands are so far ahead because they allocate so many more resources on the

advancement of newer techniques rather than stick with traditional ways of developing agriculture and

livestocks. The Netherlands are using modern times huge technological advancements in their favor to

build more efficient buildings where they are able to grow tropical fruits and vegetables in a climate that

becomes cold a barren at times. They more efficiently monitor soils quality and it nutrients for optimal

plant growth. They use state of the art machinery and programs that make raising quality livestock

without growth hormones and antibiotics as well as raise them in more humane settings.

A big factor for the Netherlands is they are leaving less of a carbon footprint than any other

country by using techniques that require less water a less power and fossil fuels. They also now that

knowledge is power and make that their motto, they have universities that are dedicated to agriculture,

horticulture and entrepreneurship. They are constantly researching how agriculture and business can

evolve because the ways the United States has always done it has left farmers depending on the

government which has caused companies to come up with alternate ways of producing at lower costs

which took away from quality. The Netherlands are the opposite in that the agriculture industry and the

technology industry work together to make their country thrive and as the years go by the Netherlands

will become more and more powerful with other parts of the world depending on them for their

knowledge and supply.

Political systems greatly affect how things are done internally and externally. There are many

political guidelines and acts that restrict what companies can and cannot do. In the United States
monopolizing companies begin to greatly persuade how laws and regulations work and typically get

them to act in their favor, making it hard for any other company to enter into the market. The

Netherlands political scene encourages business to have equal opportunity and that the more people

are working together the more valuable they are as a country and that their contributions will greatly

affect the world and its inhabitants.

The Netherlands view on agriculture is how it can benefit the nation as a whole and help the

world. American agricultures motives have become how cheap can I do it for and how much profits can

I make at the expense of the earth, its inhabitants being human animal and earth. American agriculture

has no solution for the future nor is it working on one. The old days for farming in the United States was

a thing that people took much pride in, which their families usually carried on the career for

generations. In modern times many of those families farms are being shut down due to larger

companies driving prices too low for the smaller companies to make a profit and a living.

I believe the United States could be in a state of change. More people are becoming concerned

with where their food is coming from, how it is processed, how it is treated and from where is comes

from. Unfortunately an obstacle I see being an issue to overcome is the poverty level or household

income limitations we, not only here, but in the world. Places like Wal Mart who carry these food made

by some of these monopolies have food prices set so low and what a large portion of people have

become accustomed to paying the lower costs for these food regardless of effects they have on the

planet of their health. Hopefully the United States can use the example the Netherlands have set along

with some of their technology and knowledge to begin creating a more clean, self sustained agriculture

industry in ways to shrink the acreage used to produce, limited resources like water and fossil fuels to

run and feed these operations and create a market that is free of monopolies, a place that people with

vision and determination and a want for change can enter or evolve their current operation to become

more efficient all while still making a living for themselves, that also benefits its community and world.
Companies that also strive to ever evolve, because the world is only getting more crowded which mean

more mouths to feed and more wages needing met.