ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the connection between industrial-scale agriculture and its impact on the planetary boundaries. The ecosystem would collapse without an abundance of plants for the foragers and an abundance of prey animals for the predators. All living creatures require energy, and the greatest source of energy for people's planet is the sun. The numbers in the Trophic Pyramid indicate the relative number of calories produced at each consumer level. Plant-eating aquatic animals are the primary consumers of the underwater world and they produce only one-tenth the amount of calories they consume. The Union of Concerned Scientists defines industrial agriculture as a system of “chemically intensive food production” using large-scale, intensive farming of a single crop, known as monoculture, and enormous animal production facilities. Planting rows of a single crop, acre upon square acre, simplifies farming. Industrial agriculture is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States.
