Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft

Here's the rough draft of my annotated bibliography, which is all about American agricultural practices (CAFOs, and the like), and how a similar but different country (Australia) faces the same requirements. I will be comparing their agribusiness models, and comparing the two in terms of profit, sustainability, and overall damage (or lack-thereof) to the environment.

So without further ado, here's the rough copy of my annotated bibliography!
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Burkholder, JoAnn; Libra, Bob; Weyer, Peter, "Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality," Environmental Health Perspectives 115 no2 (February 2007): 308-12

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In this piece by Burkholder, Libra, and Weyer, the sustainability of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are explored in relation to the pollution they cause in surrounding bodies of water. While farming has always caused some pollution in surrounding bodies of water, they feel that this pollution (antibiotics, etc) has become a rising problem due to the rising amount of CAFOs in the United States. This pollution will have serious impacts upon human and environmental health in the long run, which is why this work group explains the need for enforcement of ecosystem monitoring in the areas surrounding CAFOs.

Cribb, Julian, "Can Australia save the world?," News in Science, http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/cribb/story.htm

Julian Cribb, Director of National Awareness for Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, explains that most of the world's poverty (and therefore a great deal of its suffering) is caused by lack of food, water, and land. With the world's water consumption going up exponentially, it seems likely that there will be some kind of catastrophic war over the rapidly dwindling resources we have left to us. Cribb states that, due to its exceedingly bio diverse agriculture and knowledge of sustainable farming practices, Australia should be the nation to lead the rest of the world into the sustainable agriculture practices that they currently use. In short, Cribb believes that Australia can be the nation-- the only nation-- to solve the shortages of food, land, and water.

Lehane, Bob, "Feeding the future-- sustainable agriculture," Nova: Science in the News, http://www.science.org.au/nova/071/071key.htm

Bob Lehane writes in Nova, a magazine published by the Australian Academy of Science, about sustainable agriculture in Australia. Sustainable agriculture is a term used to describe planting crops in such a way that it does not exhaust the soil of its nutrients. If soil, nutrients and water are used up faster than they can be naturally replenished, then the farming system is unsustainable. He explains that biodiversity is required to keep the land sustainable, as well as keeping the naturally salty soil from becoming too salty. Overall, Lehane describes a system in which Australia is working with farmers to create a agricultural system that is both sustainable and profitable.

Pollan, Michael, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," United States of America: Penguin Books, 2006.

Michael Pollan, a contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an excellent explanation of the American agribusiness of today, from the founding of the first farms to the most recent developments of the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)-based systems. Pollan explores the scientific step-by-step process from corn to hamburger and all stages in between, as well as the more personal question of why the reader should care about what they're eating, and how it was produced. He also examines the alternatives to the modern 'ideal' of American agribusiness, the CAFO, as well as the lack of sustainability in the current American agribusiness practice. In short, Pollan asks that Americans look at their food, and truly understand where it came from, and how it came to be.

Tillotson, James, "Agribusiness--The Backbone of Our Diet for Better....or for Worse?????," Nutrition Today 41 no5 (September/October 2006): 233-8

James Tillotson writes in Nutrition Today, an established journal that publishes articles by leading nutritionists and scientists who endorse scientifically sound food, diet, and nutritional practices. In this two-part essay, Tillotson explores the American definition of agribusiness and gives a brief overview over the history and workings of agriculture business in the United States today. He explains that although it raises some hot-button issues, it not only makes our food cheaper, but easy to attain and very secure as well. His argument focuses mostly on the capitalistic benefits of the system, rather than the dangers of its pollution and fossil-fuel consumption. Tillotson comes to the conclusion that overall, agribusiness is better for the United States, seemingly ignoring the fact that it will be a short-lived system due to its unsustainable agriculture.