Feeding the 9.7 Billion

Beautiful tall grass prairie once spanned across the entire Midwest, dominating all other plant types and providing choice habitat for many animals both large and small  https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/wildlife_and_habitat/tallgrass_prairie.html.  Today, seeing prairie for more than a few acres is hard to imagine, as European settlement and agriculture has brought a momentous shift to the ecosystem we now call home.

The human population has been expanding rapidly for decades and is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.html  Likewise, the demand for food continues to increase.  The more people this world holds, the more food we must grow, and that is why every last acre of Midwest soil is currently used to grow crops like corn and soybeans.

But is that fair?  Why should humans get to use the land in whatever way they please?  Shouldn’t animals and their habitat be protected too?  This depends on your worldview.  Your answer to these questions will vary depending on what values and beliefs you hold.

One side believes we as humans should take great measures to protect animals and their entire ecosystem.  They believe mankind and other species are equal, and that we are only a small part of a larger cycle.  Another side believes we as humans hold dominion over the earth and have the liberty to use the earth for our needs, while being responsible with the land we are entrusted.

Because of my value of human life, I find it unfortunate but completely necessary to remove the native habitat and put land into production to feed the world.  We must do all we can to provide food for the human race.  However, I believe maximizing the quality of wildlife habitat surrounding ag fields provides a great compromise for the situation.  Waterways and surrounding high moisture areas are generally unfit for agriculture and make great wildlife corridors.

The wild America once experienced by our ancestors has been reduced to neat and tidy rows of corn.  However, this transition has not been in vain.  In order to supply food for an ever-increasing human population, crop production has been and must continue to increase.  The cold hard truth.