Reality Cheques - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 60

with sustainable methods of production. Cows will still belch methane,
until animal feed scientists find a way of amending ruminant biochemistry
to prevent its emission. But it is clear that many of these massive distort-
ions could be removed with some clear thinking, firm policies, and brave
action by farmers. 21
The Side Effects of Intensive Food Production
on Water and Wetlands
One problem with the redesign of landscape for modern agriculture is
that important natural features and functions are lost. Watercourses are
one of the most tamed and abused of natural landscape features. Wetlands
have been drained, rivers straightened or hidden behind levees, aquifers
mined, and rivers, lakes and seas polluted, mostly to ensure that productive
farmland is protected from harm or excessive costs. Once again, the narrow
view that farmland is only important for food production has caused
secondary problems. According to the National Research Council, 47
million hectares of wetlands in the US were drained during the past two
centuries, and 85 per cent of inland waters are now artificially controlled.
This created new farmland, to the benefit of farmers. But remove the
wetlands, and the many valued services they provide are also lost. They
are habitats for biodiversity, capture nutrients that run off fields, provide
flood protection, and are important cultural features of the landscape.
Donald Worster describes growing up within 30 metres of the already
tamed Cow Creek in Kansas: 'We could not see it from our windows; we could only
see the levee.' During the 19th century, the town expanded by the river and
the early settlers converted land to wheat cultivation. As a result, the
natural and regular flooding of the river started to cause considerable
economic damage. Episodes of flooding and continued expenditure on
flood protection continued for decades, until a major flood in 1941 finally
led the Army Corps of Engineers to construct a series of 4-metre high
levees: 'Now at long last the good Kansas folk, having vanquished the Indians and
the bison and the sandhill cranes and the antelope, had managed to vanquish Cow
Creek. Abruptly, it disappeared from their lives.' This is the alarming part. When
valued landscape features have gone, or have been replaced, the everyday
experiences of local people will steadily erode old memories. The young
will not know, while the old will be troubled, until they pass on, too. 22
Meanwhile, we all lose.
In Europe, river valleys used to contain many water meadows. These
fields were likely to be flooded by overflowing rivers, and were used