What is the difference between mono-culture and diversification? Mono-culture is a company or farmer that that only grows one type of food; for example, large fields of cotton only. Or that own hundreds of cows on little land, feeding them all mostly corn. Most of those cows can only move a few steps at a time, or can’t move at all! Why? Because there is simply not enough space the farmers put them on. Diversification is a farmer who grows multiple kinds of foods. For example, a vegetable garden full of different kinds of vegetables. Or that puts cows out on acres of land. Giving them the freedom and food they need. The old fashion way is what some people call it.
Monoculture has so many effects on nature. Bees are one of them. Did you know that bees not only pollinate flowers but all sorts of plants, crops, etc.? Just like flowers, that is what keeps those crops alive and healthy. They go around to multiple kinds of plants and collect the pollen from each kind of plant/crop. This includes apples, almonds, oranges, pumpkins, etc. How would you feel if you had to live on only one kind of food? Say, apples. All you had to eat was apples. Apples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. All day every day. How would you feel? You’d probably get sick before long, and you’d get tired of eating apples. Why would you get sick? Because apples only have so many nutrients that your body needs before he says, enough; no more apples. That’s exactly how bees feel with monoculture. They go to pollinate this big field of crops, and what do they find? A huge field of the same food, for miles and miles. It isn’t before long that bees become sick from that crop and die.
People claim that monoculture makes farming easier and cheaper. A couple farmers will own acres of apples, and a couple other farmers will grow cotton, etc. Since all plants normally need to be taken care of a different way, doing monoculture makes it easier. All they have to do is take care of one plant. But doing that affects the crop that farmer is growing. When a farmer grows the same crop over and over again each year, the soil starts to loose all of its nutrients which makes that crop loose its nutrients, which makes us lose our nutrients when we eat it. When you plant a crop, it gives the soil some nutrients, and it takes some nutrients. But if you plant that same crop the next year, it gives the same nutrient and takes the same nutrient. Soon the soil loses all its nutrients that the crop is taking, leaving the crop and the soil unhealthy. But now you might be thinking, wait. But didn’t farmers plant potatoes in a field and only potatoes? Yes, but the next season they plant something different in that same field in order to balance a number of minerals. That’s the problem with monoculture. It plants the same plant over and over again in that field, never switching it out with another plant.
Diversification is basically the opposite of monoculture. Some people call it the old fashion way. The animals get the space and food they need to keep them healthy, plants are mixed in a garden, sharing minerals. People say it costs too much to own that much land for a couple cows or to feed cows something other than corn. They say it takes to much time to own a garden, but I think that it’s worth the time and money; to keep the animals and yourself healthy.
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