Farmer (Jacksonville, FL)

Farmer

In the last sixty seventy years we have experienced at first hand the results of our mishandling of agriculture. We are only just emerging from the plague of Foot and Mouth disease and the results and effects of this epidemic upon our economy will be felt for a long while to come. We also have the horrors of mad cow disease caused by the greed and folly if not downright wickedness of feeding animal remains to animals thus turning herbivores into cannibals. These disastrous blows have not come upon us as a spiteful act of the vengeful God of the Old Testament as some modern theologians would term their Creator. They are the inevitable result of our refusal to observe the laws of nature and the laws for animal husbandry that God has given us in the Bible. Our land is sick so our animals are sick and therefore our people are sick.To add to the worries scientists are now tampering with genes in the hope that they will create super plants but they tread on holy ground and do not fully understand the repercussions from such tampering. They have taken genes from completely different species and introduced them into food crops. When challenged whether they should be interfering with Nature in this way they reply that we have always interfered with nature in the crossbreeding of animals. This activity does not introduce foreign genes from completely different species and this seems to be forbidden by God in His Word (see Genesis 1 11-12).The phrase after his kind is repeated throughout that chapter referring to plants animals and insects and its meaning becomes highlighted in this modern age with its genetic modification. The general public has largely shunned genetically modified foods forcing the supermarkets and food manufacturers to provide food with non-GM ingredients. However the Government has ignored the polls which show that 90% of the people do not want GM foods in this country and they have given the go-ahead for more GM crops to be planted. There is no way of guaranteeing that seeds from such crops will not escape into neighboring fields for they can be carried by animals insects or the wind. Such blatant disregard of public opinion does not deserve to go unchallenged. I can foresee a time when there will be no way to guarantee that there is no genetically modified element in a product or a crop. It does not bode well for future generations.Our food is obtained by tilling the soil and by rearing animals so it follows naturally that agriculture plays a very great part in promoting and preserving health. Agriculture provides the real wealth of a community too and all life is dependent on the land. The farmer has the greatest responsibility of any producer. We have however departed from God s laws in all aspects of life even in farming which is the most basic of man s activities. Moses was aware of the dangers of the wrong treatment of the soil which may cause whole areas to become deserts like the dust bowls of America. Through Moses God laid down laws for the proper maintenance of the soil by crop rotation and years of lying fallow so that the land might recuperate its strength. Leviticus 26and Deuteronomy 28warn that abuse of the soil results in starvation. Nowadays the mechanization of farming has depleted the supplies of manure and the increasing population demands increasing quantities of food while at the same time it has caused large areas of arable land to be used for housing. It is understandable therefore why the farmer has turned to chemicals but the practice is dangerous. Greater quantity is obtained at the sacrifice of quality The adulteration of our food by insecticides and chemical sprays is concerning many but although some progress has been made in combating these evils many people are unaware of the facts. We may not be starving in America today but we certainly lack many vitamins and minerals in our processed foods and consequently we are not completely healthy neither are our cattle. Farmers who still keep to old-fashioned organic methods of farming have healthier stock. Unhealthy foods are responsible for almost all of our current health problems to include obesity. We eat the meat from animals reared by unnatural methods so we are further affected by the poor food value of their products. There are few people who can boast that they have never had a day s illness not even a cold yet our natural state should be one of glowing health and vitality. It is quite possible that the upsurge of juvenile delinquency and the amoral behavior of an increasing section of the community may be traced in part to a vitamin deficiency. The B complex of vitamins is largely responsible for the health of the nerves which in turn govern the moods and outlook. Cooking and chemicals easily destroy these vitamins so it is difficult to obtain a full complement of them in the ordinary modern diet (S.A.D. standard american diet it truly is sad).There are a few enlightened people who are convinced that the key to successful farming is to farm organically or to return to the natural and time-honored ways of producing food. Their philosophy is gaining ground and even supermarkets stock organically grown food nowadays in response to public demand. God s methods as set forth in the Bible are the best answer to the problems of agriculture today but they are not easily implemented because we have come so far from the perfect way. In nature there is the cycle of the Seasons and the nitrogen cycle by which decomposition revitalizes the soil. God s law of resting the land every seventh year dovetails with these natural cycles and allows the earth to recuperate. We have lost the sequence of Jubilee years and letting the land lie fallow every seventh year so it is obvious that until the Lord returns we shall not be able to return to the ideal way of farming.