Animals at the Kids’ Farm differ from animals exhibited elsewhere at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in that they are domesticated animals and are not threatened or in danger of being threatened. But there is still a conservation story to tell. Large-scale agriculture has a bigimpact on the environment.
Threats
Large-scale, conventional agriculture relies on fertilizers, pesticides, herbicidesand fungicides. Chemical residue in or on food poses a potential health risk to consumers, agricultural workersandanimals. Large-scale agriculture also has a significant impact on water resources. Fertilizer run-off from farms (and residential neighborhoods) can create dead zones in lakes, riversand bays. The trend toward concentrating livestock in large, centralized feedlots generates an abundance of waste products, such as manure and methane emissions.
Because there is often more waste product than can be properly handled, surrounding water sources and watersheds become contaminated. Agriculture is the biggest water consumer, using 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawals worldwide. Water scarcity is due to overuse of surface and ground water for irrigation. Agriculture can alsoreducethe amount of available wildlife habitat, thereby adversely impacting habitats for threatened species.
In response to many of the issues and concerns related to modern farming and agribusiness practices there has been a growing movement to direct agriculture toward more sustainable methods. Organic farming, concern for farm animal welfareand a focus on locally grown products are becoming more mainstream. In 1997, there were800,000 acres of certified organic cropland in the U.S. In 2011, that number grew to 3.1 million acres, and organic food sales followed the same trajectory increasingfrom $10 billion in 2004 to $28 billion in 2012.
