Vegas and Ag

Vegas and Ag

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
It is thoroughly legitimate to compare agriculture to Las Vegas - because making a go of it is always a gamble - but Oklahoma State professor Dr. Jayson Lusk found another comparison in the famous Las Vegas slogan. " What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that, at least historically, production agriculture has operated in much the same way, what happens on the farm stays on the farm." But Lusk says that the days of consumers being content with that message are over. They're new interest has led to some criticism of conventional agriculture. "What is being proposed as an alternative? If they don't like this, what should we do? And their solution is often what we read in narratives about food is that we should basically return to nature, let's give up all of this technology." But Lusk said most of those arguments are based on shaky science. They are often fear tactics to help sell books and magazines. They offer up a romanticized reality of the old days on the farm. "I think if we were honest with ourselves we would see that changes in technology are really quite positive. It has given us more food and higher-quality food. Not only do we spend less income on our food then our grandparents did but we eat better, even if we don't like to admit it.
Previous ReportFight Back
Next Report Estrus Suppression