America is often viewed as the land of plenty by many people around the globe with easy access to fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. All one needs to do is take a trip to a local grocery store or market to fulfill the need for sustenance.

For those of us who never grew up in the agriculture community, the hard work and effort that the farmers put forward is a thought that most Americans place in the back of their minds.

What are the processes involved in farming?

What are the effects of the agriculture community on the environment?

What are the moral issues that we must address as the world’s leader in food production?

What does the future hold for agriculture in America and across the world?

These are some of the thoughts that Bill Vitek touched upon on March 15 at the Meyers Convocation Center as part of Ashland University’s Symposium, focusing upon Environmental Sustainability.

Vitek is a professor of philosophy at Clarkson University, where he also serves as chair of the department of Humanities and Social Sciences. Vitek’s publications include “The Virtues of Ignorance,” “Rooted in the Land”, “Promising,” and “Applying Philosophy.”

Vitek analyzed the history of agriculture and mankind’s attempt to provide calories for society through roughly 12,000 years since early homosapians started growing food for survival. The main focus of Vitek’s presentation was the recent two centuries and the evolution of the public consciousness in regards to environmental sustainability.

With the ever growing effort to find ways to reduce the carbon footprint, society must take a philosophical approach on how food is produced.

What is good for the earth is not always what is easy for the agriculture community.

“Education has always been about teaching us what to do to be successful, but it also teaches us what to do to be an engaged citizen wherever we live,” Vitek said.

The presentation also focused upon the future advancements in agriculture that will help bring balance between the demands placed upon agriculture to create food and the need for environmental sustainability.

Vitek spoke about the thousands of years of agriculture practices that have had an adverse effect upon the ecological system and the scientific advances that will help shift the landscape of agriculture across the world. Advancements on the horizon in plant genetics will produce perennial food bearing plants that will help reduce the constant seasonal turning of the soil, thus reducing the erosion of essential nutrients that are stripped from constant tilling.

The message that Vitek drove home to the students of AU was to take a deeper look at how food winds up on their plates and the ramifications of certain agricultural practices on our environment. People still have long future of inhabiting this planet, so it is important to take care of it.

You can find out more about Bill Vitek and his work at http://people.clarkson.edu/~wvitek/home.html