Flowing beyond Chicago, the Sanitary and Ship Canal feeds wastes into the Des Plaines and Illinois Rivers before reaching the Mighty Mississippi. All along, it mixes industrial and agricultural chemicals into the water. The blend of Chicago sewage, industrial byproducts and agricultural runoff meets its end in the watery grave of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone, also known as the Dead Zone, which has reached the size of New Jersey.
Aquatic life depends on dissolved oxygen. A dead zone is what it sounds like: an aquatic area devoid of oxygen where nothing can live.
Ironically, the source of a dead zone is nitrogen and phosphorus, the building blocks of life. But an excess of these nutrients leads to the opposite of life. When an overload of nitrogen and phosphorus pours into bodies of water, it spikes the growth of blue-green algae, naturally occurring microorganisms. In and of itself, blue-green algae don’t pose a major problem. However, when fueled by large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, the algae bloom and overtake the water. As they decompose, the algae suck up the small amount of oxygen in water, preventing other plants and animals from surviving. The decomposition can release toxins that are deadly upon consumption or, sometimes, even touch.
Corporate farming accelerates the problem because it seeks high yields of low-value plants like corn and soy (fruits and vegetables, by contrast, are high-value plants). To keep pumping out high yields of a single plant, industrial agriculture applies petroleum-based fertilizers – lots of them – across their expanding American fields. Heavy rains brought about by climate change easily strip the fertilizer and wash it into streams and rivers.
When it comes to animal agriculture, Combined Area Feeding Operations (CAFOs), where meat and dairy products are produced by concentrating the highest number of animals in the smallest area, are on the rise. In order to keep yields high, these animals are often pumped with antibiotics and steroids. Furthermore, untreated animal urine and feces run into rivers and lakes, contaminating drinking water and contributing to harmful algae blooms.
Obviously, we need food to live. But the corporate agricultural practices imposed on our lands are killing our waters. Neither we nor aquatic life will survive if they persist.
