4.4.10.A.+-Describe+the+importance+of+agriculture+to+society.

=THE IMPORTANCE OF = = = =AGRICULTURE TO SOCIETY =

Agricultural practices have been used for the entirety of human existence. Agricultural enterprises- crop or livestock-provide society with raw materials that are used to keep life going. Food, building materials, and clothing materials, are just a few examples of products that are produced through agricultural practices. Conserving land that yields crops is of the utmost importance to keep society running. Society could not function without the components provided by agriculture. When looking at the world as a giant food chain, eliminating the crops would create a domino effect in which everything elsewould cease to exist.
 * PROVIDING NECESSITIES FOR LIFE** [[image:FARMING_016.jpg width="479" height="351" align="right"]]


 * TRANSPORTATION**

In order for farmers to benefit from excess food production, they had to get their crops to market, so the agricultural revolution brought about a need for the development of roads, bridges, tunnels, and canals. The rapid growth of railroads was also strongly driven by the need to get a valuable, perishable product to consumers (Importance of Agriculture, 2007).


 * CREATING SUBURBS**

The idea of established villages and stationary society is based on agriculture. Farming brought about the settlement of farm communities, which led to villages and city-states. Farming also made settled lifestyles possible, which, in turn, made technological development possible. When the nomads abandoned their ways and began to plant their own food, villages and towns were established and began to grow. Keeping one's belly full used to depend on having farms within one's proximity. If people were not near food, they would suffer malnutrition or starvation. As a result, people located their homes near a source of food to survive. In time villages, and more recently, suburbs were introduced (Importance of Agriculture, 2007).
 * PROVIDING JOBS**

Agriculture is also responsible, not only for providing food, but providing jobs. In fact, in Lancaster Pennsylvania, agriculture is responsible for one in five jobs (Keeping Lancaster County Farming). The jobs available through agriculture, and there are many, have a great impact on the economy as well. A few examples of careers in agriculture include: (Information from Walters State Career Site, 2008)
 * agriculture educator
 * farm manager
 * biotechnologist
 * forester
 * food scientist
 * veterinarian


 * BOOSTING THE ECONOMY**

Today farming is a huge industry that has a large impact on the economy. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, farm production on 2003 totaled about $890 million and agriculture accounted for 11% of Lancaster's economy. (Keep Lancaster County Farming, 2007)

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(Photograph © M. Loiseau)