
298 Ecological Sustainability
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, cleaning up the waterways, and returning more economic yield to the
farmer, the argument for an Organic Green Revolution becomes overwhelm-
ing” (LaSalle et al. 2008).
5.8 Competition for Cropland
A recent global trend is increasing competition for arable cropland. There are
two primary drivers of this competition: diversion of existing cropland into
nonfood use, namely, the production of biofuels, and massive land purchases
by foreign interests, usually in poorer and more vulnerable nations. Such com-
petition is compounded by nonsustainable agricultural practices that damage
and erode topsoil, making arable ...