Kris Neuvirth stands in behind a table covered with hundreds of ears of corn, some cucumbers, and a few tomatoes, ready to be shucked and sold to shoppers at the farmer’s market.

“I’m third generation,” he said, “been 62 years. My dad came, my grandpa and grandma came . . . it’s a tradition in our family.”

While traditions hold strong against the sands of time, not all is the same. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, as Neuvirth’s grandfather opened his farm, the US was undergoing the “Green Revolution”, as developments in pesticides and new breeds of plants allowed farmers to increase yield by a substantial amount: according to the USDA, a factor of 170 percent.

“There’s a lot more technology involved, there’s even robotics and GPS,” Neuvirth said, “even the genetics of the crops I grow have changed, just a whole lot of changes.”

Neuvirth is optimistic about the effects of these changes, and he’s not the only one. Many sources place the number of people spared from starvation by the Green Revolution at over a billion. In 2005, the country of Malawi began the “Agricultural Input Subsidy Program”, giving farmers access to modern corn seeds and fertilizer, after years of extreme poverty. Within the first year, the country produced a record yield, and, according to BBC News, even had enough to export to some of their neighbors.

“. . . You get to do a lot more stuff and don’t waste [as much] fertilizer or chemicals,” Neuvirth said, “it’s a lot more high-tech than when we started.”

But some people aren’t so sure. Dave Steinhauser, a livestock farmer, has criticized the overuse of chemicals in agriculture, particularly the herbicide Roundup.

“[Roundup] didn’t exist when I was your age or younger, and this chemical is getting used so heavily now that its causing a variety of issues. Everything from weeds that it won’t work on anymore to pollution in the water and the soil to other issues with how it affects mammals.”

There is much disagreement on the effects of Roundup on humans and the environment. It is known that large doses can be fatal, and the EPA recommends the use of protective clothing when using it, and to not come into contact with plants treated with Roundup for 4 hours after application. While studies show that exposure to nominal levels of Roundup over an extended period of time does not cause any health effects, there are still concerns over the environmental and physiological effects of the ever-increasing amounts of Roundup used in farming.

“. . . It’s overused,” Steinhauser said, “Moderation would be better . . . You just can’t rely on them.”