Only Reconnect - Agri-culture: Reconnecting People, Land and Nature - page 115

These interconnections are important. Lady Eve Balfour, founder of
the Soil Association, author of the 1940s topic The Living Soil , and owner
of an experimental farm at Haughley in Suffolk, saw agriculture as a vital
service for the nation: 'If the nation's health depends on the way its food is grown,
then agriculture must be looked upon as one of the health services, in fact the primary health
service.' She, like other founders of the organic movement, Albert Howard
and Friend Sykes, saw agriculture as intimately connected with human and
environmental health. This should change the way we think about food
production: 'Once agriculture comes to be regarded as a health service, the only
consideration in any matter concerning the production of food would be is it necessary for
the health of the people? That of ordinary economics would take a quite secondary place.' 33
Another type of agricultural sustainability in industrialized landscapes
is represented by what has been called integrated farming. This is another
environmentally friendly approach to farming. Once again, the emphasis
is upon integrating technologies to produce site-specific management
systems for whole farms, incorporating a higher input of management and
information for planning, setting targets and monitoring progress.
There are important historical, financial and policy reasons why still
relatively few farmers have taken the leap from modernist farming to
organic agriculture. But it is possible for anyone to take a small step that
can, in theory, be followed by another step. Integrated farming in its
various guises represents a step or several steps towards sustainability. What
has become increasingly clear is that modern farming is wasteful, as
integrated farmers have found that they can cut purchased inputs without
losing out on profitability. Some of these cuts in use are substantial; others
are relatively small. By adopting better targeting and precision methods,
there is less wastage and therefore more benefit to the environment.
Farmers can then make greater cuts in input use once they substitute some
regenerative technologies for external inputs, such as legumes for inorganic
fertilizers or predators for pesticides. Finally, they can replace some or all
of the external inputs entirely over time once they have fully adopted, and
learned about, a new type of farming characterized by new goals and
technologies. 34
Bioregional Connections to Sustainable Foodsheds
The basic challenge for a more sustainable agriculture is to make best use
of available natural and social resources. Farming does not have to produce
its food by damaging or destroying the environment. Farms can be
productive and farmers earn a decent living while protecting the landscape
and its natural resources for future generations. Farming does not have