Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
economic dimensions of living systems. The historical principles of organic farming are the
principles of sustainable living systems.
These principles of organic farming ref lect a deep, philosophical understanding of a right-
ness of relationships among people and between people and their natural environment. They
recognise that a system of farming cannot have ecological integrity unless it is also has social
and economic integrity. It cannot be socially just unless it is also ecologically and economically
just. And, it cannot be economically viable unless it is ecologically and socially viable. These
principles of organic farming are but different aspects of the same web of life and the same
f flow of energy. Such principles cannot be captured in a set of standards or regulations, and
therefore cannot be imprisoned in a rigid set of rules. These principles are written in the hearts,
minds and souls of people, in their common sense of right relationships, not just as farmers,
but also as consumers, as citizens, and as morally responsible human beings.
The industrial farm, organic or conventional, is driven by the principles of maximum
profits and growth, not by the ecological, economic and social principles of permanence. The
industrial farmer feels compelled to give priority to the economic bottom line. Industrial
farming shows no respect for the wholeness of its living systems; it is about separation, special-
isation and dominance. The environment and society are viewed as constraints to economic
efficiency, not necessary principles of economic viability. In industrial farming, economic via-
bility is measured in years at most, not decades or centuries, and certainly not permanence.
The economic principles of industrial organic farming are direct contradictions of the histori-
cal balance of ethical, social, and economic principles in organic farming.
The sustainability of organic farming ultimately depends upon people making a personal
commitment to maintaining the health and productivity of self-renewing, regenerative, living
ecosystems, societies and economies. Personal commitments require a sense of personal con-
nectedness, thus sustainable organics requires a linking of people and purpose with place. In
the words of Wendell Berry (Berry 1990):
Farming by the measure of nature, which is to say the nature of the particular
place, means that farmers must tend farms that they know and love, farms small
enough to know and love, using tools and methods that they know and love, in the
company of neighbours they know and love.
Berry has never claimed that farmers of the past, conventional or organic, have ever
achieved true harmony with nature or sustainability. He simply states that harmony in nature,
as with harmony in society, must be achieved through loving relationships. The permanence
of food and farming systems depends upon personal relationships of integrity and trust among
farmers, farm workers, eaters and citizens within local communities.
Some people may question whether community-based food systems can be realistically
expected to feed the people of the world. However, local community-based food systems could
be linked together through personal relationships, to form a global network of local food
systems. The integrity of the connections between health of soil, health of people and health of
society could be ensured locally but linked globally, through personal relationships of integ-
rity among people in different communities. And, when people are connected by relationships
of integrity, the result is an equitable sharing of benefits, among farmers, farm workers and
consumers, both within and across generations.
This is not some utopian vision of the future. Human life on earth simply is not sustainable
unless a sustainable global food system is developed. Humans are no less dependent upon the
productivity of the earth for our survival than in times when all humans were hunters and
gatherers. Our dependencies are less direct and more complex, but are no less critical. Fifty
years from now, when twice as many people may populate the Earth, people will depend no
