Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
less on the other living things of the earth than we are today. What will they do then, if the
non-renewable fossil energy and mineral resources upon which industrial agricultural systems
depend have been degraded and depleted? A society characterised by relationships of integrity,
among people and between people and the earth, is not some utopian vision: it is a future
necessity. A social movement born of the necessity will continue as a post-industrial movement
toward a more desirable quality of human life: personally, socially and spiritually.
Hopefully, a growing number of people will soon come to realise that 'shallow-organic
foods' are but cheap imitations of the 'deep-organic foods' they were seeking. Growing global
environmental, social and economic justice movements indicate that more people are begin-
ning to realise that shallow environmentalism is but a cheap imitation of deep ecology, free
elections and constitutions are only cheap imitations of social equity and justice, and free
markets are but cheap imitations of economic integrity. As more people seek lasting value
through authenticity and integrity in all aspects of life, they will be increasingly amenable to a
renewed understanding that all of life in rooted in the soil.
The future of humanity literally depends upon a return to the historic principles of organic
farming. Global society today depends no less upon the fertility of the soil than during the
days of the ancient farmers of China or the farmer-warriors of Rome. The health of society and
the health of people still depend upon the health of the soil. The absence of commercial chemi-
cals will not ensure a healthy agriculture, as proven by farmers from ancient Rome to the mid-
20th century. The sustainability of human life on Earth depends upon keeping farmers who
are committed to the principles of sustainability on farms small enough to know and love, in
the presence of neighbours that they know and love, providing food for people that they know
and love. The people of a society committed to relationships of integrity will reconnect with
farmers who are committed to the organic principles of permanence, allowing both farmers
and society to sustain prosperity - economically, socially and ecologically.
References
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