Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Since food production in a sustainable system is inextricably linked to the local environment
and the community's social and political infrastructure in which it exists, it follows that
sustainable agricultural practices are defined by local ecological conditions and by the local
social infrastructure which gives rise to the ethical values that guide stewardship. The
connection of a sustainable food production system to ecological and social environments
means that decisions concerning the design and development of sustainable agricultural
production systems will have implications for everyone.
As a result, there will be several stakeholders with a vested interest in shaping the practice of
sustainable agriculture. The reality is that citizens living in the same information rich envi‐
ronment as their leaders realize that the institutionalized bulwarks of authority are not
omnipotent and that leaders are more or less ordinary people. Consequently, they assign less
significance to the guidance of their leaders and institutions and have opted to become more
reflective, proactive and self-regulating [20]. Implementing a sustainable agricultural produc‐
tion system in this context calls for collective action, because reflective and proactive citizens
will insist on participating in the decision-making process. The support of diverse, reflective
and proactive stakeholders is critical for ensuring that the values of stakeholders are reflected
in defining and supporting the practice of sustainable agriculture.
Fourth, given that food systems depend on a healthy base of ecological capital regardless of
their production technique, the sustainability of food systems can be conceptualized as existing
on a continuum based on the level of integration with the natural ecosystem and the social
environment in which it exists. At the high end of the continuum would be a production system
that achieves the highest level of integration with the ecology and the social system in which
it exists. And at the low end would be conventional/industrial agriculture. As indicated earlier,
a sustainable system makes judicious use of available ecological capital by making optimal use
of: biological cycles, the practice crop rotation, no-till farming, diverse cropping patterns, the
use of organic matter or organically derived fertilizers, integrated pest management, biological
control, cover cropping, timing of planting, leaving land in fallow and a variety of water and
soil conservation techniques. To be sustainable, the food production system, as discussed
earlier, must meet social and economic objectives within the limits of the ecology in which it
exists. Sustainable food production must involve the community as consumers and stewards
of the food production system. The system must also nurture and expand understanding of
the interdependence of food production and the ecology which supports it. Considering that
people are the agents and beneficiaries of a sustainable food system, communities must
understand and accept that natural resources are finite, recognize the limits on economic
growth, and encourage equity in resource allocation [17]. In other words, the drive for
economic efficiency must be tempered by the need to preserve ecological capital and ensure
social and economic equity. The trend toward large-scale Industrial profit driven farming has
implications for the economic health of rural communities. For example, studies have dem‐
onstrated that independent hog farmers generate more jobs, more local retail spending, and
more local per capita income than do larger corporate operations. Comparisons between
conventional industrial agriculture and sustainable systems indicate that organic agriculture
and sustainable systems are productive and economically competitive [17].
