Toward a Civic Agriculture - Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community - page 52

Civic Agriculture and Sustainable Agriculture
“Sustainable agriculture” is a term that became popular in the 1980s as an organized response
to many of the shortcomings of conventional agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is used to
denote a more environmentally sound and socially responsible system of agricultural produc-
tion than has traditionally existed in most Western societies. While there are many definitions
of “sustainable agriculture,” one of the more widely accepted definitions was developed by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture and published as part of the 1990 Farm Bill. According
to the USDA, sustainable agriculture is
An integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that
will, over the long-term: 1) satisfy human food and fiber needs; 2) enhance environmental quality
and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends; 3) make the most ef-
ficient use of non-renewable resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles
and controls; 4) sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and 5) enhance the quality of life
for farmers and society as a whole. 45
It is important to note that this definition encompasses an economic dimension, an en-
vironmental dimension, and a social/community dimension. Sustainable agriculture encom-
passes a set of production practices that are economically profitable for farmers, that preserve
and enhance environmental quality, and that contribute to the well-being of farm households
while nurturing local community development. Sustainable agriculture denotes a holistic,
systems-oriented approach to farming that focuses on the interrelationships of social, eco-
nomic, and environmental processes.
In an important study of the differences between conventional agriculture and sustainable
agriculture, the rural sociologists Curtis Beus and Riley Dunlap identified key elements that
distinguish the two agricultural paradigms. 46 Beus and Dunlap's results are summarized in
table 5.2. They saw domination of nature versus harmony with nature as one of the key points
of difference between the two approaches. Likewise, the reductionist nature of conventional
agriculture was captured by the emphasis on commodity specialization, while the problem-
solving attribute of sustainable agriculture was aligned with diversity.
The underlying social science paradigms were portrayed by Beus and Dunlap as com-
petition versus community. Conventional agriculture rests on a business orientation, with a
primary emphasis on speed, quantity, and profit. The community orientation of sustainable
agriculture, on the other hand, rests on cooperation, with an emphasis on permanence, qual-
ity, and beauty.
It is not too difficult to see the connections between sustainable agriculture and civic ag-
riculture. Indeed, sustainable agriculture could be seen as a logical antecedent to civic ag-
riculture. The term “civic agriculture” captures the problem-solving foundations of sustain-
able agriculture. But civic agriculture goes further by referencing the emergence and growth