Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Specifically, we suggest that the IFOAM Principles offer a framework for
examining previously overlooked alternative designs for organic agrofood systems
that may open new approaches for addressing food. Food security here, is described
through four terms: food supply, processing, distribution / trade and demand. We
use food security as a shorthand term to refer to the full range of issues that arise in
thinking about the topic including food access and food sovereignty. Furthermore,
food sovereignty is highly linked with the contemporary food crisis (Hunt et al.
2009 ; 2011 ) and is seen here as a relevant precondition of food security (IFOAM
2009 ; McIntyre et al. 2009 ; Meat & Wool New Zealand 2010 ).
Our working hypothesis is that considering ethical issues offers a new perspective
on debates that have centered largely on quantitative indicators. We argue that
the IFOAM Principles offer explicit guidance that directly informs the more
quantitative dimensions of food production and food security including access to
food. Moreover, we hypothesize that operationalizing or deliberately putting ethics
into practice contributes in the long run to increasing world food supply and to
more resource efficient practices that help to increase food access. We recognize
that current worldwide organic practices do not always addresses these values. As a
result, we turn to the IFOAM Norms as a basis for reviewing the kind of instruments
that administer, describe and regulate organic practices.
For heuristic purposes, we present two paradigms - high and low-input agricul-
ture - as a point of departure for a critical review of the feeding the world debate.
Following a brief discussion of the relevance of ethics to the approach toward food
security in both paradigms, we examine how the IFOAM Principles, if applied
quantitatively, could contribute to food security. Finally, we ask if the application of
the IFOAM Norms - specifically the IFOAM Standards Requirements, the IFOAM
Standards for Organic Production and Processing and the IFOAM Accreditation
Requirements for Bodies Certifying Organic Production and Processing - are
sensitive to the IFOAM Principles' ethics to contribute to achieving food security.
We conclude with a critical review of our discussion and recommendations.
5.2
The Debates on Feeding the World
This section outlines the relevance of two dominant agricultural paradigms (high-
input and low-input) (see Beus and Dunlap 1990 ) to “feeding the world.” We focus
on the issues of production, ecology and food consumption patterns. Examining
these paradigms lays the groundwork for developing an ethical perspective on how
to feed the world.
5.2.1
The High-Input Paradigm
The high-energy input agrofood-paradigm is characterized by a common reliance on
crop biotechnology on both large- and small-scale farms, as well as the corporate
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