From the Ground Up? The Principles of Australian Organic Agriculture - Re-Thinking Organic Food and Farming in a Changing World - page 221

French 2006 ). Both insist that organic farming should be about creating systems
of production that prevent pests and diseases through fertile soil, encouraging
beneficial fauna and working with natural processes rather than replacing one
remedy with another. This argument echoes the original soil fertility approach of
organic growers in the 1940s. Although manufactured organic inputs are made of
plant and rock extracts and other naturally occurring products they are manufactured
using industrial processes and stretch the definition of 'natural'. The toxicity of a
product such as Dipel or powdered sulfur is limited to the target species, but their
use challenges the definition of 'poison'. The debate surrounding this approach
to organic farming has revealed conflicting philosophies between an emphasis on
systemic or ecological preventions and remedy based solutions, which sometimes
sit uncomfortably within the broader ecological philosophy of organic growing.

11.3.3 Biodiversity and Ecological Wellbeing

Matthew Jamieson, NSW organic turkey and macadamia farmer interviewed by
the author describes himself as 'The Farmer Giles of Ham' (Jamieson 2006 ). The
Farmer Giles of Ham is a short story written by J.R.R. Tolkien about a genial
farmer who battles dragons (Tolkien 1974 ). After studying science and entomology,
Matthew worked at the Environment Centre in Darwin and became involved in
campaigning against forest clearance, the destruction of rivers and the rights of
West Timorese people in Indonesia. For Matthew, organic farming is an extension
of environmental activism - another way for him to slay the dragons. “I feel that the
world needs to change. I always felt that producing food with sustainable farming
was the right thing to be doing. I wanted to produce something sound that doesn't
have a negative effect on the planet” (Jamieson 2006 ).
The importance of ecological wellbeing and the interdependence of human
wellbeing upon the wellbeing of the whole environment remain core principles of
Australian organic farming today. The maintenance of ecological systems through
organic agriculture is identified by IFOAM, the international peak body for organic
grower organizations, as one of the key principles of organic farming: “Organic
agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with
them, emulate them and help sustain them” (IFOAM 2009 ). Anthony Sheldon
explains the importance of working within the limits of his semi-arid environment:
The challenge we are facing, not only in Australia but everywhere, is to live within the limits
of the landscape. If we do that we'll be here for a long time and a good time. I don't believe
in short term mentality. People who think like that will exhaust their resources and by the
time they are forty they'll be standing there on the bones of their arse looking at another
forty years. And then there won't be any good time, just a long time (Sheldon 2006 ).

Ecological principles have been enshrined in Australian standards for organic pro-
duction. The Australian Standards state: “the aim is to enhance biodiversity on farm
enabling 'eco-system services' to enhance the productivity and sustainability of