A History of Sustainable Agriculture

When the organic movement began, it was a counterculture of people who wanted to see political change in the world. Some chose it as a statement against the companies that were manufacturing chemicals for pesticides and war alike, while others chose it to reject the bleaching and processing of foods which seemed to separate the cultures of the world. What began as a movement of political revolution soon became another corporate marketing tool used to evoke connotations of progressivity. The term "organic" has now been contorted and molded into something else entirely. This resulted in the formation of "big organic", because of a lack of regulation imposed on big businesses that decided to try their hand in making huge profits off of an ideal. However, sustainable agriculture shows promise of being what organic was created to become. According to the USDA, the legal definition of sustainable agriculture is a system of production that can, over the long-term, "satisfy human food and fiber needs, enhance environmental quality..., make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources..., sustain the economic viability of farm operations, and enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole." While processed foods are likely here to stay, sustainable agriculture could prove to be a major partner in the food industry, because of the nutrition it provides, decreased reliance of fossil fuels, and its enrichment of soils.

Sustainable agriculture requires selling produce within a close proximity to where it is produced. This reduction in distance travelled gives the consumer stronger assurance that the produce has not been sitting around for indeterminable periods of time. Since the produce doesn't have to be transported over long distances, it does not have to be picked before maturity to lengthen shelf-life. And while processed food can be stored for longer periods of time, they still aren't as nutritious as their fresh counterparts, even when fortified with vitamins. Stored grain crops, on the other hand, can be both nutritious and well preserved. A study mentioned in The Omnivore's Dilemma stated that researchers at The University of California-Davis discovered that organic and sustainable produce contained more vitamin C and polyphenols than conventionally grown produce. According to the text, "The reason plants produce these [polyphenols] in the first place is to defend themselves against pests and diseases; the more pressure from pathogens, the more polyphenols a plant will produce" (180). Therefore, allowing crops to fend for themselves in nature makes the crops not only more resilient, but additionally nutritious. The nutrition that sustainable agriculture could bring to undeveloped countries, through the use of correct agricultural practices and reduced fertilizer use, could also allow rural peoples to have a steady supply of crops.

In Africa, many rural farming communities use outdated chemical fertilizers and pesticides, because they know of no alternative. Use of conventional agricultural practices makes the farmland less fertile and harder to gain a high yield from. Sustainable agricultural practices enrich the soil, leaving it more fertile with every crop rotation. Through the use of nitrogen fixing trees and biocontrols, farmland can be maintained without chemicals. Polyface is a sustainable agriculture farm that beats large-scale, mass production farms in efficiency nearly every season. Joel Salatin, the owner of Polyface, produces an astounding amount of eggs, broilers, hens, beeves, hogs, turkeys, and rabbits on just 100 acres of land. He also employs the use of trees to provide a natural "air conditioner" for the animals that graze on his land. He has achieved this level of efficiency through forethought and ecological models, and he uses almost no fossil fuels in the process.

Fossil fuel reduction is the main boon that comes from switching to a sustainable farming system. It is what ties the whole food industry together. Fossil fuels are used to create and transport produce and chemicals around the country. This not only takes time, but also increases the levels of emissions released into the atmosphere. Almost every part of the conventional agricultural system rests upon a continuous supply of fossil fuels. This reliance is a weakness. It makes the entire agricultural economy, and in effect, our most basic necessity, dependent on a finite resource. If this resource runs out, we're left with nothing but infertile land. And if we wait until this point to turn to sustainable agriculture, the yield would likely be low and it would take time to coax the land back in its standard fertility. According to the article, Energy Use and Fossil Fuels, "A 2002 study from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health estimated that, using our current system, three calories of energy [are] needed to create one calorie of edible food." This level of inefficiency has the world pouring more and more limited energy into a system that gives us back a third of what we give it. Sustainable agriculture allows the farmer to utilize free solar energy. By creating a system of rotational grazing, the plants are able to utilize solar energy, and then farm animals have full access to the most nutritious form of food and energy available.

Sustainable agriculture, through mimicking the relationships of nature, can be an ecological system of efficiency. It can provide a partner to the conventional method of agriculture and the processed food production, which offers convenience to the world. This ecological sister of conventional agriculture offers nutrition, a decreased reliance of fossil fuels, and enrichment of soils. The advantages of this method are immense, but if the world waits until the 11th hour to recognize its deserved role in the world of agriculture and food production, it may be too late to reap its benefits.

Works Cited

"Atoms for sustainable agriculture:." IAEA BULLETIN 2 (1995): 36-41.

"Farm fresh: the health benefits of buying local produce." Times Herald-Record. 23 Jul. 2008. 4 Nov. 2009.
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/HEALTH/807230315/-1/HEALTH05

"Legal Definition of Sustainable Agriculture." National Institute of Food and Agriculture. 4 Nov. 2009. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/nea/ag_systems/in_focus/sustain_ag_if_legal.html

"Obsolete pesticides threaten communities in Ethiopia." Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 9 May. 2001. 4 Nov. 2009. http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/highlights/2001/010503-e.htm

"Sustainable Table." Fossil Fuel and Energy Use. 4 Nov. 2009. http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/energy/