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Re: the word sustainable
> >
> Organic farming was the only method of farming for 6000 years of history.
> Is it sustainable? I would guess yes. I agree according to the dictionary
Sal, you really need to get the book I suggested earlier on
Sanet--Topsoil and Civilization by Carter and Dale (University
of Oklahoma Press). We (humans) have despoiled the earth far
and wide with overgrazing, over-cultivation, and just plain
over-use. Topsoil and Civilization chronicles all these abuses
and shows how the abuse of the soil by various cultures was
linked to that culture's downfall. Much of Greece, the site of the
cedars of
Lebanon, Crete, North Africa, the American "Dustbowl", etc. etc.
were all sites that have been severely damaged by non-chemical
agriculture. All these places were once rich, agriculturally
productive areas. Some of these places are now deserts. So, if
that was organic farming, then it was certainly not sustainable.
That's the style of farming Bart Hall would call "organic by
neglect," which is the style of farming I fear many large scale
operators wanting to profit from consumer paranoia and cash in
on "organic" will employ.
As Bart has pointed out, OCIA and other organic certification
groups include soil building and prtection as part of their
certification requirements. But, apparently, the as-yet-to-be-
finalized federal standards are weak in this area, leaving room
for abuse by those who might meet the letter of the law but
not the spirit.
All I'm really trying to say in my postings is that organic
certification is not THE answer. In fact it may impede progress
toward a more sustainable agriculture in two important ways:
1) By fostering a belief that it is THE answer and inherently
sustainable (someone on SANET mentioned that they thought
organic farming was the "pinnacle" of sustainable agriculture),
the organic movement is fooling the public (and many farmers)
into believing that we won't have to do anything else to insure
agricultures sustainability and a safe food supply. That is,
once everyone is certified organic (the fellow from the Dana
Association in Mexico suggested that ALL farmers should be
certified organic as a requirement for allowing them to farm),
we will no longer have to worry about the sustainability of
agriculture. (As many other posters to SANET have pointed out,
there are many practices that are certifiably "organic" but
clearly not sustainable. One of my favorites to point out is
the use of copper fungicides in organic certification programs.
Not only can copper build up to phytotoxic levels in the soil
so that plant growth is practically impossible, recent research
also indicates that much smaller amounts of copper interfere with
the flora in worms' guts, effectively killing the worms.)
I'm seriously concerned that the Federal standards will tend
to end debate about and stifle further evolution toward a more
sustainable agriculture. The existence of the Federal program
will lull people into believing the problem has been solved.
2) The second major way the Federal standards may actually impede
progress toward a more sustainable agriculture is by impugning
the safety of food produced by farmers who can't or don't want
to be certified organic but are seriously trying to farm sustain-
ably. The simple existence of the FEDERAL standards will imply
to consumers that the certified stuff is safe while the other
stuff is suspicious. (In my climate and with my disease and
pest complex, I sincerely believe that my low-spray apple
production system is more ecologically sound than what I would
have to do to produce marketable apples organically. I can and
do educate my local clientele, but it's impossible to do if
I can't meet the buyers face-to-face and explain the complexities
of the situation. Consumer paranoia is mounting, and I'm afraid
that the Federal standards will push me into becoming certified
organic and I'll have to spray--and I'm not exagerrating here--
about 10 times what I'm spraying now, including sprays of copper,
botanical poisons, sulfur, etc.)
.