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I discuss various aspects of so-called ‘alternative’ agriculture at some length in Chapter 6 of A Small Farm Future¹, and I don’t intend to retrace many of those steps here. But there’s a couple of further things I do want to say in this blog cycle. Here, I’ll focus on organic farming.

On page 125 (and also page 150) of my book I cite a 2007 study by Catherine Badgley and co-authors², one of whom is Jahi Chappell who sometimes comments here, so I’m hoping he might weigh in with his thoughts on this post. Their paper suggests that organic agriculture based on biological fixation of nitrogen is capable of meeting global food demands without reliance on industrial synthesis of nitrogenous fertiliser (from now on in this post I’m going to use the symbols N to refer to plant-available nitrogen, BNF to refer to biological (or ‘organic’) nitrogen fixation and SNF to refer to synthetic/industrial nitrogen fixation). Interestingly, the Badgley paper also suggest that while organic yields in rich countries are typically lower than their ‘conventional’ counterparts, the opposite is often the case in poor countries, a point to which I’ll return.

Since the publication of my book, I’ve become aware of various papers by Professor David Connor critiquing the Badgley paper, and more generally the notion that it’s feasible to feed the world without SNF. Although I identify with organic/alternative agriculture and have never used synthetic N in my own farming, I don’t take an absolutely purist line about it in relation to the global food system. If SNF is necessary in some circumstances, I’m not going to lose sleep over it. Still, SNF is an energy-intensive business requiring a complex industrial infrastructure…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

chris smaje, small farm future, organic farming, organic food production, organic agriculture, food production

Monsanto, Big Food, and Big Ag Move to Co-opt the Organic and Regenerative Movement

March 26, 2021

Monsanto, Big Food, and Big Ag Move to Co-opt the Organic and Regenerative Movement

There’s one skill that Big Food and Big Ag corporations have in abundance: taking control of every situation and corrupting it into an opportunity for profit.

For example, as consumer interest in the terms “natural” and “sustainable” increased, industrial agribusiness began to use these unsubstantiated terms to market greenwashed products. These products were, in fact, just the opposite—made with pesticide-laden, factory farmed, and/or genetically engineered ingredients. Even the powerful Organic movement, which actually is based on specific certifiable practices and inputs, has required constant safeguarding against corporate attempts to dilute its meaning.

Now, we will also diligently have to defend the up-and-coming Regeneration movement against attempts by agribusiness corporations to co-opt it and undermine its transformative power.

In the past few years, Big Food and Big Ag corporations such as Bayer/Monsanto, Cargill, Walmart, General Mills, Danone, Unilever, and others have jumped on the bandwagon and publicly presented themselves as leaders in the regenerative agriculture movement. But something smells fishy. For one, these companies are completely leaving out organic practices in their definition of regenerative agriculture. As long as a farm uses certain conservation practices such as reduced tillage or cover crops, these companies seem to think that toxic pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, biotechnology, and corporate control of farms and farmers are all A-okay.

Seriously? Aren’t these all things that helped propel us into our public health and environmental crises in the first place? Their motives make sense, though, when you consider that these companies derive a significant portion of their profits from these destructive industrial agriculture technologies and inputs in the first place. If these companies can keep making profits off of destruction while putting on a good public image of being “regenerative,” this win-win for them must appear appealing indeed.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Julia Kloehn, organic consumers association, greenwashing, big food, big ag, regenerative agriculture, industrial agriculture, organic food production, organic agriculture, organic farming

Comparing Organic, Agroecological and Regenerative Farming part 1 – Organic

February 10, 2021

Comparing Organic, Agroecological and Regenerative Farming part 1 – Organic

In this new three part series we present an analysis by Dr. Andrea Beste on the similarities, differences and synergies between the organic, agroecological and regenerative farming movements. Part one here outlines the history and current status of the organic movement. A German version of the entire series is also available at the link below.

Early pioneers, bitter resistance, globalization

The first organic farming activities in Europe emerged with the “Life Reform Movement” after the First World Warⁱ, which turned against urbanisation and industrialisation. The aim was to return to a natural way of life: they wanted to settle in rural nature and establish a gardening existence there. This led to a focus on production techniques such as: – fertilisation with rotting organic waste, composting, green manure and green soil cover, gentle soil cultivation, nutrient supply through the recycling of composted urban organic waste and human waste, as well as rock powder.

Even then, problems such as soil compaction, soil fatigue, poor seed quality and an increase in plant diseases and pest infestations led to a rethink in farming. Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925) established biodynamic farming with the “agricultural course” during a seminar lasting several days in 1924, which dealt with these problems. In 1928, three years after Steiner’s death, the “Demeter trademark” was registered. Organic-biological agriculture, from which the “Bioland” association emerged, was also developed in Switzerland by Dr. Hans Müller (1891 – 1988) and his wife Dr. Maria Müller (1894 – 1969) at the beginning of the last century. The theoretical basis was provided by the German physician and microbiologist Dr. Hans Peter Rusch (1906 – 1977).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘Food for Thought’: Reflections on an organic life

December 19, 2020

‘Food for Thought’: Reflections on an organic life

Phil Haughton is old friend of mine, best known as the founder of three Bristol food shops flying under the banner of The Better Food Company. I wanted to say a few words about his book, Food for Thought, which ‘celebrat[es] the joy of eating well and living better’.

I much admire the man and all his achievements, particularly in Bristol, where he virtually pioneered the concept of a wholly organic food shop, but also because I knew that amongst his formative influences was a period when he lived in a commune in southwest Scotland.

The Haughton family are something of a Bristol dynasty and it has been my very good fortune to make the better acquaintance of two or three of them, notably Barny, MBE (services to Bristol) who established the Square Food Foundation and before that ran several amazing restaurants. I also know his sister Liz and his brother Luke, who made a beautiful kitchen for the Sustainable Food Trust’s base in Totterdown, which is still giving good service some 28 years later!

‘Food for Thought’ is a delightful combination of short essays and interviews, which include stories about his past and thoughts about many of the key food and farming challenges of our time, illuminated with evocative pictures and recipes. It is an easy read, and one which doesn’t disappoint, resuscitating memories, which I share with Phil, of living in communes in the early 1970s.

His version, Lothlorien, was a smallholding in Dumfries and Galloway. The descriptions of the times shared together during a few golden years, which he admits were punctuated with the stresses and strains which inevitably accompanied communal living, are absolutely enchanting, particularly the pictures! There is something about pictures of those back to the land experiments in the 1970s which convey an atmosphere which, for anyone who shared those experiences would testify was truly life enhancing!

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Our Veggie Gardens Won’t Feed us in a Real Crisis

August 6, 2019

Our Veggie Gardens Won’t Feed us in a Real Crisis

A haul from the Author’s urban farming operation in Portland, Sept. 15, 2007 *(Photo C.H.White)*

Massive flooding and heavier than normal precipitation across the US Midwest this year delayed or entirely prevented the planting of many crops. The situation was sufficiently widespread that it was visible from space. The trouble isn’t over yet: Hotter-than-normal temperatures predicted to follow could adversely affect corn pollination. Projections of lower yields have already stimulated higher prices in UN grain indexes and US ethanol. Additionally, the USDA is expecting harvests to be of inferior quality. Furthermore, the effects of this year could bleed into 2020; late planting leads to late harvesting which delays fall tilling, potentially until next spring, when who knows what Mother Nature will deliver.

Accuweather’s characterization of this as a “one-of-a-kind growing season” is literally true only in terms of its exact circumstances (given increasingly chaotic events) but not in its intensity (which will surely be exceeded). Prudence would dictate that we heed this year’s events as a warning and get serious about making preparations for worse years. Literal cycles of “feast or famine” have marked agriculture since its birth and sooner or later we will experience significant shortages here in the US, if not from the weather, than from war or lack of resources.

The Midwest floods and their possible repercussions for the food supply got some attention in the news (though not enough). One of the most common suggestions I saw on social media was: “Plant a garden!”

If only it were that simple.

I used to be a small-scale organic farmer so take it from me: totally feeding yourself from your own efforts is very, very challenging. Though some friends and I tried over multiple seasons, we never succeeded, or even came anywhere close.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Deconstructing the 3 biggest LIES that attack organic farming

March 27, 2019

Deconstructing the 3 biggest LIES that attack organic farming

(Natural News) Oh yes they did. There’s now a so-called “study” that’s been done which supposedly determined that organic farming creates a much bigger carbon footprint that torques up “global warming” more than ever. Yes, old faithful US News has regurgitated a chunk of claims published in the International Journal of Science, and somebody has to set the record straight.

If you read the entire review of the “study” and the study itself, you can feel the GMO community grasping for anything to save face, especially in the midst of a tsunami of Bayer/Monsanto lawsuits (of which people are winning huge payouts) regarding glyphosate poisoning from using Roundup. Folks, this is the same weed killer used on the inside and out (think genetic engineering here and “Roundup Ready”) of 90 percent of U.S. corn, soy, canola, cottonseed, beets, alfalfa, and the list goes on.

The whole insidious anti-organic industry needs a big PR win and fast, so they’re jumping on the “climate change” bandwagon and spewing infested lies about organic farming. It’s time to deconstruct the biggest ones and expose the fraudulent “news” updates.

DEBUNKED: The 3 “consensus” lies about organic farming that true science completely tears apart

#1. “Organic food is worse for the climate than non-organic food”

Big lie. First off, non-organic food usually means chemical-based fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides are doused on the farms by crop dusters and spread by tractor “boom” sprayers that spray millions of gallons of unsustainable, climate-destroying bug killer and weed killer over millions of acres. And that comes only after the scientists modify the crop seeds in a laboratory with the same chemical genes from the poisonous pesticides.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Study: Organic food provides more health benefits than non-organic

March 19, 2019

Study: Organic food provides more health benefits than non-organic

(Natural News) It has been said many times that eating organic is healthier, but a recent year-long study by a European Parliamentary committee has once again proven the benefits of food without chemicals. In the report, titled “Human Health Implications of Organic Food and Organic Agriculture,” they discovered a link between eating organic and improved early development, as well as the obvious positive of less pesticide exposure.

The study found a lower amount of cadmium in crops and a higher quantity of omega-3 fatty acids in organic meat and milk. Cadmium is a toxic metal, and exposure can cause many issues including causing cancer, and targeting the respiratory, cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal and neurological systems. On the flip side, a higher level of omega-3 fatty acids is linked to a healthier cardiovascular system and improved brain development and function.

The difference between organic and non organic can be found by looking at produce and cuts of meat. Organic crops will typically be smaller and not look as “perfect” as non organic, simply because of the lack of use of growth enhancing substances. They will also be without the pesticides, preservatives and processing that one would encounter with non organic foods.

The same could be said of meat as well, with non organic cuts of meat being larger due to the use of growth hormones on livestock. There is also the added risk of antibiotics being used in cattle and poultry leading to an epidemic of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the U.S. and worldwide. Animals used to produce organic meat, eggs and milk are all raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

18 Organic Farms Changing the World

February 19, 2019

18 Organic Farms Changing the World

Organic farms work daily to solve the puzzle of sustainable agriculture while providing their local communities and markets with fresh nutritional foods.

Organic foods have no chemical additives or pesticides. They are also free from flavor enhancers, sweeteners, and preservatives. In most cases, organic and minimally processed foods are more nutritious than their mainstream process alternatives. They generally have more beta-carotene, polyphenols, antioxidants (to fight cancer), flavonoids (to fight heart disease), fatty acids, and minerals.

When it comes to sustainability, organic farms have many questions to answer:

How do they reduce their carbon emissions?
How do they conserve water and slow the rapid depletion of groundwater?
How do they save plants from pests and vermin on a large scale without using pesticides and chemicals?
How do they farm while nourishing the land and not eroding topsoil?
How do they provide economic sustainability and social sustainability, such as fair wages and healthy working environments, to employees?

Each of the farms listed below have found a way to answer these questions as they take control of their food production.

How Farms Prioritize Education

Many organic farms prioritize outreach, community engagement, and education. Farms host community events or hold classes for adults as well as children to learn anything from gardening to cooking. Many farms seek to empower individuals to grow their own food and plant their own gardens. Organic farms also offer free resources such as their favorite recipes for cooking with natural ingredients.

Farmsharing and Community-Supported Agriculture

Many local farms use community supported agriculture (CSA) programs or farmshares to connect with local community members. Members support the farm upfront and are rewarded with the best fresh produce or meat cuts. This allows farmers to plan ahead with their seasonal demand and minimize potential risk and waste. If you’re interested in a CSA or farmshare, you can use LocalHarvest to find one local to you.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Threats to Family Farms & Homesteading from Agri-Business and Groupthink

October 17, 2018

Threats to Family Farms & Homesteading from Agri-Business and Groupthink

This research-based article details the multiple threats to good, community farming practices and small-scale organic/cooperative endeavors. The threats take the form of social engineering in the guise of “managed providers working for the common good of the majority of people,” when in effect it concentrates the wealth and resources in the hands of the few and leaves the average family farm and homesteader out in the cold, or worse. “Legislates” them right into illegality with previously legal practices (such as rainwater catchments systems, or sustainable family farms.)

An older article I recently stumbled across is particularly revealing of the mindset that governs this struggle: one characterized by that mindset’s reliance on “technology” and “mechanization” to provide a plethora of bountiful harvests. The article is entitled “8 Solutions for a Hungry World” and it lists those “solutions” as such:

1. Farm the desert – using a greenhouse that converts seawater to freshwater,
2. Grow with precision – using soil sensors to inform when water and fertilizer are needed,
3. Rebuild rice – the genetic engineering of the photosynthetic capabilities of rice,
4. Replace fertilizer – with a mixture of 300 natural microbes (now synthesized) for Nitrogen fertilization,
5. Re-map a continent – to target new farming technologies in Africa,
6. Use robot labor – to monitor, prune, and pick produce,
7. Resurrect the soil – biochar machines the size of shipping (sea-land) containers,
8. Make supercrops – more genetically engineered crops.

All of these proposed solutions (although possible) can (and probably will, if implemented) have far-reaching consequences. Items 3, 4, and 8 involve genetic engineering and manipulation of other species. Items 2 and 6 are unnecessary, replacing human labor with faddish gadgets that consume both energy and fuel. Item 5 concentrates and categorizes geographic spreads of potential profitability (a return to medieval serfdom, fiefs and all) instead of viable human communities.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The great agricultural resettlement or the next chapter of the fall

March 13, 2018

The great agricultural resettlement or the next chapter of the fall

Here’s my own picture.

I am a farmer and that is where my world begins. What is an agriculture? I say it is a culture of cities, towns and villages, bridges, roads, canals, harbours – of trades’ people and the trades, which have been created by the specialised cultivation of fields. The industrial revolution was a revolution within agriculture – germinated by fossil fuels, so that today, nearly every culture on Earth is an agriculture. The farmer has a lot on her shoulders, because the greatest towering city, and all its goings-on, is utterly dependant on her crops – although in my Utopian picture, trades and pleasures of every kind bear their own egalitarian apportionment of the weight, so that the labours of fields gain new springs to their steps.

Farms disrupt natural systems. The more husbandries imitate and integrate with natural systems, so the less they disrupt – but still they will disrupt to some degree. Good husbandry reflects our ordered minds more than the complexities of nature. Nevertheless, it imitates, as best it can, the cyclic behaviours of organisms. The highest crop yield will be achieved by the closest integration. “You never enjoy the world aright, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars”, wrote Thomas Traherne in the Seventeenth Century. To which the farmer pragmatically adds – and shod with soil fauna, shaded with green leaves, watered by clear springs and fed by lives we’ve fed in return.

I must note that true yield is output minus input – massive inputs massively reduce true yield, so that organic methods out-yield all others.

So, in attempting to do the best we can, we choose the least worst farming techniques. This is important to keep our humility and gratitude intact. It is also an important part of discussions on climate change. There have been outrageous claims of carbon sequestration (so-called negative emissions) by a variety of farming techniques, such as grasslands, or organically-managed lands – or regularly-felled woodland, or coppice. But the most these can achieve is a balance and that balance, given the flawed nature of all human practitioners is unlikely. As climate change accelerates and weather grows more unpredictable, so that balance will become still more unlikely.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

How to Break into Organic Farming: Interview with Rodale Institute

February 2, 2018

How to Break into Organic Farming: Interview with Rodale Institute

Interview with Lyndsey Antanitis, Veteran Farmer Program Coordinator at the Rodale Institute, an independent research institute for organic farming.

Farming Controversies Are So Complicated

April 7, 2016

Farming Controversies Are So Complicated

I read an article on the DTN/Progressive Farming website that once again shows how difficult it is to resolve differences of opinion in farming disagreements. The article was an even-sided discussion of possible overproduction of organic crops, (which I plan to write about soon) but a respondent took the occasion to launch into a rather vitriolic attack on organic farming. He was irritated about the organic stand against herbicides. How could organic farmers consider their methods to be environmentally correct, he wrote, when they use cultivation to control weeds in row crops and shun herbicides. Cultivation increases the severity of erosion and uses more fossil fuel than herbicide applications. That’s true as far as I know. Cultivation also releases CO2 to the atmosphere, disturbs soil life negatively, and breaks up soil particles too much, he argued. He concluded by opining that those of us who cultivate row crops, or use flame throwers instead of herbicides to kill weeds, are stupid.

But herbicide farmers cultivate the soil quite a bit too, during fall and spring when erosion is more severe. At least here in my neck of the woods, fields are cultivated in the fall, so as to be ready for planting as soon as possible in spring, and then cultivated again in the spring ahead of planting. If a no-till planter is involved, the operation is called “no-till.” Beats me. The big trend now is cover crops overwinter, surely a good idea, but that means either more herbicides in spring to get rid of the cover or more cultivation of some kind to smack down the cover crop.

It leads me to a dismal conclusion. As soon as mankind reaches a population level where agriculture, as opposed the hunting and gathering, is necessary to provide enough food, collapse of the civilization is inevitable.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

It’s the Food Economy, Stupid!

March 18, 2016

It’s the Food Economy, Stupid!

I believe Rod MacRae (shown here) is one of a handful of experts to develop a critique of today’s food system based on its bad business case and its failure to do proper scenario planning.

If you don’t like reading arithmetic, you will find his writings tough going, but as soon as you subtract that problem, it pays to keep on reading. This is powerful stuff that more food system critics need to understand.

Just to be straight about my relationship with Rod, he’s the one who taught me food math back in the mid-1990s, when I called on him to help with the economic case that Jack Layton, Gary Gallon and I were trying to make for our newfound Coalition for a Green Economic Recovery. We enjoyed our conversations so much that we decided to work on a book together, and the result was our 1999 book, Real Food for a Change, which was also co-authored by my wife, Lori Stahlbrand. If I may say so, this book was one of the first to make the case for local and sustainable food that fostered “health, joy, justice and nature.”

Subsequently, I replaced Rod as manager of the Toronto Food Policy Council, and he became a consultant and popular professor of environmental studies at York University.

Apart from knowing how to add, Rod is steeped in agriculture and ag policy. We’re different on both scores. I don’t check the math on my restaurant receipts, let alone charts in articles. And I am into the city side of food.

So, apart from presenting what Rod has to offer everyone, I will throw in my own two cents worth about how a city perspective could add new dimensions to Rod’s work.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Study Indicate That Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Can Feed the Planet

March 15, 2016

Fresh produce

STUDY INDICATE THAT ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE CAN FEED THE PLANET

The never ending debate as to whether organic food production could actually feed the globe is back at the debate table. And the data culled for this latest report suggests that turning to increased organic food production to feed the globe isn’t really a far-fetched idea. Washington State University researchers have concluded that feeding a growing global population with sustainability goals in mind is possible. Their review of hundreds of published studies provides evidence that organic farming can produce sufficient yields, be profitable for farmers, protect and improve the environment and be safer for farm workers. Critics have long argued that organic agriculture is inefficient, requiring more land to yield the same amount of food. The review paper describes cases where organic yields can be higher than conventional farming methods.

The report, Organic Agriculture for the 21st Century, authored by Washington State University Regents Professor of Soil Science and Agroecology John Reganold and doctoral student Jonathan Wachter, looks at the efficacy of organic and non-organic farming according to the four pillars of sustainability: economics, environment, productivity and community well-being. Organic production currently accounts for only one percent of global agricultural land, despite rapid growth in the last two decades.

Organic agriculture, sometimes called biological or ecological agriculture, combines traditional conservation farming methods with modern farming technologies. It emphasizes rotating crops, managing pests naturally, diversifying crops and livestock, and improving the soil with compost additions and animal and green manures. Organic farmers use modern equipment, improved crop varieties, soil and water conservation practices, and the latest innovations in feeding and handling livestock. Organic farming systems range from strict closed-cycle systems that go beyond organic certification guidelines by limiting external inputs as much as possible to more standard systems that simply follow organic certification guidelines.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Has ‘organic’ been stripped of its meaning?

February 1, 2016

Has ‘organic’ been stripped of its meaning?

The term ‘organic’ has come to be understood by most consumers as ‘grown without synthetic chemicals’, which to most people’s surprise, does not always mean that farming practices are sustainable. The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platformdefines sustainable agriculture as “the efficient production of safe, high quality agricultural products, in a way that protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of farmers, their employees and local communities, and safeguards the health and welfare of all farmed species.”

Yet some organic farmers are participating in farming practices that, while still compliant with organic regulations, are not reflective of the sustainable farming practices and values on which organic agriculture was originally premised. Environmental damage, inefficient nutrient utilisation, heavy reliance on input substitution for pest and weed management, high energy use, limited cropping rotations and collapse of farmer co-operatives have been reported on organic farms spanning countries across the globe, including the Netherlands, Egypt, China and Brazil.

Some researchers argue that the rapid increase of international trade in organic products has resulted in complex regulatory systems that inadvertently lock out small-scale producers, particularly in developing countries, to market access and trade. Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) offer an alternative organic certification scheme that puts sustainability and small-scale producers back at the fore of organic production.

Shifts in organic agriculture

The organic agriculture movement began as a sustainable and fair alternative to industrial food production. Through its creation of alternative models of production, distribution and consumption, organic production prioritised sustainable practices that maintained a positive impact on biodiversity and resource conservation through small-scale production, crop diversification and the minimisation of external inputs. This organic system was embedded in local co-operative markets in which farmers and consumers actively participated, creating transparency and consumer trust.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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