Sustainable Agriculture - Key to Food Security

No one can argue that agriculture plays a large part in the lives of everyone who eats.  And no one can argue that agriculture has many challenges in the future, including threatened resources of land and water.  Many  I do not agree that the traditional brand of conventional agriculture is the best path toward the future. I, as others, believe that the farming practices that promote the use of chemicals to supply nutrients and pest control are not sustainable or economically sound.  We also believe that the current agricultural use of genetically modified organisms is not socially acceptable or environmentally sound. Conventional agriculture has given us much over the years but at what cost –our food security? We would like to see our nation, follow a path of sustainable agriculture to maintain our food security.

“Sustainable Agriculture is a philosophy based on human goals and on understanding the long-term impact of our activities on the environment and on other species. Use of this philosophy guides our application of prior experience and the latest scientific advances to create integrated, resource-conserving, equitable farming systems. These systems reduce environmental degradation, maintain agricultural productivity, promote economic viability in both the short and long term and maintain stable rural communities and quality of life,” as defined by Sustainable Agriculture in Temperate Zones (C.A. Francis, C.B. Flora, and L.D. King. 1990). Three criteria that appear most frequently in a definition of sustainable agriculture are: Environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially acceptable.  Sustainable agriculture encompasses every agricultural practice striving to meet these criteria, not just alternative farming practices i.e. organic farming, permaculture, et al.  Sustainable agriculture is really a long-term goal, not a specific set of farming practices.  Use of chemicals in conventional farming may well continue to be a part of agriculture; however, farmers should and will seek alternatives due to environmental, economical, or regulatory (social) reasons.

The use of genetically modified organisms is a dangerous practice antithetical to sustainable farming.  We should not welcome any advances of any corporation involved in the creation, promotion, and sale of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They are inseparable from large-scale intensive farming, as well as dependent on the heavy use of expensive chemicals, which are known to be toxic. The use of GMOs affects food security by degrading soils, polluting water and fueling climate change.

Our food security will not occur if we continue farming the same way we have been.  Corporations making chemicals or creating GMOs will not grant our food security.  The only way we will have food security in the future is by implementing the long-term goal of sustainable agricultural practices; and we hold the future in your hands.