The short answer is no, organic products are not inherently sustainable. Organic agriculture (especially industrial organic production) still involves massive amounts of oil and water to turn a vegetable seed into your dinner. Don’t get me wrong, buying organic products is still very important and does benefit the Earth versus conventional products; but organic needs to be viewed as a stepping stone toward a sustainable food system…not as the destination.
Modern agriculture (conventional and organic) has traded human and animal labor for oil. A sustainable food system will require a lot more labor, will produce food locally, will be more expensive, and will be healthier for you and the planet.
One way to help reduce the cost and labor involved with a sustainable food system is to start planting food forests now and working with nature through the use of biodynamic agriculture.
Food Forests Across America
Biodynamics
2 comments:
Well said. While organic and local are preferred, sustainable should be the ultimate objective in any new food systems we create.
My blog - Every Kitchen Table - is dedicated to finding innovative sustainable food solutions that provide viable alternatives to today’s unsustainable conventional food system, improve our health, reduce environmental impacts, and create vibrant regional economies.
Hope you and your readers will check it out.
Keep up the great work!
Agreed! At Pony Tail Acres, we use biodiesel in our farm truck, solar for the electric fencing, and try to limit our use of petroleum products as much as possible. If a farm is going to be organic, why not be as eco friendly as possible?
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