This post was adapted from an address given at the recent Eco-Farm conference in California.
When a friend told me of two of the proposed discussion topics for a major agricultural conference -- "What is so radical about radical agriculture?" and "Is small the only beautiful?" -- I told him that I thought both questions had the same answer. Let me see if I can explain.
The radical idea behind by organic agriculture is a change in focus. The new focus is on the quality of the crops grown and their suitability for human nutrition. That is a change from the more common focus on growing as much quantity as possible and using whatever chemical techniques contribute to increasing that quantity.
None of the non-chemical techniques associated with organic farming are radical or new. Compost, crop rotations, green manures and so forth are age-old agricultural practices. What is radical is the belief that these time-proven "natural" techniques produce food that is more nourishing for people and livestock than food grown with chemicals. What is radical is successfully pursuing that "unscientific" belief against the counter-propaganda and huge commercial power of the agrochemical industry.
Why Small Organic Farming Is Indeed Radical (and Beautiful)
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Why Small Organic Farming Is Indeed Radical (and Beautiful)
The radical idea behind by organic agriculture is a change in focus.
By Eliot Coleman
AlterNet, February 3, 2010
Straight to the Source