Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Ecological farms: the only real way to feed an increasingly hungry world 6
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-20-ecological-farms-feed-world
20 Nov 2009

There are those who would like us to believe that industrialized farming is 
the only way to feed the earth’s growing population. Disinformation comes 
daily from powerful industrial agricultural companies whose profits depend 
entirely on the sale of chemicals, genetically modified (GM) seeds, and food 
processing. Furthermore, they maintain that massive-scale farming methods are 
key to adapting to climate change.

This is just not so.

Contrary to what the propaganda tells us, yields from industrial crops do not 
consistently produce more food.  It’s an industry-generated myth that 
ecologically-safe organic agriculture yields less than conventional 
agriculture. In fact, a comprehensive study comparing 293 crops from 
industrial and organic growers demonstrates that organic farm yields are 
roughly comparable to industrial farms in developed countries; and result in 
much higher yields in the developing world.

Numerous studies unequivocally state that our survival depends on resilient 
and biodiverse farm systems that are free of fossil fuel and chemical 
dependencies.  The 2008 World Bank and United Nations International 
Assessment on Knowledge, Science and Technology concluded that a fundamental 
overhaul of the current food and farming system is needed to get us out of 
both the food and fuel crises. The report’s findings indicated that 
small-scale farmers and agro-ecological methods are the way forward.

This assessment dovetails with a 2002 United Nations Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) report, which found that organic farming enables 
ecosystems to better adjust to the effects of climate change and has major 
potential for reducing agricultural GHG emissions. The FAO report also found 
that organic agriculture performs better than conventional agriculture in 
terms of both direct energy consumption (fuel and oil) and indirect 
consumption (synthetic fertilizers and pesticides).

Large-scale agriculture-dependent upon commercial seeds (including GM seeds), 
chemical sprays, and petroleum-based fertilizers-can only reliably feed one 
thing: company profits. These profits come at the expense of our climate as 
well as farmers who become wholly dependent upon these companies for their 
livelihood.

And it’s farmers who are realizing through hard experience that this system 
doesn’t work.  Monsanto, a major proponent of GM seeds, agro-chemicals and 
industrialized methods, this week reports a massive $283 billion loss in the 
third quarter-quite a hit.

Monsanto and others in the industry are scrambling for a foothold in 
developing nations to save a failed agricultural and business model in the 
U.S.  They’re trying to convince foundations, aid agencies, and foreign 
governments that they hold the only key to staving off starvation.  And, the 
way to do this is by smearing organic farming - which is the only truly 
dependable way to feed the world - and by ignoring climate change.

They’re putting their shareholders’ bottom line before a sick and hungry 
planet.  It’s time we held them to the truth.
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Debbie Barker served as the co-director of the International Forum on 
Globalization (IFG), a think tank that analyzes and critiques forms of 
economic globalization, from 1996 to 2008. She is the author of The 
Predictable Rise and Fall of Global Industrial Agriculture, co-author of The 
Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security (2008), and 
served on the international committee of authors for the International 
Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).