Eating is an agricultural act - Wendell Berry

Monday, May 18, 2015

can organic farming feed the world?

at a recent meeting, bernard (auroville) part replied to the titular question with: "as if current farming practices are doing that."
in addition to being a clever quip, it exposes the illegitimacy at the question's and the questioner's core.

but here is a full fledged response, by the erudite colin tudge.

in it he answers another recurring question we face - "how will you scale your work?"
Farming designed truly to feed people must be rooted in sound biology. The form, the structure of farms must reflect that of nature. Lots of plants, not many animals. Tremendous intricacy and attention to detail. Such variety and attention to detail requires a great deal of labour. Farming that really works needs to be labour intensive. (emphasis mine)