Friday, September 23, 2011

Sustainable farming...oops, I mean "Sustainable" farming (Post 5)



There are three major elements of sustainable farming 
1.     Environment protection
2.    Social responsibility
3.    Economic viability
Once you know the three elements, you can understand how ecological principles are woven into sustainable farming's framework. For example, to protect the environment, you have to protect the natural resource base on which agriculture depends. You also need to protect water pollution, and energy conservation. Social responsibility, at its basic level, is protecting the farmer’s health and safety. I would go as far as including workers pay.  Within social responsibility, there needs to be care for society as a whole, not just workers on the farm.  By this I mean taking into consideration the pesticides or other chemicals being used that could harm any human.  Economic viability is the third factor that basically means the farm is meeting the needs of the consumer who is willing to buy their crops. Without sales, any type of farming would deplete. It should be noted that there are many more costly aspects to sustainable farming then industrial. More restrictions on crop production methods, traceability, inspections, certification and separate storage and distribution effect the consumer. This is why industrial farming does so well, more people are willing to shop at Wal-Mart to get their produce (EWW!!).*

Buying Organic? Is it worth it? 
Even before taking this course, I was skeptic towards over-priced organic foods. Because I am a poor college student feeding just myself, I don't buy organic fruits or vegetables (a pesticide is a pesticide and organic/non-organic foods both contain them). When I prepare meat (which is infrequent) I will splurge making sure it's free-range/organic or that it comes from a local farm. Who knows if free range/organic is better.  My decision came after watching a documentary on the meat market (most of my theories, ideas, and thoughts for these blogs come from documentaries...good or bad.)

Because my survival is dependent on the supermarket, I feel very disconnected from the food system.  More now then as a child. I know I've mentioned being from Michigan before, but it bares repeating here because my northern roots have really made me who I am.  My mom has always had a garden in our backyard, this is where we got most of our veggies and herbs for meals. If we had to buy anything (including meat) we would go to the local farmer's market to pick up the remaining ingredients. There we had a connection with the farmers. We knew them by name, knew where their farm was and how they grew their crops or handled their animals.  Now being in SWFL, I have felt deprived of the land. The connection I once had and loved had been torn apart until, I heard about the food forest on campus. This space on campus (even just knowing it existed) brought comfort to me. I love that there is a group of people who find the importance of growing your own food. 




Until next time,
Annie

*Resources
Agronomica Research and Consultancy, http://www.agronomica.org/SF.htm

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