[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Senseless use of word: sustainable, by David Leonard



brateaver@aol.com (BRateaver) wrote:

>The use of the word: SUSTAINABLE, is senseless if to be added to the term:
>organic.  
>Organic method is a well understood term. Everybody knows what it means.
>It requires optimum conditions for soil organisms essential for fertility.
> If the soil is adequate, every good result is guaranteed, so that the
>whole operation is successful, and it is inevitable that the success is
>sustained.

To me, the term sustainable has dimensions beyond mere production.  A
sustainable agriculture must fit within a framework defined by local
ecological and socio-economic indicators.  Agriculture will not be
sustainable if it ignores ecology, and it will also collapse if
farmers cannot get an adequate return for their crops, cannot find
markets, are overwhelmed by high interest rates, or are de-valued by
society in general, and hence victimised by government policies which
favour urbanites over rural folk.
	The term organic can indeed describe sustainable production practices,
but there is a world of influences beyond ecology for which it doesn't
account.
	Just my two cents, j


--
say no to cars.




References: