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Organic Agriculture A Brief Overview of the History and Philosophy of Organic Agriculture George Kuepper Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture 2010 Copyright 2010 Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture Editing: Maura McDermott and Wylie Harris Layout and Design: Tracy Clark, Argus DesignWorks For more information, contact: Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture PO Box 588 Poteau, OK 74953 918.647.9123; 918.647.8712 fax [email protected] www.kerrcenter.com Table of Contents Introduction . 2 The Origins of Organic Agriculture . 2 How Humus Farming Becomes Organic Farming . 4 Two Enduring Ideas about Organic Agriculture. 4 Earning Credibility: Groundbreaking Research. 7 The Influence of the ‘60s and ‘70s Counterculture. 9 The Slow March towards Federal Regulation . 10 Enter Federal Regulation. 11 Organic Agriculture and Genetic Engineering . 12 Keys to the Standard . 14 USDA/NOP Organic Meets Humus Farming . 16 USDA/NOP Organic Meets the Counterculture Vision . 17 USDA/NOP Meets… Itself . 18 End Notes . 19 About the Author . 23 A Brief Overview of the History and Philosophy of Organic Agriculture 1 the United States has the fifth largest amount Introduction of acreage in organic production, following For most of its history, organic agriculture Australia, Argentina, China, and Italy.[5] has been given short shrift. If they paid attention To better understand today’s org a n i c at all, conventional agricultural institutions phenomenon, it helps to know the origins of treated it as an antiquated, unscientific way to o r ganic agriculture and its evolution to the present. farm – suitable, perhaps, for gardeners, but not a serious means of commercial food production. Anyone who advocated for organic farming was derided; it was professional suicide for an agron- The Origins of Organic omist or soil scientist to do so. Agriculture[6] While its methods, proponents, and philos- As a concept and ideal, organic agriculture ophy are still derided in some quarters, things began in the early part of the twentieth century, have been turning around for organic agricul- primarily in Europe, but also in the United States. ture. Organic consumption is increasing and The pioneers of the early organic movement were organic acreage is growing. An organic industry motivated by a desire to reverse the pere n n i a l is developing that not only commands respect, p roblems of agriculture – erosion, soil depletion, but now demands a growing share of re s e a rc h decline of crop varieties, low quality food and live- and educational services from USDA, land-grant stock feed, and rural povert y. They embraced a universities, and state agriculture departments. holistic notion that the health of a nation built on By the end of 2008, the organic sector had a g r i c u l t u re is dependent on the long-term vitality grown to a whopping $24.6 billion industry.[1] of its soil. The soil’s health and vitality were While many sectors of the agricultural economy believed to be embodied in its biology and in the are growing slowly and even stagnating, the o r ganic soil fraction called h u m u s . organic sector has been growing at roughly 20% A soil management strategy called humus [2] a year since 1994. Even during the recession farming emerged, which employed traditional [3] year of 2008, growth was a respectable 17%. farming practices that not only conserved but At present the organic sector constitutes about also regenerated the soil. These practices – 3.5% of total U.S. food sales, but should these drawn from mainly from stable European and growth rates continue, it could reach 10% in less Asian models – included managing cro p than a decade. residues, applying animal manures, composting, According to ERS statistics from 2005, U.S. green manuring, planting perennial forages in organic acreage now exceeds four million, with rotation with other crops, and adding lime and c e rtified production in all 50 states.[ 4 ] Worldwide, other natural rock dusts to manage pH and 2 Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture ensure adequate minerals.[7] Since the strategy revolved aro u n d soil building to nourish crops, “feed the soil” became the humus farm i n g mantra. “Feeding the soil” meant feeding the soil food web. The soil food web is the living fraction of the soil, composed of bacteria, fungi, eart h- w o r ms, insects, and a host of other o rganisms that digest organic matter and “meter” nutrition to crop plants (see Figure 1). This contrasts with the FIGURE 1 (then emerging) strategy of using soluble fertilizers, which bypass the soil food web to fertilize plants dire c t l y. m a n u re crops in cropping sequences. These Humus farmers typically avoided, or used crops not only supplied nitrogen to subsequent very few, synthetic fertilizers. Obviously, they crops in rotation, but sustained soil biology and were not consistent with the idea of crop fertil- organic matter levels. Wherever synthetic fertiliz- ization through the soil food web. Humus ers and pesticides were used to cut corners on farmers felt that soluble fertilizers led to imbal- biodiversity and soil building, they were in direct anced plant nutrition and “luxury consumption,” opposition to the principles of humus farming. which reduced food and feed quality. Many also Humus farming, then, was a conscious, well- believed that many synthetic fertilizers actually founded approach to farming and soil manage- harmed the soil biology – either killing organisms ment. It embodied a commitment to sustainability or upsetting the natural balance. They also saw t h rough soil regeneration; it sought to avoid wasteful this danger in the use of pesticides, and chose to exploitation of natural resources. This was i n use few, if any, of those. stark contrast to many of the world’s agricultural Still other humus farmers recognized that systems, which, in so many cases, led to the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides would lead to downfall of nations through mismanagement of shortcuts in crop rotation – eliminating many of re s o u rc e s . [ 8 ] It puts a lie to the commonly held the soil building and pest control benefits that notion that organic agriculture is simply farm i n g good rotations confer. The use of synthetic as it was practiced before the advent of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, especially, would reduce the c h e m i c a l s . inclusion of perennial legume forages and green A Brief Overview of the History and Philosophy of Organic Agriculture 3 than conventional fare is a foundational belief of How Humus Farming Becomes o rganic farming that continues to drive the Organic Farming market today. Surveys continue to show that “healthfulness” is the main reason that The term “humus farming” went out of consumers buy organic food.[9,10,11,12] vogue in the 1940s as the term “organic” became more popular. According to one source, the first Pioneers of the organic movement believed use of “organic” to describe this form of agricul- that healthy food produced healthy people and that t u re was in the book Look to the Land, by Lord healthy people were the basis for a healthy society. N o rt h b o u rne, published in 1940.[ 4 2 , 4 3 ] N o r t h b o u rn e Since most food originates with the soil, they natu- uses the term to characterize farms using humus rally promoted a method of growing that was based farming methods, because he perceived them to on soil health and vibrancy – the organic/humus mimic the flows of nutrients and energy in farming method. They believed that soils thus biological organisms – “…a balanced, yet managed would yield more nutritious food. dynamic, living whole.”[44] Therefore, the word Is the organic community justified in its “organic” was intended and used to describe belief? The answer depends on who gives it. In process and function within a farming system – the recently published article Nutritional Quality not the chemical nature of the fertilizer materials of Organic Foods: A Systematic Review[13], the used, and not adherence to a discredited notion British authors conclude that there is no differ- of plant nutrition.[45] ence in nutrient quality between organic and conventional foods. This has been challenged by scientists from the Organic Center (TOC) – a Two Enduring Ideas about nonprofit organization whose stated mission is Organic Agriculture “to generate credible, peer reviewed scientific i n f o r mation and communicate the verifiable People believe many things about organic benefits of organic farming and products to farming. Some of them are true and some are s o c i e t y. ” [ 1 4 ] The TOC reviews support the British not. Some originated with humus farming and findings on some classes of nutrients, but disagre e persist in contemporary organic thinking. Two of on others. Specifically, TOC cites considerable these are the beliefs that organically grown food research that shows organic foods are higher in is healthier or otherwise “better for you,” and total antioxidants.[ 1 5 ] The British review generally that organic crops are naturally resistant to pests. i g n o r ed this body of re s e a rch. TOC further cites a Both hypotheses are very controversial. f a i l u r e to recognize the higher non-pro t e i n nitrogen levels in conventional foods for the Is organic food healthier? h a z a r d they present through formation of The belief that organic food is healthier nitrosamines in the human digestive tract.[16] 4 Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture Nutritional content is not the only factor the observation that these effects were caused at that interests organic consumers.
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