He describes the pressure to industrialize the organic movement and
why such an industrialized form of organic agriculture will be little
better than current "conventional" industrial agriculture.
Bill Deusing has done much the same in a recent posting to SANET
(from his Living on the Earth series).
At any rate, I thought it was important that others on SANET
understand that some of the pillars of the organic farming community
are concerned about and critical of the direction that organic
farming MAY be taking.
Kirschenmann: "...if we allow this industry to be driven primarily
by market pressures, or grower needs, or consumer demands, we could
find ourselves so intent on creating markets, avoiding synthetics,
and finding alternative 'safe' fixes, that we lose sight, altogether,
of the first principles of building healthy soil and healthy
ecological neighborhoods."
Kirschenmann manages, in a much more positive fashion than I was able
to in my SANET postings of 2 weeks ago, to show why just being
"certified organic" may not be ecological or good for farming. He
harkens to the positive heart and soul of organic agri (Sir Albert
Howard, et al.) in being critical of the current trend to
industrialize organic production.
Anyway, a great essay, which should be required reading for anyone
involved in organic certification (especially the federal program!).