Organic Farming and the Environment:

Ironically, given all the fuss surrounding organic farming at the moment, organic farming methods are nothing new; rather, it is "conventional" agriculture that is the "novelty" in the grand scheme of things. Introduced in the 1920s with the advent of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers, it became dominant during the Second World War, with increasing demands being made of the land to supply the wartime population.

In 1943, Lady Eve Balfour published The Living Soil, arguing for the organic alternative to intensive farming, which has become a landmark in the history of organic farming. In 1946, she, along with other luminaries such as Lawrence Hills (who later founded the Henry Doubleday Research Association, a charity for organic gardeners), established The Soil Association as a group concerned about the side-effects of the new agricultural methods: Fast forward to 1981, then, when the first organic products appeared on UK supermarket shelves, and you can see the beginnings of the "organic revolution" - fuelled by factors like the BSE scare and concerns over GM foods - which we are now witnessing today. Indeed, critics of intensive farming have long argued that it sacrificed long-term environmental well-being for short-term gains - much like nuclear power - and point to BSE and GM foods as evidence of this.

So why is organic farming the answer?

Growing techniques

To begin with, one of the fundamental tenets of organic farming is that no chemicals or artificial pesticides can be used: the principle even extends as far as organic livestock having to go through a "quarantine" period if they have been treated with antibiotics before they can be classed as "organic" again. Such practices have a two-fold benefit: they restore nature's natural balance and biodiversity, and they reduce the release of harmful chemicals into the ecosystem. South West Water have realised this and fund the conversion of local farms as this is more efficient than ridding the water supply of such chemicals.

Organic farming works with nature rather than seeking to control and dictate to it. Roses, for instance, are sometimes cultivated alongside crops as they attract aphids' natural predators; land is regularly left fallow and crops are rotated. Nature repays the farmer in kind, with richer soil and more nutritious food, but this can often take time to reach fruition, which is one of the reasons organic food can cost more: there are often years of intensive farming to ?undo? before natural fertility is fully restored.

Organic principles

There are various components of organic farming that help to combat this initial inefficiency. One of its central tenets is to use everything, which is expressed in two ways. Firstly, unlike conventional agriculture, growers are not at pains to produce uniform-looking crops; they let nature run its course, with the result that everything is sold instead of being filtered according to unjustified aesthetic preconceptions. It is feared, though, that as organic food enters the mass market through supermarkets, it will have to bow to unrealistic consumer expectations of what food should like.

Secondly, the co-operative concept - farms working together across sectors and geographies - ensures that resources are used more efficiently. An organic cattle farmer, for instance, might supply manure to a cereal grower in his co-operative to use as fertiliser; in turn, he might receive surplus cereal to use as animal feed.

Even within the boundaries of an individual farm, great efficiency is possible. To refer back to the rose example, for instance, the hips might be used in organic tea or the petals in pot pourri. One of the responsibilities facing the organic industry is to move beyond niche areas and work together to maximise efficiency, minimise wastage and reduce the financial burden on the consumer. It is possible that supermarkets can play an important role here, but they need to strike the correct balance between serving the consumers and treating their suppliers fairly. As yet, it remains to be seen whether this will happen.

Problems?

Critics argue that in seeking to jump aboard the organic bandwagon, supermarkets such as Iceland, with its promise of a 100% organic range, are ignoring some fundamental environmental issues. Owing to consumer demand for a continuous range, supermarkets will be forced to source from outside the UK. As we have seen already, co-operatives exist to meet this demand, but there are those that are concerned about the "food miles" involved between point of origin and point of sale - by the time the produce has been shipped all that distance, usually by diesel-guzzling lorries, might any environmental gains be cancelled out?

Moreover, if supermarkets are forced to rely on non-UK sources for their supplies, it is a very real possibility that all these environmental benefits will pass the UK by as it will be difficult for UK farmers to break into the supply chain. Supermarkets are currently promising to invest heavily in UK organic farming, but nobody knows whether this will be sustainable if demand continues to expand at its current rate of 40% per annum. Even if they do, there are still the worries outlined earlier to take into account about a mass-market dictated industry.

The future

Realistically, it is a task for the government to ensure that the organic industry enters the mass market in a controlled, fair and environmentally sound way. Current funding is woefully inadequate, which makes conversion difficult, and centralised regulation is sorely lacking. One fear is that farmers are converting to organic production for the "wrong" reasons, chasing lucrative profit margins, but lacking the environmental consciousness that inspired the industry's pioneers. Already, many farmers are turning to traceability systems to demonstrate their integrity as fraud increases.

The potential for environmental gain is clear, and there are lots of new avenues of possibility opening-up. Already, you can buy organic wine, organic beer and even organic cotton - the latter is so new, it doesn't even have any certification standards yet. The pricing of organic produce also treats farm-workers more fairly: this helps to maintain standards, which, in the long-term, benefits everyone.

As The Countryside Agency say in their pamphlet, Tomorrow's countryside - 2020 vision:

"The growing demand for organic produce... should translate into positive benefits for landscapes and biodiversity" (our emphasis)

Whether it will realise its full potential remains to be seen, though.
Related Links:

The Soil Association's account of its development - more on how the Soil Association was formed, what motivated the pioneers and general history of the organic movement.

The Henry Doubleday Research Association - an invaluable resource for organic gardeners and very useful and valuable in general.

The Countryside Agency site

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