Bringing the principles of Organic Agriculture fully into practice can make organic the mainstream approach to sustainability

Summary

The reality of the present world falls far short of the vision of a sustainable world: over-reliance on cheap, non-renewable energy, declining biodiversity, loss of fertile soils, rampant pollution, threatened water supplies, poverty and inequity. The Principles of Organic Agriculture encompass a broad vision of a better world, of social and environmental harmony. Only by considering all dimensions of sustainability – societal, ecological, economic, and cultural – can we attain such a vision with a process of continuous improvements. By aspiring to best practices we take a path to an agriculture that can be sustained over the long term. The Organic World must improve its own performance, both in terms of productivity and of relevance to a full spectrum of sustainability issues. We need to demonstrate that organic practices really work and are attractive enough to be adopted by the mainstream. We need to help the producers who identify themselves as "organic" embody best practices more and more. Furthermore, we need to highlight and find solutions for the most pressing issues beyond farming itself that affect the viability of organic producers, such as energy scarcity, debt, misguided policies, and unbalanced consumer habits.