Research, values, and ethics in organic agriculture - examples from sustainability, precaution, nature quality, and animal welfare

Summary

Agricultural systems are characterised by involving both natural and social systems. Organic farming, in particular, has developed as part of a wider organic movement incorporating producers, manufacturers and consumers. The organic movement is based on explicit rules as well as broader formulated principles and goals for farming and manufacturing, which are connected to underlying values and perceptions of the relationship between human and nature. This paper is concerned with the challenges to research entailed by the ethical issues in organic farming and the interplay of values and facts in agricultural research.