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What is Sustainable Agriculture?   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19) In sustainable agricultural systems, there is reduced reliance on non-renewable energy sources and a substitution of renewable sources or labor to the extent that is economically feasible. Conversion of agricultural land to urban uses is a particular concern in California, as rapid growth and escalating land values threaten farming on prime soils. Sustainable agriculture presents an opportunity to rethink the importance of family farms and rural communities. www.sarep.ucdavis.edu /concept.htm   (3808 words)

Sustainable Agriculture Analysis @ NaturalResearch.org (Natural Research)   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19) Sustainable agriculture depends on replenishing the soil without using non-renewable resources, such as oil and natural gas, or deforestation. Conventional agriculture is often considered unsustainable for two reasons: 1) reliance on non-renewable resources, and 2) concern that some practices may cause long-term damage to soil, such as erosion from excessive tillage. Agriculture that relies mainly on inputs that are extracted from the Earth's crust or produced by society, contributes to the depletion and degradation of the environment. www.naturalresearch.org /encyclopedia/Sustainable_agriculture   (1357 words)

Sustainable Table: Introduction to Sustainability Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities. In addition, sustainable agriculture seeks to minimize transportation costs and fossil fuel use, and is as locally-based as possible. The confusion with sustainable agriculture is that the definition is more a philosophy or way of life than a strict set of rules, and farmers can interpret the meaning differently. www.sustainabletable.org /intro/whatis   (482 words)

Sustainable Agriculture To be sustainable, agriculture has to move beyond these limited economic ideologies and seek creative solutions to the questions of fair pricing, cost internalization, food security, the right to an adequate livelihood, and the multifunctional role of agriculture. Sustainable agriculture advocates therefore have to ensure that social justice and equity prevail all the way to the farm household level. To be sustainable, agriculture has to be culturally sensitive and empowering and should nurture the cultural renaissance of the countryside. www.cadi.ph /sustainable_agriculture.htm   (1066 words)

On Defining Sustainable Agriculture by John Ikerd Among those working in sustainable agriculture, there seems to be a growing consensus that we need to spend less time trying to define sustainable agriculture and more time working to achieve it. I believe most of those who support the sustainable agriculture issue are working to sustain what?:"agriculture," for the benefit of whom?: "humanity," for how long?: "forever." Agriculture, by its very nature, is an effort to shift the ecological balance so as to favor humans relative to other species in production of food and physical protection. A socially responsible agriculture; one that equitable meets basic human food and fiber needs, provides economic opportunity, supports self-determination, and ensures social equity for both current and future generations; is no less critical to long run sustainability than is an ecologically sound and economically viable agriculture. www.sustainable-ag.ncsu.edu /onsustaibableag.htm   (2548 words)

Smart Communities Network: Rural Issues Agriculture Sustaining agriculture and other renewable resource industries will be critical to sustaining many rural communities. An agricultural system, for example, would be sustainable if the outputs, the nutrients contained in the crop and soil that are lost to erosion, were balanced by inputs, in the form of fertilizer and new soil created by weathering of the underlying bedrock. International Institute for Sustainable Development agree with the preceding description of sustainable agriculture and further assert that these goals can be arrived at in a variety of ways, that sustainability isn't " the exclusive domain of organic farming" nor is it tied to any one technological practice. www.smartcommunities.ncat.org /rural/agriculture.shtml   (922 words)

Topics in Sustainable Agriculture In order for agriculture to become sustainable on a world scale, it is necessary for researchers, as well as civil society as a whole, to have a deeper understanding of the issues and economics behind sustainable agriculture. Agriculture faces a new challenge in the coming century, to feed more people on less land, without degrading the natural resource base.The very definition of sustainable agriculture points to a major problem with conventional agriculture, in that it is inherently unsustainable in the long run. Sustainable agriculture can be practiced on very small plots of land and sometimes these small plots do even better than larger farms (due to diseconomies of scale). www.ocf.berkeley.edu /~tselby   (3923 words)

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE Sustainable agriculture is an effort to curb erosion by modifying plowing techniques and to protect water supplies by minimizing, if not eliminating, artificial fertilizers and pest controls. It is the theory of the SCS that sustainable agricultural practices replace energy and chemicals with diversity and informa-tion. She indicates that farmers making the switch to low-input agriculture will not witness benefits for three to five years as they are still recouping their initial investments into new equipment needed to employ the sustainable methods. www.woodrow.org /teachers/bi/1992/sustainable_agriculture.html   (1167 words)

Sustainable Agriculture: Information Access Tools As it pertains to agriculture, sustainable describes farming systems that are “capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely. Sustainable agriculture was addressed by Congress in the 1990 Farm Bill [Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (FACTA), Public Law 101-624, Title XVI, Subtitle A, Section 1603 (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1990) NAL Call # KF1692.A31 1990]. AFSIC's publication, Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms, http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/srb9902.htm strives to illustrate the commonality and some of the controversy that defining such a goal entails, and it includes brief descriptions of the methodologies and practices currently associated with sustainable agriculture. www.nal.usda.gov /afsic/pubs/agnic/susag.shtml   (994 words)

Agriculture and Rural Development - Agriculture and environment Agri-environment schemes were introduced into EU agricultural policy during the late 1980s as an instrument to support specific farming practices that help to protect the environment and maintain the countryside. The agricultural biodiversity includes all components of biological diversity of relevance for food and agriculture, and all components of biological diversity that constitutes the agro-ecosystem: the variety of animals, plants and micro-organisms, at the level of genetic, species and ecosystem which are necessary to sustain the key functions of the agro-ecosystem, its structure and processes. In order to devise the correct initiatives to improve agricultural environment and to measure their success, it is essential to develop the means to assess them ('indicators'), especially at regional/local level. ec.europa.eu /agriculture/envir/index_en.htm   (6393 words)

Sustainable Food Choices, Sustainable Agriculture (Index) Sustainable agriculture is holistic: it treats the farm as an integrated whole composed of soil, plants, animals, and insects whose interaction can be adjusted and enriched to solve problems and maximize yields. Sustainable agriculture is also scientific: it relies on knowledge about the elements of the system and their interaction to achieve its results. These policies will need to include subsidy programs to help farmers through a transition to sustainable agriculture and the occasional crop failure, research to understand the interactions among all elements of farming and to produce appropriate new technologies, and extension services to update farmers about new developments in science and technology. www.ucsusa.org /food_and_environment/sustainable_food   (248 words)

List of sustainable agriculture topics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sustainability - Sustainable development - sustainable consumption - sustainable use - productivism Soil erosion - overgrazing - deforestation - Soils retrogression and degradation - Desertification Food and agricultural policy - Biosafety - chronic toxicity - Slow Food - Ark of taste - food quality en.wikipedia.org /wiki/List_of_sustainable_agriculture_topics   (845 words)

Rainforest Alliance: Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable agriculture is at the center of the Rainforest Alliance’s efforts to conserve ecosystems by protecting healthy soils, rivers and wildlife and by promoting dignified living conditions for farm workers and neighboring rural communities. Agriculture occupies approximately one third of the Earth’s total landscape and uses more land and freshwater than any other human activity in the world. Sustainable farms have minimal environmental footprints, are good neighbors to human and wild communities and are integral pieces of regional conservation initiatives. www.rainforest-alliance.org /programs/agriculture/index.html   (256 words)

Sustainable Agriculture 2007 - Home As global food demand is likely to rise significantly over the coming decades, sustainability has become a matter of necessity, whilst at the same time also offering a range of opportunities to act. Sustainable agriculture is about ensuring a balance between the economic, environmental and social aspects of farming. The CIAA and SAI Platform Conference on Sustainable Agriculture will gather leading industry players, high-level EU officials, various NGOs and academia to discuss and debate challenging issues the food and drink industry is facing today and in the future. www.sustainableagriculture2007.eu   (303 words)

CARI Sustainable Agriculture A sustainable agriculture is economically profitable, environmentally sound, and socially viable for the long term. A major component is community-based clusters consisting of producers and academicians that identify and apply innovative strategies to enhance the success of small and mid-size farms. Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture - a series of volumes useful for traditional classroom instruction, extension meetings with producers, and in-service training of extension agents. www.ianr.unl.edu /ianr/csas   (400 words)

Sustainable Agriculture Educational Page   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19) So if enough food is being currently produced in the world, what is all this concern about "sustainable agriculture?" The major concern is that while we may be able to feed the world today, future generations may not have adequate food production to satisfy their dietary needs. Poor land use planning and unsustainable agricultural practices has lead to desertification and declining soil fertility in that region. Agricultural systems have to not only produce crops, but they must also produce food that is safe to eat, minimalize ecological impacts, compete with other land uses, produce affordable foods, work within changing political & economic climates, and create products consumers are willing to buy. www.msu.edu /user/dunnjef1/rd491/project.htm   (437 words)

Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms Sustainable agriculture is "a way of practicing agriculture which seeks to optimize skills and technology to achieve long-term stability of the agricultural enterprise, environmental protection, and consumer safety. Agriculture is sustainable when it is ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just, culturally appropriate and based on a holistic scientific approach. Sustainability has become an integral component of many government, commercial, and non-profit agriculture research efforts, and it is beginning to be woven into agricultural policy. www.nal.usda.gov /afsic/AFSIC_pubs/srb9902.htm   (13923 words)

[No title] Be sure to find local sustainable agricultural groups in your area as many of them hold extremely informative annual meetings where you can meet local farmers. The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture is a diverse nationwide partnership of individuals and organizations cultivating grass roots efforts to engage in policy development processes that result in food and agricultural systems and rural communities that are healthy, environmentally sound, profitable, humane and just. www.mercola.com /article/agriculture.htm   (1865 words)

Other Resources: ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service SAN is the communications and outreach arm of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. SARE is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded initiative that sponsors competitive grants for sustainable agriculture research and education in a regional process nationwide. SAN is dedicated to the exchange of scientific and practical information on sustainable agriculture systems using a variety of printed and electronic communications tools. attra.ncat.org /other.html   (635 words)

About Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Since 1988, the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. This 14-minute video provides colorful vignettes of how sustainable agriculture is being researched and tested on real farms and ranches across the United States. Awarded every two years, the SARE-sponsored Patrick Madden Award for Sustainable Agriculture recognizes a producer who raises food or fiber in ways that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for people and communities. www.sare.org /about   (371 words)

Sustainable Agriculture Extension Program Iowa State University The individual or company with the best-executed foodservice sustainability project of the year will be awarded a $5,000 grant to invest in additional sustainability efforts. In the words of one Iowa farmer, sustainable agriculture is a journey rather than a destination. Sustainable agriculture is about honestly identifying and trying to solve the problems in our current agricultural system. extension.agron.iastate.edu /sustag   (896 words)

USAID - Sustainable Agriculture It is estimated that in the next 20 years, farmers in developing countries will have to nearly double their productivity to provide sufficient food for a healthy and active population. USAID is supporting approaches to agriculture that are ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible. By integrating the use of sustainable resource management practices into agricultural programs, farmers and rural communities are able to increase their agricultural productivity and competitiveness. www.usaid.gov /our_work/agriculture/sustainable_ag.htm   (484 words)

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