What is the goal of sustainable agriculture? It is to meet society’s food and textile needs in such a way that future generations will not have to compromise to meet their needs. How does sustainable agriculture accomplish this? By incorporating a healthy environment, economic profitability and social and economic equity. Every person has a role to play, this includes growers, distributors, consumers etc. Without this practice, millions of people are affected by food insecurity. The limited availability of nutritionally adequate foods or inability to acquire it in socially acceptable ways, can have adverse effects on physical and mental health. According to statistics Canada, the prevalence of food insecurity in Canada there was a significant increase from 11.3% in 2007-2008 to 12.4% in 2011-2012. The other big challenge that sustainable agriculture is facing, is rapid depletion of natural resources- When the production of food and fiber degrades the natural resource base, future generations are unable to produce and flourish.
However, sustainable agriculture is more than a collection of practices (e.g. crop rotation and diversity, cover crops, no-till farming, integrated pest management, agroforestry, renewable energy use etc.). It is also process of negotiation: a tug of war between the interests of an individual farmer or of people in a community who need to solve the complex problem of how food and fiber should be grown. In order to promote more sustainable agricultural systems among society, we need to create and implement policies that integrate social, environmental, and economic interests.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 