ABSTRACT

Humans have been farming for some 600 generations, and for most of that time the production and consumption of food has been intimately connected to ecological, cultural and social systems. Yet over the last two or three generations, we have developed hugely successful agricultural systems based largely on industrial principles. These certainly produce more food per hectare and per worker than ever before, but only look so efficient if the harmful side effects are ignored – the loss of soils, the damage to biodiversity, the pollution of water, the harm to human health. Agricultural sustainability offers some new opportunities by emphasizing the productive values of natural, social and human capital – all assets that can be regenerated at relatively low financial cost. National policies, though, remain as yet largely unhelpful to these principles.