ABSTRACT
In the early 20th century a number of examples of alternatives to the evermore prevalent industrial, ‘agribusiness’ approaches to food production began to emerge. Early pioneers of these alternative agricultures included Rudolf Steiner, Erhenfried Pfeiffer, Lord Northbourne, Luke Howard, and Lady Eve Balfour. Biodynamic and organic agriculture grew out of these pioneering impulses, and in the latter half of the 20th century Bill Mollison and David Holmgren initiated what is now a global Permaculture movement and approach to land stewardship. The distinguishing features that give these ‘alternatives’ their individual stamp and character are described. This chapter concludes with the proposal that without a considered understanding of the ways of knowing that inform any approach to agriculture (conventional or otherwise), assessments on the efficacy or appropriateness of these approaches will fail to grasp the essential epistemological and ontological foundations upon which they are developed. Just as the alternatives to industrial agriculture addressed in this chapter propose different ways of growing, the potency of their contributions – culturally – may well lie in their proposal for different ways of knowing.
