Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture's Roots

It is generally understood that agriculture was born around 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, when hunter-gatherers began to domesticate wild plant and animal species for food, predominately along the Fertile Crescent, an event called the Neolithic Revolution. By domesticating plants and animals, these “first farmers” produced food surpluses that supported permanent settlements, which led to rapid population growth, specialized labor, and the development of modern civilization. Agriculture has radically transformed humanity's trajectory as a species and its relationship with and impact on the natural world, creating many opportunities and challenges, especially over the past century.

Social, Ecological, and Genetic Erosion

The shift toward industrial agriculture has had adverse consequences for farmers, rural communities, and the environment. Many suggest that farmers have become beholden to a “technology treadmill” with the rise of mechanical, biological, and chemical innovations, as increases in production depress prices and require that farmers adopt ever newer technology to stay competitive. Larger farms have generally been able to adopt new technology more easily, which has created fierce competition within rural communities, and many smaller family farms have not been able to stay viable. High input costs remain the number one obstacle to farm profitability. In North America, farmers are facing the worst farm income crisis in history, with the countryside being increasingly depopulated, while agribusiness has garnered record profits. In the global South, reports of farmer suicides are becoming pervasive, as mounting debts tear apart the social fabric of many communities. The environmental costs of industrial agriculture are also placing enormous pressure on human and ecological systems.

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