Why aren’t there more sustainable farms in the 21st century? Why don’t some farmers go organic?
After browsing through my timeline on Twitter (@feedingourearth), I came across an article written by Cara Parks of Refinery29.uk - a fashion website - a strange place to come across an article focusing on a possible oncoming end to organic & sustainable farming - and it prompted me to think: is organic farming failing? Why isn’t every farmer taking up more sustainable agricultural practices? Why isn’t sustainable farming fashionable?
Small-scale farmers are always preoccupied with the economic aspects of their business - so the long-term economic benefits of sustainable agriculture might not be so obvious to small-scale farmers who are struggling to balance their production with their debts. In conventional farms, the extensive use of highly specialised & expensive equipment adds to a farmer’s debt, so why would they switch to practices that generally (especially in developing countries) produces lower output yields?
Another interesting aspect as to why some farmers avoid sustainable agriculture according to Reganold [1990] is the controlling of prices by states for particular crops. For example, corn and other feed grains receive three fourths of all crop subsidies and account for 2/3rds of cropland use. As there is a lack of financial backing for other crops, farmers are discouraged from diversifying their crop types, therefore resulting in monoculture to maximise production output in the aim to benefit their struggling debts.
According to Cara Parks, however, the main issue for sustainable and organic farmers is the gap between small-scale farmers and consumers, an ever-appearing theme in sustainable agriculture! One does notice, however, the very cheap prices large supermarkets are using when in competition with one another on produce, which therefore steers consumers towards the lower price - ultimately ignoring the small-scale farm produce leaving the small-scale farmers in limbo. From the article, Michelle Hughes of National Young Farmer’s Coalition continues to paint a negative tone on sustainable farming prospects, proclaiming that it will never reach the levels conventional farming has reached/is currently at. She believes that in order for smaller-scale farms to flourish, there needs to be changes in the marketing and distribution infrastructure - but I have to ask: if small-scale farms don’t reach the levels of conventional farms (in terms of produce and economic outcome), who would alter an infrastructure in favour of a lower achieving business?
In light of all this pessimistic future of sustainable farming, Japanese farming is aiming to close that ever-appearing producer-consumer ‘gap’. Daichi wo Mamoru Kai is an association who ‘want to build a nation where people can live free of hunger in a sustainable mode’, and receive produce from 2,500 organic farms to which they then deliver to the doors of a quarter of a million green consumers in Tokyo.
The NY1 News article argues that it’s partnerships such as Daichi wo Mamoru Kai that allow small-scale farmers to have a steady income - but surely a more legislative change would allow small-scale farmers to reap the benefits of their passionate sustainable work? Reganold [1990] thinks so, but augments that back in 1990 that funding for sustainable agriculture was only .5% of the total USDA research and education budget. However, switching to sustainable methods would require more than just legislative changes - but also changes to education and research regarding young farmers. But surely consumers also have to be educated as well so they would then choose small-scale farm produce over large-scale supermarket produce? These factors have to be considered.
If sustainable farming is successful, not only farmers but societies would benefit, and natural resources would become protected - it requires in my opinion both legislative change regarding farming taxation on fertilisers and other agricultural requirements, and also heavier teachings for both young farmers and consumers in order to encourage sustainable farming.
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