Comments on: Is Sustainable Farming Going Mainstream?

By: The Organic 1%: Sustainable Farming in a Broken System

The Organic 1%: Sustainable Farming in a Broken System — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:29:09 +0000

[...] trend in sustainable food reignites a question posed on Triple Pundit two years ago: ”Is Sustainable Farming Going Mainstream?“ Unfortunately not at all as the sustainable food hype trumps the [...]

By: SIPtheGoodLife

SIPtheGoodLife — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:17:49 +0000

What a great article! I’m glad you discussed the need for sustainable practices to become integrated into our lives. I want to mention another cool sign that is just now hitting the market to signal consumers about the growing practices behind a certain bottle of wine. This sign that I am talking about is the SIP™ (Sustainability in Practice) Seal. In order to display this seal on their bottles a wine must have be made up of at least 85% certified fruit. The rigorous certification process requires sustainable growing practices from all angles; growers are required to prove to a third party auditor and then a committee that in their practices they have considered their duties to environmental stewardship, economic viability and social equity. These farmers pay a little bit more attention to water quality, energy conservation, biodiversity, and more. Grab a friend and grab a glass to raise a toast to this wonderful effort to bring sustainability to our wine aisles.

For more information about these new SIP™ Certified wines check out http://www.sipthegoodlife.org.

By: Gina-Marie Cheeseman

Gina-Marie Cheeseman — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:13:42 +0000

Melissa, I second everything you wrote! As a resident of a farming community located in the nation’s largest agricultural area (the San Joaquin Valley), I know too many farmers who lease out their farms because they just can’t make a living from it. Fruits and vegetables don’t receive the same price supports as grains.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:56:41 +0000

Sustainable farming is becoming a buzzwords just like sustainable business, but it has no definition or verification. There is a Sustainable Ag Standard being developed thorugh ANSI, and EcoTrust has a “Certified Sustainable” label.

Organic is not necessarily sustainable if farms/processors go no farther than the USDA organic guidelines, which don’t address issues like topsoil loss, over tilling, monoculture, factory farms, methane emissions from dairy, energy/water use, solid waste, etc and certainly don’t take social and economic factors like labor/wages into account.

Yet, organics should be the foundation of sustainability, with sustainability representing an “organic plus” model incorporating broader environmental criteria, as well as social and economic.

There is a big difference between IPM/chemical reduction and organic, with the former being pollutive and unsustainable (using petroleum-based fertilizers). Ecotrust’s “Certified Sustainable” doesn’t require organic, nor does Rainforest Alliance’s certification, indicating a big loophole for unsustainable practices.

Fair labor and wages must also be taken into account. If farmers and workers can’t earn at least a living wage from farming and work in safe, respectful conditions, we will lose our farmers and that makes all talk of farming methods moot.