History of Organic Farming

What is Organic Farming?

Organic farming is not a mark of alternative culture that appeared in the 60’s with those granola-eating-hippies–you know the ones I’m talking about–only to “sell-out” when it recently came into style as the en vogue food of choice among the wealthy-upper-class-elites who can afford to shop at the high-end grocery stores.

I repeat, this is NOT organic farming.

In fact, organic farming is far from being a recent discovery since it happens to be the most ancient form of farming. In the past, all farms were smaller in scale and completely free of petroleum-based chemicals. Farmers used techniques such as crop rotation and biodiversity, and worked to maintain the soils integrity (i.e. keeping the soil nutrient-rich and free from erosion). It wasn’t really until the 20th century that we really began to see signicant shifts in the way farming was approached. There have always been changes within agriculture, but never before had there been such a pivot in the way food was grown. There was the introduction of mechanical farming tools such as the tractor, popularization of nitrogen fertilizer, and larger fields that focused on growing one or two crops versus a variety of crops. Food was no longer grown. Instead, it was manufactured.

The Organic Movement

Soon after industrialization put its stamp on farming, the Organic Movement slowly began to emerge in England. The movement was unofficially led by British botanist Sir Albert Howard, often refered to as “the father of modern organic agriculture”, who wrote the influential book, An Agricultural Testament. Before long he was joined by others who made great contributions of their own. With the rise of industrialized farming there was a need for a term that distinguished “holistic, ecologically balanced approach to farming” from mainstream agriculture. Lord Northbourne is said to be the first to make this distinction with the use of the term “organic farming” in his book, Look to the Land.

The great divide between organic farming and industrialized agriculture only continued to increase.

“Technological advances during World War II spurred on post-war innovation in all aspects of agriculture, resulting in such advances as large-scale irrigation, fertilization, and the use of pesticides. Ammonium nitrate, used in munitions, became an abundantly cheap source of nitrogen. DDT, originally developed by the military to control disease-carrying insects among troops, was applied to crops, launching the era of widespread pesticide use.”

It’s difficult to talk about the history of organic farming without refering to industrialized farming because that’s what where many of the changes were taking place. The changes that took place within the organic culture was how it was/is perceived by the public.

However, organic farming did begin to be documented more extensively. Scientific studies were being conducted, such as the one by Lady Eve Balfour in 1939, comparing organic farming and industrial farming. (Lady Eve Balfour, the first person to embark on such a scientific study, would later publish her findings from the Haughley Experiment in her book titled, The Living Soil.)

For the next couple of decades organic farming would fall into the background as it lacked influence and support.

Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

In the 1960’s organic farming would reappear in the public sphere as the result of Rachel Carson. She was a marine biologist, zoologist, and naturalist and wrote the extremely influential book and reoccuring New York Times Best Seller, Silent Spring. In Silent Spring she discusses the effects of pesticides and “the theme of environmental connectedness”. The book made such a huge impact that it is said to have launched the worldwide environmental movement as well as having led the government to ban DDT in 1972. Woohoo!

The momentum and attention gained by Carson would continue. In the 70’s the organic movement focused on raising awareness on the importance of buying locally grown food. Followed in the 80’s by a struggle to bring about the government regulation of organically grown food. The 90’s brought about these much needed regulations in the form of legislation and certification standards.

That brings us to the 21st century and the growing popularity of organic products. Organic has become fashionable, leading more and more people to want a piece of the pie. This has already led to those who want more financial benefits to organics popularity to try to weaken the government regulations on certified organic farms.

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