Perspectives On History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Organic Farming.

Tradition and philosophy within the organic community once guided and self-governed organic farming before there was a USDA-NOP.  At its best, organic farming is more than mechanically following a superficial set of rules for certification.  Organic is rooted in a traditional husbandry and philosophy articulated in the pioneering works of Albert Howard, Walter Northbourne, Eve Balfour, Weston Price, and Jerome Rodale.  These and other pioneers laid a foundation for a system of farming and influenced a social movement.  Key cultural practices and concepts in organic farming include: Law of Return, composting, building soil organic matter, complex crop rotations, integration of crops with livestock, food quality linked to soil fertility, protecting foods from unnecessary processing, production of quality on par with quantity, rejection of inappropriate technologies, with processes observed in natural ecosystems to serve as models. The influence of these traditions on organic standards may seem rigid in the face of modern science, but at the same time they lend character, personality, and definition to a system of farming that produces traditional foods for people that care deeply about how their food is produced.  As the modern organic movement grows into a significant commercial enterprise, there is a struggle for organic integrity in several areas; especially plant and animal integration, pastured livestock, and freedom to buy unadulterated farm fresh foods.  If the abandonment of the organic perspective of nature and the adoption of a patriarchal attitude towards life - a machine to be manipulated and exploited for unrestrained industrial expansion may be characterized as The Death of Nature (Carolyn Merchant); then perhaps the organic movement which arguably holds a more matriarchal perspective – one that nurtures life by emulating natural ecology in the husbandry of soils, plants, animals, food, and people – may be characterized as an attempted Rebirth of Nature.