I am struggling to get my head round the arguments in this essay.
http://www.soilassociation.org/innovati ... ngtheworld
Can organic farming feed the world?
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alan refail
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Last edited by alan refail on Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cred air o bob deg a glywi, a thi a gei rywfaint bach o wir (hen ddihareb Gymraeg)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
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Tony Hague
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The link doesn't seem to work. But ...
Can organic farming feed the world ? Probably not. Can any other known form of farming feed the current (never mind projected) world population sustainably - No.
Actually, I imagine quite a lot of people are fed on the product of organic farming. They probably don't call it organic though - they just don't have anything to apply that would make it not organic.
Can organic farming feed the world ? Probably not. Can any other known form of farming feed the current (never mind projected) world population sustainably - No.
Actually, I imagine quite a lot of people are fed on the product of organic farming. They probably don't call it organic though - they just don't have anything to apply that would make it not organic.
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alan refail
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Sorry about that Tony. The link was to new item, posted on Tuesday on the SA Facebook page, and worked this morning. I can't get it to work now either.
Link moved and now works
http://www.soilassociation.org/innovati ... ngtheworld
Link moved and now works
http://www.soilassociation.org/innovati ... ngtheworld
Cred air o bob deg a glywi, a thi a gei rywfaint bach o wir (hen ddihareb Gymraeg)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
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Geoff
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That article is nothing to do with farming methods just the usual idea that all will be well if all go more vegetarian, change the political system to give fair/efficient distribution and waste less. Simple stuff to say if you don't have to commit to a way of achieving it.
Hi Alan,
I would think that hell would freeze over before Organics according to the Soil Association rules and swinging fees could even contemplate feeding the world.
As Geoff quite rightly says that this latest outburst is nothing new it is more of the same that they have been saying for years and most of their ideas are base on the word "IF."
Apart from the fact that I cannot read the blurb because the type is too small and somehow I am unable to increase size of type.
Later on today, when I have time, I will copy it onto Microsoft Word and increase the type that way and then read it.
If you go to the bottom it says listen to Peter Melchett on "Food in a world without oil" and there are three spokes persons and the second seem to make sense to my way of thinking.
JB.
I would think that hell would freeze over before Organics according to the Soil Association rules and swinging fees could even contemplate feeding the world.
As Geoff quite rightly says that this latest outburst is nothing new it is more of the same that they have been saying for years and most of their ideas are base on the word "IF."
Apart from the fact that I cannot read the blurb because the type is too small and somehow I am unable to increase size of type.
Later on today, when I have time, I will copy it onto Microsoft Word and increase the type that way and then read it.
If you go to the bottom it says listen to Peter Melchett on "Food in a world without oil" and there are three spokes persons and the second seem to make sense to my way of thinking.
JB.
Last edited by Johnboy on Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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vegpatchmum
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With the rate of infilling going on to accomodate the ever growing population in our country and taking into account the wrold population as it currently stands, I can't imagin it would be too long (relatively speaking) before ANY sort of farming fails to feed the world!
VPM
x
VPM
x
Due to intense lobbying by the “Green Mafia” of the European Parliament a law is to come into force shortly that all EU countries must produce 20% of their crops organically.
With UK commercial organics in decline for the third consecutive year in both output and organic acreage and at present stands at fractionally under 4% of total production the UK government is likely to have to pay massive fines for non compliance when this new law comes into effect.
The question that must be asked is that why is it that all government grant schemes have ended as almost total failures?
Grant Schemes for growers to cover the intervention period, when the grower is neither conventional or organic, have ended when those who applied for grant money simply have waited until the grant payback period has ended and they have chosen to go back to conventional growing. This has been a massive waste of taxpayers money and organics is many years behind where it should be. I wonder why!
There is a great difference in the accreditation rules in UK compared to the rest of Europe and when you consider that the majority of organic food consumed is produced beyond the remit if UK accreditation schemes and this appears to be a very great part of the problem. Too much of the money derived from organic produce appears to go on the swingeing accreditation schemes fees and not into the growers pockets where it is intended to go and really this is the crux of the matter because growers simply cannot make a living in organics.
Once growers have fully committed to growing organic they are trapped into a system that is governed by a set of rules that can change at the whims of a very few people which is not the case in the rest of Europe and this is why organics in the rest of Europe is streets ahead of the UK.
What holds-up UK organics in entrenched DOGMA!
JB.
With UK commercial organics in decline for the third consecutive year in both output and organic acreage and at present stands at fractionally under 4% of total production the UK government is likely to have to pay massive fines for non compliance when this new law comes into effect.
The question that must be asked is that why is it that all government grant schemes have ended as almost total failures?
Grant Schemes for growers to cover the intervention period, when the grower is neither conventional or organic, have ended when those who applied for grant money simply have waited until the grant payback period has ended and they have chosen to go back to conventional growing. This has been a massive waste of taxpayers money and organics is many years behind where it should be. I wonder why!
There is a great difference in the accreditation rules in UK compared to the rest of Europe and when you consider that the majority of organic food consumed is produced beyond the remit if UK accreditation schemes and this appears to be a very great part of the problem. Too much of the money derived from organic produce appears to go on the swingeing accreditation schemes fees and not into the growers pockets where it is intended to go and really this is the crux of the matter because growers simply cannot make a living in organics.
Once growers have fully committed to growing organic they are trapped into a system that is governed by a set of rules that can change at the whims of a very few people which is not the case in the rest of Europe and this is why organics in the rest of Europe is streets ahead of the UK.
What holds-up UK organics in entrenched DOGMA!
JB.
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Colin Miles
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Be interesting to know what the increase in acreage would be needed to go from 4% to 20%. One can only hope that the EU will disappear, and possibly take Deathra with it!?