As a counter argument to my last post, I provide this link about organic farming: Q&A with Chef Dan Barber: Can organic farming feed the world? Here, Barber argues that organic farming can feed the world and that it can produce enough yield to equal or surpass industrial farming. I like Barber’s point about the impacts of environmental change on food:
If you look at the carrying capacity of agricultural areas throughout the world, their ecological habitats are changing. So I think we’re looking at — in our lifetime — great collapses of food services. We need the humbleness and clarity to see that our food, while benefitting from technological advances, has benefitted even more from free ecological resources: Cheap energy, lots of water everywhere, and a stable climate. But studies have shown these are eroding. And if you take these away — if you don’t have those in abundance — you’re not only going to NOT feed the world, you’re not going to be able to eat the way we do now. We’re going to be forced into a new system. The question is: Is that going to be a traumatic transition, or are we going to start preparing for it now?
Now, as I stated in my last post, I believe that the best path is the middle path between organic and industrial. We can draw advantages from both. There are definitely lessons to take from Barber.