Is organic farming the same as sustainable agriculture?
No. Sustainability is a popular but loosely defined term. Broadly speaking, it refers to the ability of a business or production method to be carried on indefinitely, as opposed to requiring resources that will eventually run out. • A farm that relies heavily on fossil fuel products, like gas and synthetic fertilizer, would not be considered too sustainable, because we seem to be running out of oil. • A farm that concentrates thousands of animals in one location, thereby generating huge, toxic amounts of animal waste pollutants that can’t be easily disposed of, would not be considered too sustainable, because it clearly can’t keep that up forever. • A farm that uses only organic fertilizers, could still need to import its fertilizer, use lots of gas for machinery, and so forth, and therefore couldn’t be considered too sustainable, either. Even fertilizing with manure from on-farm animals may not be particularly sustainable if much of the livestock feed is purchased.
