Organic Farming

HISTORY PHILOSOPHY

Three names are associated with the development of organic farming as it is known today.

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) an Austrian philosopher and scientist developed a form of organic agriculture known as biodynamic, that is moving with life.

Rachel Carson in 1963 made a huge impact with her book Silent Spring making many people aware for the first time of the destructive effects of the pesticides in widespread use at that time.

However it is Lady Eva Balfour who probably had the greatest impact on the introduction of sustainable agriculture and was a leading pioneer of organic farming. Her work on her Suffolk farm lead directly to a group of far sighted people establishing the Soil Association in 1946.

" The criteria for a sustainable agriculture can be summed up in one word - permanence, which means adopting techniques that maintain soil fertility indefinitely, that utilise, as far as possible, only renewable resources; to avoid those that grossly pollute the environment; and that foster biological activity throughout the cycles of all the involved food chains" Lady Eva Balfour

After the Second Word War the demand for increased home produced food led to the introduction of inorganic fertilisers, new pesticides, herbicides and the intensive rearing of animals. The founders of the SA realised that this type of farming would erode the productivity of the land and damage the environment by reducing wildlife.

Thus organic became the term describing farming in an environmentally friendly manner controlling pollution and soil erosion, increasing energy efficiency and supporting a wide range of plants and wildlife.