Conscious Choice: You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

August 2002

You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows

by Jim Slama

Over the last hundred issues of Conscious Choice, the world has evolved dramatically. Many of the areas we were writing about in the early days were clearly on the fringe of social acceptance. Holistic health, organic food, environmental sustainability, yoga, and other popular topics for us were still fodder for jokes on late night television. Our editorial direction in those early years foreshadowed these major social trends. Maybe it was the Time magazine cover story on yoga that convinced me of this. Or the fact that the Clinton White House served locally grown organic food. What’s next — George W. Bush using herbs to treat his attention deficit disorder? Well, two out of three aren’t bad.

Yet the widespread acceptance of natural food and healthcare is primarily based on fulfilling personal needs rather than larger social needs. Unfortunately, humans still haven’t faced up to the environmental woes that continue to grow more pressing. For the most part, politicians, the media, and citizens keep the blinders on when it comes to the environment. Taking them off is far too threatening.

This is because we still have an economic system based on competition, extraction, and short term financial gain. And the multinational companies that control the system don’t see any benefits in creating a sustainable society. Instead they fight environmental responsibility because it cuts down their short term profits. As a result, we have damaged or destroyed many of the systems responsible for the long term health of humans and our cohabitants here on planet Earth. Such behavior has taken us to the brink of ecological disaster.

Global warming epitomizes this situation. Despite years of denial by industry executives, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses continue to heat the planet. Of primary concern is a rise in sea level due to melting ice at the north and south poles. Huge chunks of the Antarctic ice sheets have already broken off and much more is expected. Top scientists are predicting that within a hundred years ocean sea levels may rise substantially, causing massive damage to coastal areas and flooding many of the world’s islands.

We will also experience more droughts and crop failures and greater numbers of big, intensive storms like blizzards and hurricanes. More people will die due to intensive exposure to heat. During the summer of 1995, more than 600 people died in less than a week from a massive heat wave here in Chicago. Scientists now say global warming will dramatically increase the frequency and intensity of these heat disasters throughout much of the U.S.

Global warming is also playing a role in the dramatic extinction of plants, animals, and other species currently taking place. An even larger component of the loss is due to the rapid destruction of rainforests and other habitat. A recent survey by the World Wildlife Fund claimed that humans are responsible for a 35 percent loss in animal and bird species.

America’s leading biologist, E.O. Wilson, put this into perspective, saying "Before humans existed, the species extinction rate was (very roughly) one species per million species per year (0.0001 percent). Estimates for current species extinction rates range from 100 to 10,000 times that, but most hover close to 1,000 times prehuman levels (0.1 percent per year), with the rate projected to rise, and very likely sharply."

Humans are also impairing planetary and human health through industrial farming practices. U.S. farmers use approximately 800 million pounds of pesticides per year. Some remain on or in the foods we eat. Others leave residues in the water we drink and the air we breathe. All of them are designed to kill. They kill insects. They kill plants. They kill fungus. Many of them are already classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as having negative impacts on human health. The most serious impacts are mutagenic, estrogenic, and carcinogenic. "Mutagenic" chemicals cause cellular mutations such as birth defects. "Estrogenic" chemicals disrupt the reproductive system."Carcinogenic" chemicals are those known to cause cancer.

Cancer is an epidemic. According to the American Cancer Society, in the U.S. men have about a 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer, and for women the risk is 1 in 3. Childhood cancer rates are also astonishingly high. Cancer is the most common fatal childhood disease, accounting for approximately 10 percent of childhood deaths. And a number of scientific studies have linked childhood and adult cancer with exposure to the pesticides commonly found in our food, air, and water.

Cancer is just one of many health threats posed by these chemicals. An even more insidious threat posed by some pesticides commonly sprayed on food was brought to worldwide attention by Dr. Theo Colburn whose book, Our Stolen Future, provided in-depth examination of the problems with these chemicals. It stirred international debate as to whether endocrine disruptors have caused a massive decline in male sperm counts worldwide (on average, sperm counts have declined 50 percent). Sperm counts aren’t the only problem. Women are suffering from increasing numbers of fertility problems as well. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 17 percent of American women of childbearing age are infertile, and 25 percent of U.S. couples in their thirties can’t bear children.

Global warming, the extinction epidemic, and astonishing rates of cancer and reproductive problems are clear signs that humans need to wake up and rapidly change these destructive behaviors. Over the next twenty years it is imperative that humans respond to this environmental crisis and develop ways of living that regenerate life on earth rather than destroy it. Fortunately, the seeds have already been planted for such a transformation.

The Hope Lies with Nature

In the past four billion years life on Earth has transformed in a dramatic fashion. With a vast array of elements at her disposal, Mother Nature has created an incredible symphony of existence. Planetary inhabitants have evolved from single cell creatures subsisting in a primordial goo, to a unique collection of plants, animals, birds, bacteria, and fish all fitfully engaged in the dance of life.

Over this extended period, nature has ensured the quality of its being by steadfastly committing to a simple truth. Those species that can readily adapt to change are more likely to survive and flourish. As a result the diversity and capabilities of life are truly awe-inspiring.

In her groundbreaking book, Biomimicry, Janine Benyus describes some of these talents: "[L]ife has learned to fly, circumnavigate the globe, live in the depths of the ocean and atop the highest peaks, craft miracle materials, light up the night, lasso the sun’s energy, and build a self-reflecting brain. Collectively, organisms have managed to turn rock and sea into a life-friendly home, with steady temperatures and smoothly percolating cycles. In short, living things have done everything we want to do, without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet, or mortgaging the future. What better models could there be?"

As we look to solve our seemingly unsolvable environmental problems, I agree with Benyus — modeling nature is the key. I also believe that the organic farming process may offer the most hopeful opportunity to teach humans how to model nature on a large scale. This is because true organic farming models an ecosystem by embracing biodiversity, nutrient recycling, and adaptability.

Biodiversity attracts a large number of insects, including beneficial ones like ladybugs, which keep damaging insects under control. And if nature throws a curveball and one crop has a bad year, chances are that the other crops in a diverse system will be less affected. Nutrient recycling allows wastes such as manure and crop debris to become compost, which fertilizes crops. And the farm’s high quality soil, which retains far more water than its conventional counterpart, offers tremendous adaptability to drought or flooding.

Essentially, sustainable farming is a closed loop system in which the balance of nature keeps pests in check, minimizes weather-related problems, and produces bountiful, healthy food free of toxic residues. It accepts a large quantity of valuable inputs from nature which are known as ecosystem services. By recognizing and utilizing these services, farmers minimize expenditures on pest control, fertilizer, and other costly inputs.

This notion of ecosystem services is powerfully represented by Japanese rice farmer, Furuno Takao. He has developed a system that integrates ducks into rice cultivation. The ducks provide impeccable pest control by eating insects and weeds that otherwise would harm the crops. Conversely, the duck manure provides bountiful nutrients for the rice. Furuno has also incorporated fish into the rice paddies. His farm is a model ecosystem which can feed 100 people on a very small amount of land. And it does so without the use of any toxic chemicals and with very few outside inputs.

Farmers across Asia are now using Furuno’s system. His book, The Power of Duck, offers an example of the success. "In Vietnam, by combining the ubiquitous duck with rice cultivation, rice yields have been increased by 15 to 30 percent, while at the same time producing duck meat, reducing labor inputs for weeding [and] reducing costs for artificial fertilizers and agrichemicals, thus increasing income to 150-200 percent of previous levels." In Japan, more than 10,000 farmers have converted to Furuno’s system of integrated rice and duck farming.

Another great example of this holistic approach is found in Bad Vibbel, Germany, less than ten miles outside downtown Frankfurt. It is the home of Dottenfelderhof, a thriving community immersed in organic and biodynamic food production and processing. The 600-acre farm is located on the grounds of a former monastery and includes a few buildings that are more than 1,000 years old. The ancient roots are reflected in much of the food production. The bakery features hand-shaped loaves of bread that are slowly cooked in brick ovens fueled by wood.

The modern creamery is a primary hub in the mix of jobs, training, and food production in the community. The farm’s dairy cows supply the raw material for milk sold on the farm, either already bottled or to customers who bottle it themselves. It also produces a delicious mix of forty-three cheeses, many of which have been produced in the region for hundreds of years.

Each day the cows spend part of their time out in the pastures grazing. When cows inhabit the barn, their manure is mixed with the bedding straw and eventually composted and spread on the fields. Most of the land at the farm is devoted to producing feed for the farm’s 80 cows and 500 chickens as well as grains for the bakery. Typical crop rotations include wheat, rye, barley, oat, flax, alfalfa, trifolium, soybeans, and corn.

In the summer, the farm is a model of diversity. It produces a wide variety of fruits including apples, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries, plus a full line of vegetables. All the products of the farm are sold at five regional farmers’ markets, as well as in the stores on the premises. The Dottenfelderhof markets include the bakery, a cheese shop, a butcher selling meat and poultry, and a food store selling produce, packaged organic products, and other staples. It is a truly a unique shopping experience. The combined businesses employ more than seventy people, and nearly all of the food is consumed by nearby residents drawn to the high quality food. Farmers and customers share a passion for changing the world through agriculture and food production.

Good for People and Good for the Community

The stories of Dottenfelderhof and Furuno Takao are but two examples of the many communities and farmers creating sustainable economic systems based on regional organic farming. Similar cases are happening all over the world, including many here in the U.S. To me they are the most hopeful sign that a sustainable society can be created.

My hope stems from the underlying reasons people are embracing organic farming. They want organic food because it is good for them and good for the community. People recognize that organic food is healthier because it isn’t sprayed with the toxic chemicals sprayed on conventional food. Many consumers have become committed to organic food because they realize the longer term benefits it provides their communities.

Organic food is one of the most rapidly growing segments in the U.S. economy, with millions of devoted customers in the U.S. and beyond. People everywhere have raised their finger to the wind, and after trying organic agriculture or its products, are supporting and practicing sustainable systems. Trends like these are a reason for optimism. I look forward to sharing more hopeful stories with you in the next hundred issues of Conscious Choice.

Jim Slama is the president of Sustain and was the founding publisher and editor of Conscious Choice. He is currently working on the Local Organic Initiative to help create a regional organic food system serving the Chicago area.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: