Carrots Don't Grow on Trees by Robert Turner

Author:Robert Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: Discovery Books, LLC
Published: 2019-01-13T16:00:00+00:00

SUSTAINABILITY

Farmland is a scarce resource now in many regions of the country, and it should be a resource that is protected for the future. I believe that Creekside Farm is choosing a course of action that will limit the loss of farmland and improve the quality and quantity of food produced here locally while allowing for some social and economic growth in the region today. The goal of sustainable development is satisfying the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It means treating current and future generations in a fair, equal and just manner.

Sustainable development can meet human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the resources which the economy and society ultimately depend on. The desired result is a state of society where human needs are met without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural systems. This is sustainability.

Sustainable development should focus on economic development, social development and environmental protection with a goal of balance and equilibrium. Biologists call it human-ecosystem equilibrium (homeostasis), and sustainable development should look to this more holistic approach and balance before a bulldozer hits the ground. We need to save some green space for future generations.

Sustainable development could also be viewed as a way of managing healthy growth in a region while at the same time maintaining or replacing resources used with resources of equal or greater value. In our project as an example, 8 acres of feed corn were lost to development which fed roughly 8 cows for a year, but 6 acres of vegetables were planted that feeds 80 families their vegetable needs for six months. We’ve also greatly reduced the cost or burden to the environment because Melissa has been able to increase the volume of produce from the land (food resource), while greatly improving the quality of the soil (another valuable resource), while reducing our carbon imprint from fossil fuels (no chemicals). A fair trade.

Sustainability on the farm means all biological systems need to remain diverse and productive for the long run, long into the future. This means healthy water, soils, plants and animals, and these things need to live and endure along with human development, economics, politics and culture. But the farm, even our farm, is highly dependent on fossil fuels to run our tractor. When it comes to the sustainable farm, the question naturally arises, what is to be sustained in sustainable farming if it still counts on a limited supply of a natural resource like petroleum? Can there be a sustainable use of a non-renewable resource, since any use will eventually lead to the exhaustion of the finite supply? Is an organic farm that is still dependent on the tractor and fossil fuels really sustainable long into the future?

Over the long term, 50 to 100 years from now, we need an answer as to how to power our tractors without petroleum because fossil fuels aren’t going to last forever.

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