Just dropping in to say hi, thanks for writing….

‘Luddite’ is a term generally used to denigrate sceptics of technological progress (without necessarily defining ‘progress’ itself). Technology may be fantastic for mobile phones and computers, but other so-called ‘advances’ have been disastrous in agriculture, not to mention flying in the face of scientific evidence.

Science has been as much of a guiding light to the organic movement as ecology or farmers’ knowledge – beginning with scientific studies such those carried out in the 1930s and 40s by Lady Eve Balfour and Innes Pearce in the UK, as well as Sir Albert Howard’s work in India on compost and natural resistance to foot and mouth disease. Sadly, much of this research has never been followed up.

Solving world hunger requires a deeper solution than any single farming system can offer. But if we’re talking about increasing food supply where it’s most needed (e.g. developing countries), then industrial farming’s record on ‘feeding the hungry’ is poor. There’s plenty of research showing that that organic methods dramatically increase yields in the developing world (but that’s a story for another post…)

Chag sameach!

Adam – You have to wonder what the next “End of” is going to be…suburbia? Factory farming? Wal-Mart? He could really take this in a lot of directions.

There’s nothing ‘Luddite’ about organic farming, which is only around 60 years old itself – just as young as it’s prematurely-ageing industrial cousin.