Organic Farming Study, Native Food and Farming – Readings

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Recommended Readings: Organic Practices and Native Food and Farming

Iowa State Study Shows Soil-Building Benefits of Organic Practices; From the Leopold Center For Sustainable Agriculture

Excerpt: Producers making the switch to organic crops to meet growing market demand not only fetch premium prices, according to a recent study; they also build healthy soil and sequester carbon, making organic agriculture a useful strategy for dealing with climate change… ’Farmers interested in transitioning to organic production will be happy to see that, with good management, yields can be the same, with “Farmers interested in transitioning to organic production will be happy to see that, with good management, yields can be the same, with potentially higher returns and better soil quality,’ said Kathleen Delate, agronomy and horticulture professor at Iowa State University, who leads the project.”

Details about the project are available on the Leopold Center website, www.leopold.iastate.edu/long-term-agroecological-research

Putting the Culture Back in Agriculture: Reviving Native Food and Farming Traditions; By Beverly Bell, Nation of Change

Excerpt: “Together with the loss of cultural diversity, the growth of industrial agriculture has led to an enormous depletion in biodiversity. Throughout history, humans have cultivated about 7,000 species of plants. In the last century, three-quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops have been lost. Thirty crops now provide 95% of our food needs, with rice, wheat, maize, and potato alone providing 60%. Eighty-five percent of the apple varieties that once existed in the US have been lost.”