Why Organic Farming | The Organic Guy
From time to time, I do get myself involved in conversations that go like this “But why does it has to be organic farming? We also have all these other systems that work with nature. In fact, the reason why we are seeing other systems come up like the regenerative movement is that organic farming is NOT doing enough and it’s limiting farmers!”. In this short writing, I thought I should share with you why I am so bullish about organic farming, and not the other systems.
Organic farmers can be agroecology farmers, organic farmers can be permaculture farmers, organic farmers can be biodynamic farmers, organic farmers can be natural farmers and organic farmers can be regenerative farmers. But the same thing can’t be said when this is done in reverse.
Let’s get the house in order before we dive into this conversation. I will talk about Biodynamic farming’s special relationship with organic farming towards the end because I think when you talk about biodynamic, you are essentially talking about organic farming plus astrology. I will also mention regenerative organic towards the end which I personally consider organic farming with makeup. This writing will majorly be a comparison of organic farming with Agroecology, Permaculture, Natural, Regenerative farming, and any other system that claims to work with nature.
To begin with, I have never met an honest person who knows what organic farming is (besides those who got their definition from google as a farming system that doesn’t use fake fertilizers & pesticides) and knows organic principles look me in the eye and show me practices that Agroecology, Permaculture, Natural, Regenerative farmers can do that organic farmer can’t do. Why? because there aren’t any. And if there were, which ones would they be? Is it planting cover crops, crop rotation, agroforestry, No-till Practices, Composting, Crop Diversity, Animal Integration, Managed Grazing, or Silvopasture?
Here is the breaking news! organic farmers can incorporate all of these practices into their systems. In fact, it’s a requirement that organic farmers incorporate these practices before they become certified. Thus organic farmers must have and show a plan of agricultural practices that they intend to implement on their farms such as crop rotation, composting, crop diversification, etc. Unfortunately what the paid propagandist do is they take one bad example of an organic farmer (News flash: you can literally walk into any movement and find one) and then blast this one example in the news as a representation of what organic farming is. Over the years, it’s clear to see that lot of people have taken this bait.
While we are still at it, I can actually turn the same question around and ask, what are some of the practices that Agroecology, Permaculture, Natural, and Regenerative farmers can do that organic farmer can’t do? Well, when you put it this way, It becomes very easy for me to point out a few things that other farmers can use while organic farmers can’t. For example, other farmers can use fake fertilizers, whereas organic farmers can’t. They can use the toxic chemicals, organic farmers can’t. They can use GMOs, organic farmers can’t. They can use growth hormones in animals, organic farmers can’t. They can use all these so-called technologies and innovations which we now know are full of baloney, while in organic it’s clear you can’t use them.
The ability of organic to reliably offer its utility to the marketplace is what really separates it from the other farming systems. If we roll back the years when everyone used their own labor to satisfy all their wants and needs, then these systems could work. In fact, we wouldn’t need all these systems at all.
This is NOT an attack on what all those systems stand for, but simply pointing out their shortcomings and what separates them from organic. Yes, they can claim not to be using all those substances on their farms, but there is simply no way of knowing it, only if you were growing for your own consumption. Organic is the only farming system that can guarantee someone else that the product they are purchasing is what they claim it is, a distinction that becomes very important in our world especially if you want to exchange your products and services in the marketplace.
This ability of organic to reliably offer its utility to the marketplace is what really separates it from the other farming systems. If we roll back the years when everyone used their own labor to satisfy all their wants and needs, then these systems could work. In fact, we wouldn’t need all these systems at all. Unfortunately, we are not there anymore. We are in a highly specialized world that heavily relies on the exchange of labor, which means consumers are always looking for ways to carefully use their precious labor which includes discriminating between real food and fake food.
The beauty of this trait is that it also works very well for farmers. It allows organic farmers to be fairly compensated by the marketplace for their dedication to taking care of nature, something we would otherwise be forced to rely on governments to do, which is not a wise move given the track record of subsidies because governments can’t always print more money and they can never tax their citizens enough to do so. This is something that the other farming systems have not been able to figure out so far. Here is something that might interest you, taking of nature is NOT free. Taking care of nature requires knowledge, time, and money. Something that the other systems that work with nature can attest to.
Once you’ve cleaned that one out, the talk moves to organic being restrictive to what you can use and can’t use. A propaganda propagated by big AG, like that of denying farmers innovations while what they are really saying is why are you limiting our market? Contrary to organic being about restrictions, It is in fact all about freedom. The freedom to work with nature, The freedom to learn from nature, The freedom from big AG Capture, and perhaps more importantly the freedom from harm, destruction, and death.
So how about biodynamic farming? Well, from my perspective, biodynamic and organic farmers are essentially one, they only diverge being on the application of astrology to farming. In fact, one cannot become a biodynamic farmer without first becoming an organic farmer, perhaps an indication that biodynamic farmers do consider organic farming as being the foundation of biodynamic farming. The application of astrology makes it challenging for the average person to follow what’s going on.
Contrary to organic being restrictive, It is in fact the opposite. It’s all about freedom. The freedom to work with nature, The freedom to learn from nature, The freedom from big AG Capture, and perhaps more importantly the freedom from harm, destruction, and death.
Having read the work of Rudolf Steiner, widely regarded as the founder of the biodynamic movement, the average person can’t understand it, unless astrology and spirituality are an important theme of their life, and this is where most farmers and consumers are left out. This makes organic farming easily scalable across continents, countries, climates, and cultures across the world regardless of their beliefs. Lastly, if it’s regenerative then it has to be regenerative organic!
I guess what I am saying is this, organic farmers can be agroecology farmers, organic farmers can be permaculture farmers, organic farmers can be biodynamic farmers, organic farmers can be natural farmers and organic farmers can be regenerative farmers. But the same thing can’t be said when this is done in reverse. Above all, organic farmers are not conventional but conventional farmers can become organic farmers, and we need more of this moving forward.
Organic farming isn’t limited by a set of rules and standards, but by nature. Its unwavering dedication to nature makes it the most adaptable, scalable, and impactful farming system in the world.
An important perspective perhaps to highlight from this writing is that organic farming isn’t limited by a set of rules and standards, but by nature. Its unwavering dedication to nature makes it the most adaptable, scalable, and impactful farming system in the world.
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XOXO, The Organic Guy.
