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Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us (Part 1)

18 Nov 2008

18 Nov, 2008  Uncategorized

VVH-TV News Special
Organic Farming: Can It Feed Us? Part 1

Karl Grossman Chief Investigative Reporter examines Organic Farming on Eastern Long Island.

What is organic farming?
Organic farming can be defined as an approach to agriculture where the aim is to create integrated, humane, environmentally and economically sustainable agricultural production systems. Maximum reliance is placed on locally or farm-derived renewable resources and the management of self-regulating ecological and biological processes and interactions in order to provide acceptable levels of crop, livestock and human nutrition, protection from pests and diseases, and an appropriate return to the human and other resources employed. Reliance on external inputs, whether chemical or organic, is reduced as far as possible. In many European countries, organic agriculture is known as ecological agriculture, reflecting this reliance on ecosystem management rather than external inputs.

The objective of sustainability lies at the heart of organic farming and is one of the major factors determining the acceptability or otherwise of specific production practices. The term ’sustainable’ is used in its widest sense, to encompass not just conservation of non-renewable resources (soil, energy, minerals) but also issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The term ‘organic’ is best thought of as referring to the concept of the farm as an organism, in which all the component parts - the soil minerals, organic matter, micro-organisms, insects, plants, animals and humans - interact to create a coherent and stable whole.

The key characteristics of organic farming include:

protecting the long term fertility of soils by maintaining organic matter levels, encouraging soil biological activity, and careful mechanical intervention;

providing crop nutrients indirectly using relatively insoluble nutrient sources which are made available to the plant by the action of soil micro-organisms;

nitrogen self-sufficiency through the use of legumes and biological nitrogen fixation, as well as effective recycling of organic materials including crop residues and livestock manures;

weed, disease and pest control relying primarily on crop rotations, natural predators, diversity, organic manuring, resistant varieties and limited (preferably minimal) thermal, biological and chemical intervention;

the extensive management of livestock, paying full regard to their evolutionary adaptations, behavioural needs and animal welfare issues with respect to nutrition, housing, health, breeding and rearing;

careful attention to the impact of the farming system on the wider environment and the conservation of wildlife and natural habitats.

(c) WVVH-TV 2007 all rights reserved

Duration : 0:35:13


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24 Responses

  1. wolfgang2588

    2008 Nov 18 1

    dude you are so …
    dude you are so wrong…u really think your food came of a capsule or something? go to the FAO website and take a look of how many thousand of miles have been poluted thanks to the chemichals they trow in, there is now choice, the earth will go organic with or without you…the world dont need people like u anyways..10 more years dude…and u will remember this post.

  2. Yosh0

    2008 Nov 18 2

    Even the water you …
    Even the water you drink running through your house is soiled with fluorine to prevent your teeth from decaying. Organic farming is just the reminisce of the old country, people who don’t know how to do anything but farm and are lost in the age of technology. All we gotta do is wait a couple generations till they all die out…then no one will care about organic farming….they won’t even know what it is. hahah.

  3. maynardhs79

    2008 Nov 18 3

    Why don’t you start …
    Why don’t you start with yourself?

  4. harryrarmer

    2008 Nov 18 4

    If people will not …
    If people will not drink synthetic pesticdes from a barrel why will they eat food sprayed with it ?

  5. typeclash

    2008 Nov 18 5

    m2, she rocks btw
    m2, she rocks btw

  6. SirHayler

    2008 Nov 18 6

    his voice sounds …
    his voice sounds like jerry springer? lol

  7. Nick2565

    2008 Nov 18 7

    actually, …
    actually, scientists have done studies and they believe that the earth can support about 3 billion humans if we each person consumes the same amount of food/energy as they are right now.

  8. thrivesurvive

    2008 Nov 18 8

    Brilliant, very …
    Brilliant, very informative video. Thank you so very much for making and posting it!

  9. forthseen

    2008 Nov 18 9

    How can you say …
    How can you say I’ts not social.

  10. forthseen

    2008 Nov 18 10

    You have too ask …
    You have too ask yourselfs this question where did all of the people come from. Thank You.

  11. Debrevol

    2008 Nov 18 11

    Grow your own!
    Grow your own!

  12. DivineReaper

    2008 Nov 18 12

    Lets just kill 90% …
    Lets just kill 90% of the human population and stop trying to find more food!… there is enough of us already, I mean, 6 BILLION HUMANS? Even 1 billion is too much!

  13. dryftingwynd

    2008 Nov 18 13

    Actually yes you …
    Actually yes you can and they have proven that it is better for you and healthier. Cancers have been known to be cause by pesticides and chemicals used on commercial none organic farming, try and google cancers and searchs and how people have survived cancers they stopped eating chemically enhanced produce and food and started eatting organic watching there health improve. knowledge is a powerful thing to bad you’re lacking in that area.

  14. savoryoursweetness

    2008 Nov 18 14

    Of course they can …
    Of course they can prove it. It’s called nutritional testing.

  15. eatlocalfood

    2008 Nov 18 15

    Actually it is …
    Actually it is proven. The E.U. just did a $25 million study (the largest ever) that found organic food to be substantially more nutritious. That’s just nutrition not the social and environmental benefits. If you feed vegetables chemicals that are labelled with skull and crossbones (poison) then they get there nutrients from this poison and we ingest it. When fed from the soil food web (live soil) obviously it is healthier. Finally the debate is over. What a silly debate it is/was.

  16. keltoi2000

    2008 Nov 18 16

    Its too bad she is …
    Its too bad she is cut off at 4:56, she is very articluate

  17. vaslilly

    2008 Nov 18 17

    u cant prove …
    u cant prove organic food tastes better or that it is healthier

  18. Language81

    2008 Nov 18 18

    beautiful video, …
    beautiful video, thank you so much!

  19. Frances3654

    2008 Nov 18 19

    i have a small …
    i have a small organic farm in my backyard!

  20. ZONEGIANTTROOPER

    2008 Nov 18 20

    natural food just …
    natural food just takes better

  21. dionysusstar

    2008 Nov 18 21

    You need to compost …
    You need to compost organic materials before putting into gardens. If put directly into a garden new composting materials will heat up and burn veggies roots. I agre organic is definetly the way to go…only positives.

  22. dionysusstar

    2008 Nov 18 22

    Garden of Eve is a …
    Garden of Eve is a beautiful farm. Farmers Markets are a wonderful avenue for local foods, farmers and consumers. The world could definetly be fed through organic farming…that’s how it was done for thousands of years…that’s how farming started!

  23. organicdan

    2008 Nov 18 23

    Organic is the …
    Organic is the best way to grow veggies. Cut up banana, apple, orange, etc. peels and put in your soil!

  24. rachelh923

    2008 Nov 18 24

    Organic is the only …
    Organic is the only way to live!


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