sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture produces abundant food and fiber without polluting the environment or natural resources while promoting vibrant rural communities. Essentially, sustainable agriculture applies the three basic tenets of sustainability - economic, environmental and social - to agriculture and farming communities.

The term "sustainable agriculture" was legally defined by U.S. Congress in the 1990 Farm Bill as "an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term:

• satisfy human food and fiber needs;
• enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends;
• make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls;
• sustain the economic viability of farm operations; and
• enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

Online resources include the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA, the acronym for its former name Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas), Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) and Center for Rural Affairs. A number of blogs address sustainable agriculture, including Tomorrow's Table, The Daily Table and U.S. Food Policy.

by Liz Marr, MS, RD Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “sustainable agriculture”

 

• Monsanto in Court: What’s the Big Deal?

  
  Eat. Drink. Better. — Authority: 528
  Monsanto likes to frame itself as a benevolent mastermind of food production: friend to the lowly farmer, and selfless guardian of the environment. Their web site proclaims through text and video that Monsanto Company is Comitted to Sustainable Agriculture. Monsanto’s TV commercials are filled with soft-focus ...
  4 days ago

• Sustainable Local Food & Fun

  
  Eat. Drink. Better. — Authority: 528
  Listen,  laugh & learn with the Green Divas (and Green Dude Scott) anytime -  Podcast here! You are going to hear us talking a lot this year about “gettin’ local wherever you are.” It’s kind of our 2012 theme. We’ve always believed strongly in supporting our local communities, but we’ve also ...
  6 days ago

• Saudi Star Among Firms Behind Thousands of Forced Relocations in Ethiopia

  
  Green Prophet — Authority: 545
  This image taken in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia shows irrigation canals being dug by the agricultural firm owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi. Last week BBC News reported that 70,000 indigenous people have been forced to relocate in the western Gambella region of Ethiopia to new ...
  1 week ago

• Canada’s Greensoil Invests in Israel Cleantech

  
  Green Prophet — Authority: 545
  Greensoil, an investment firm from Canada will fund Israeli agritech companies with a reported $12 million. Cash from Canada will be funding clean technology companies in Israel. A new Canadian fund called Greensoil looks to build Israeli agritech companies with the launch of a $12 million CAN fund. Greensoil ...
  1 week ago

• New dorm could replace Haggin Field

  
  The Kentucky Kernel — Authority: 559
    By Garrett Gabehart Some UK students have recently voiced concerns over a new proposal that would eliminate a popular sports field located in front of the Haggin Hall dormitory and replace that green space with an Honors Academy. On Oct. 25, President Eli Capilouto detailed the plan for a $30 million, ...
  1 week ago

• Illinois Farmers Receive New Guidebook and Online Tool to Improve Local Food System

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  Illinois farmers will now have access to a new guidebook and Web site designed to boost local food hub activity in the state, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced. Warren Ribley, the department’s director, announced the new tools at the annual Illinois Specialty Growers ...
  1 week ago

• Sustainable food leaders to be honored at PASA annual conference

  
  Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace — Authority: 426
  MILLHEIM, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) will recognize the winners of its Sustainable Ag Leader Award and Sustainable Ag Business Leadership Award, Mary Seton Corboy of Greensgrow Farms and Frankferd Farms Foods, during its annual conference in February. The awards will be ...
  2 weeks ago

• From Backyard Garden to Local Food Pantry, AmpleHarvest.org Facilitates Delivery of Excess Produce to Those in Need

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  “My measure of success is going to be not how many millions of pounds of locally grown food we get to food pantries. My measure of success is going to be when we are no longer needed.” – Gary Oppenheimer, Founder of Ampleharvest.org Gary Oppenheimer hopes that donating excess produce from backyard gardens to ...
  2 weeks ago

• On-The-Ground Help in Haiti

  
  We Blog The World — Authority: 132
  Today marks the second anniversary of the devastating Port-au-Prince earthquake that affected an estimated three million Haitians. Check out this article that discusses the work that Groundswell International and its partner Partenariat pour le Développement Local (PDL) are doing to rebuild the nation by supporting ...
  2 weeks ago

• New Orleans-based Recirculating Farms Coalition Seeks Solution to Food Deserts in Sustainable Production Systems

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  Marianne Cufone says she was drawn to New Orleans because of its incredible heart and resilience. Cufone is the executive director of New Orleans-based Recirculating Farms Coalition (RFC), a non-profit organization comprised of a collaborative group of farmers, educators and various organizations committed to ...
  2 weeks ago

• Agricultural Incubator Foundation Seeks to Develop Sustainable Agriculture Systems in Northwest, OH

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  Agriculture, aquaculture and food entrepreneurs in northwest Ohio looking to research, develop and test new sustainable food production methods and practices have a high-quality, growing resource in the private, non-profit Agricultural Incubator Foundation (AIF). Formed in late 1999 by a group of area farmers, ...
  2 weeks ago

• Federal Programs in North Dakota Aim to Boost Organic, Conservation Agriculture

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  As in the rest of the country, organic farming driven by market demand has caught on in North Dakota, and the federal government and state branch of the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) are working to ensure that its growth continues in the state. NRCS is offering technical and financial ...
  2 weeks ago

• Partnerships bring sustainability schools to Pennsylvania

  
  Farm and Dairy - The Auction Guide and Rural Marketplace — Authority: 426
  HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, already at the forefront of farm-based education in Pennsylvania, recently launched a new effort aimed at providing courses for consumers interested in living more sustainably. Through its Good Food Neighborhood program, PASA is partnering ...
  2 weeks ago

• Farm and Food News 1/13/12

  
  The Farmland Report — Authority: 95
  Funds Available for Farmland Protection in Maine The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced that nearly $1 million will be available this year in Maine for successful applicants for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection program. The state deadline is March 23 for 2013 funding. For more ...
  2 weeks ago

• Cardo’s Farm Project: Planting Seeds of Sustainability Deep in the Heart of Texas

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  Farms across Texas suffered widespread drought and wildfires during 2011, the Lone Star state’s driest year on record. Thanks to sustainable practices, however, two young farmers in northeast Texas are helping to set a smart agricultural example for a state and a country facing a rapidly changing climate. Cardo’s ...
  2 weeks ago

• UC launches Conservation Agriculture Systems Institute

  
  Ag For News — Authority: 106
  A diverse group of public and private sector agricultural professionals are joining the University of California to form the Conservation Agriculture Systems Institute (CASI), an organization that will be formally launched at a public meeting Jan. 27 in Clovis, Calif. “This is the agronomic and ecological ...
  2 weeks ago

• David Valentine Kain Becomes A Member Of Stanford Who’s Who

  
  IBWIRE — Authority: 139
  ARTHUR RIVER, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA, January 11, 2012 / Stanford Who’s Who / — Stanford Who’s Who announces the addition of David Valentine Kain to the ranks of premier professionals as a result of his work in the farming industry. As Owner of Far Valley Dohne as well as throughout his entire career, ...
  2 weeks ago

• Updated Version of Fieldprint Calculator for Tracking Farmer’s Sustainability Efforts Released by Field to Market

  
  Seedstock - Sustainable Agriculture News: Business, Startups, Food Security, Biofuels, etc. — Authority: 112
  Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, an initiative that brings together producers, agribusinesses, food companies, and conservation organizations seeking to create sustainable outcomes for agriculture, has introduced an updated version of its Fieldprint Calculator, which it says is even ...
  2 weeks ago

• Beneficial Insectary Commissions GreenVolts Turnkey Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic System

  
  Triple Pundit — Authority: 621
  Having recently unveiled its fully integrated, turnkey concentrated photovoltaic energy system, Fremont, Californias GreenVolts announced the commissioning of a fully warrantied 288-kW CPV system that should provide more than 80% of peak electricity needs at Beneficial Insectarys production facility in the Shasta ...
  2 weeks ago

• Standards & Compliance Briefing: Chemical Safety Board, New Mexico Waste Pit Rule, ISO 50001

  
  Environmental Leader — Authority: 501
  The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) reiterated its call for the creation of a national fire code for hazardous waste facilities following a deadly chemical fire in December. CSB had issued recommendations to the Environmental Technology Council (ETC), including the recommendation to petition the National Fire ...
  3 weeks ago

Comments about sustainable agriculture