June 29, 2010

Based on our review of the National Research Council research team’s Executive Summary of its report Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century, we are disheartened. While we have received information suggesting the actual report holds much promise as a roadmap for future development of organic and sustainable farming systems, the initial release and its framing fall flat.

In the face of multiple crises challenging American farmers and ranchers today, the NRC report calls for “incremental change” and a “transformative approach” to design profitable sustainable farming systems. At a time when climate change, obesity and health, ground water pollution and ocean dead zones have all been irrefutably linked to our current agro-industrial farm and food system, we had every expectation that the NRC would issue an urgent call to action.

We need to change the charge to the USDA and other federal agencies now. One would expect that given the intensity of the challenges before us, there would be some level of urgency reflected in the NRC observations and recommendations. Yes, we need transformational change, but we need it now, not in some distant future.

In the organic community, we believed that this new report, published 21 years after the NRC’s initial forward-thinking analysis in the report Alternative Agriculture, would be hard hitting and build on past findings. It appears that is not the case. We need a major new investment in ecologically-based, organic, and multi-disciplinary research that is informed by farmers and researchers working together. To its credit, the research team recognizes the importance of merging farmer innovation with scientific method to advance organic agriculture.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation has long advocated for and demonstrated a commitment to a farmer-based, organic systems research program. In that context we are funding a research analysis of the multiple benefits organic production systems can provide to family farmers, the environment, our health, our communities, and the nation. We had high hopes that the NRC report and the on-farm case studies contained within would help all sectors of agriculture elevate and accelerate the discussion of the multiple benefits organic agriculture provides. That hope has dimmed somewhat, but we remain optimistic that the full report will affirm the measure of urgency we feel is essential to moving forward, and underscore the value organic and sustainable agriculture delivers to all.

Note to editors: This statement is based on the Executive Summary and conversations among staff who attended the briefing this morning. A more detailed analysis will be provided on ofrf.org once we have been able to fully vet the entire report.

The Organic Farming Research Foundation was founded in 1990 to foster the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems. OFRF sponsors organic farming research and education projects, disseminates the results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems, and educates the public and policymakers about organic farming issues. The majority of OFRF’s board members are working organic farmers.

Website: http://www.ofrf.org

Published: June 29, 2010