That’s a question posed by the National Corn Growers Association President, Rick Tolman. It’s a good question and judging by the social networking comments on this subject I’ve seen in the past few weeks, it’s one that has a multitude of answers depending on who’s defining. Here’s what Rick says from his “Our View” statement today:
The definition of “sustainability” has become one of the most widely discussed topics in agriculture – and with consumers, too – during the past several years. Many definitions exist for sustainability; some are very good and some have created much confusion for consumers.
The National Corn Growers Association understands the importance of agricultural sustainability for today’s consumers and wants to help everyone understand its real meaning. Our corn farmers have always worked hard to be good stewards of the land and environment. New technologies and farming practices have made them even better stewards of the land, creating more sustainability for all of us to enjoy and allowing them to produce more corn on less farm land.
We have an underlying policy at NCGA that officially adopts the definition that was included in the 1990 Farm Bill:
“The term sustainable agriculture means 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; and sustain the economic viability of farm operations enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”
Sounds like a pretty good definition to me. What’s yours? If you don’t like this one, why?
I think all of us involved in agriculture are on board with the ideas like enhancing the environment and the other elements of the definition above. However, it seems like the word is being used with some very emotional definitions today to promote a certain lifestyle or to portray groups or individuals in a negative light or even to promote a company’s products or services. As I listened to the radio on the highway today it seemed like most of the commercials contained words like, sustainable, green, environmental. They were mostly for existing companies and products. Do consumers really buy into those claims just because they’re mentioned in a commercial? Is it helping drive sales? And why would anyone use them to try to attack the very people who are helping feed the world while increasing their sustainability practices?