WESSEX

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture

"To use, to understand, to love the soil, is a civilizing process."
Robert S.Kerr

(NLP WESSEX LOCAL PAGE)

Research on Sustainable Agriculture

The Natural Law Party is committed to promoting economically sound and environmentally sustainable agriculture throughout the world. The development of sustainable agricultural systems depends heavily on the funding of relevant research work. More resources are urgently required in this area. Here are some useful links to some existing research institutions currently carrying out valuable work in this area:

Reducing Food Poverty with Sustainable Agriculture: A Summary of New Evidence - University of Essex

Wye College, University of London, Sustainable Agriculture Group
Documentation of Ecological Agriculture Web Site
University of Aberystwyth
Elm Farm Research Institute, Newbury
Sustainable Agriculture Network (US)
University of Aberdeen Centre for Organic Agriculture
University of Essex centre for Environment and Society - farming without high inputs
Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture Institute

Breakthrough heralds new era of sustainable health and agriculture - April 2001

Organic Agriculture

As part of its strategy for developing sustainable agriculture the Natural Law Party is firmly committed to promoting and encouraging organic agriculture. Here are some useful internet links:

UK Organic News Service

Organic Europe Home Page
organic-research.com - organic farming research and news
EU organic policy and research papers
Organic farming and related web-sites
Soil Association
Where to buy organic food
Organics Direct - home delivery of certified organic produce
Organic Networks Internet Service - information for consumers, farmers and trade
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFIT FROM ORGANIC FARMING
Defending organic standards in the US
IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements
US Organic Trade Association
Organic growers homepage - US
Soil Foodweb Incorporated - US
Organic farming economics
The Biodiversity Benefits of Organic Farming - Soil Association report
Organic crop yields in the US
Cuba's New Agricultural Revolution
Vedic agriculture - farming in accord with Natural Law - James essay
Recognising and realising the potential of organic agriculture - Prof Martin Wolfe
Soil Fungi Critical to Organic Success - Agricultural Research Magazine May 2001
Nutritional Content of Organic Food
Growing Organic Cotton In Zambia - ISIS

Can Organic Agriculture Feed the World?

Genetically Modified Crops and Foods

Those who promote it in agriculture claim that genetic engineering has the potential to make a valuable contribution to sustainable development. Little could be further from the truth. (Proponents of genetic engineering frequently have a poorly focused understanding of the meaning of sustainable development. A useful introduction to this subject is provided in the distance learning course on environmental management from Wye College, University of London - Boddington,1996 - which presents a set of major management principles for sustainability viz: Duty of Care, Precautionary Principle, Social Learning, Subsidiarity, Sustainability, Intergenerational Equity, Transparency/Procedural Equity, Areal Equity, and Polluter Pays.)

Wye College, University of London
'Are GMOs essential for effective sustainable agriculture in a hungry world?' - NLP article

Because of the associated problems they give rise to the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture violates nearly all the fundamental principles of sustainable development. The Natural Law Party is committed to a complete ban on all genetically engineered foods as part of its strategy to safeguard public health and promote sustainable development.

Will GM crops deliver benefits to farmers? - some realities behind biotechnology myths
NLP speaker at international agriculture conference in Brazil - GMOs and market economics
Click here for more information on the NLP's global campaign to ban genetically engineered foods
Iceland Foods Policy Statement on their GM food ban
Royal support for genetic food withdrawal demand by Soil Association
French supermarket chain boycotts suppliers who do not label GM foods
BST background
BST cancer link
General information on BST
English Nature position on GMO crops
Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment

Other Violations of Natural Law in Agriculture

Europe's farms push birds to brink - Jan 2001
Mutant frogs in the US
Information on BSE crisis
New Scientist - BSE's hidden horror - June 98
The Pesticides Trust Home Page
Andrew Kimbrell interview on the hazards of human and animal cloning
Is glyphosphate safe for the environment and your health?
International Agency for Research on Cancer (carcinogen lists)
'Pesticides are most serious environmental threat' - UN advisor
INFORMATION AND ACTION ON PESTICIDES AND ALTERNATIVES
TOXNET - comprehensive web resource on toxic sustances
Toxic Trade Secrets
Modern agriculture - 'Crops without profit' report
Irradation - The Food That Would Last Forever
Food safety resources on the web
Pesticides- Toxics - Endocrine Disruptors
European Community Strategy for Endocrine Disrupters
Pesticides and Human Health - Book
BBC News Pesticides mix 'threatens health' - Dec 2001'

Other Sustainable Agriculture Links

'An ordinary miracle' - sustainable agriculture without GMOs - New Scientist

General

Friends of the Earth 'Real Food' campaign
Companies growing organic soyabeans
Hampshire Firm develops non-genetically engineered Soya for growing in UK
Dorchester Guardian on genetically modified foods
The Future Viability of Agriculture in Hampshire - study of farming and rural issues at end of 20th Century
Meeting the challenge of sustainable land management: the case of Coleshill (FIG World Congress, Brighton '98)
Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) Alliance
Oprah wins mad cow case - February 98
Guardian "Food Fascism" Report - March 98
Compassion in World Farming
Sustainable Agriculture Network Homepag (US)
 The Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture (US)
Organic Ecology (computer) Systems (OES)

Developing world

Agriculture: country profiles in Africa, Asia and Latin America
SAAN, The Southern Alternative Agriculture Network, Thailand
Genetic diversity and disease control in rice - China
Crop strength through diversity - Prof Martin Wolfe
Vandana Shiva - sustainable agriculture research web site
To Feed a Growing World Family, Fund Science for Farmers
'Magic bean' transforms agriculture in Central America
Oxfam America - Cuba: Going Against the Grain - a new model of Cuban agriculture
Sahara desert frontiers turn green

Food chain structure

MARKET POWER IN AGRICULTURAL MARKETS: - SOME ISSUES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Agribusiness concentration, not low prices, is behing global farm crisis - World Watch Institute
Coporate food chain consolidation and the destruction of farming communities - NFU US report
Time Magazine - sustainable agriculture - Will We Still Eat Meat?

Enlightened Agriculture - 'Crisis and opportunity in North American agriculture'

NLPWessex Special Report - Inaugural World Food and Farming Congress - Dec 2002

"Pesticides. You either love them or hate them. But when it comes to pesticide residues, the consumer is not quite so differentiating. They either hate them, or really hate them."
Caroline Harris, MAFF Pesticides Safety Directorate

Back to Home Page