Food is taste and nourishment. Food is family and culture. Food is science, identity and religion. Food is connection. But do we know where our food comes from, how it is grown and by whom? The answer is a revolution in ecological farming.
Unlike our current broken industrial agriculture model, eco-farming answers these questions as a food system, with people and farmers at its heart.
Eco-farming combines modern science and innovation with respect for nature and biodiversity. It ensures healthy farming and healthy food. It protects the soil, the water and the climate. It does not contaminate the environment with chemical inputs or use genetically engineered crops. And it places people and farmers—consumers and producers, rather than the corporations who control our food now—at its very heart.
It is a vision of sustainability and food sovereignty in which food is grown with health and safety first and where control over food and farming rests with local communities, rather than transnational corporations.
Seven Basic Principles of Eco-Farming
- Food sovereignty: Producers and consumers, not corporations, should control the food chain and determine how food is produced.
- Rewarding rural livelihoods: Eco-agriculture is instrumental in rural development, food security and fighting poverty.
- Smarter food production and yields: Eco-agriculture can create higher yields to help feed the world.
- Biodiversity: Promoting diversity in crops, instead of monocultures like corn and soy, is essential to protecting nature.
- Sustainable soil: Soil fertility can improve using eco-farming methods and refraining from chemical fertilizers and inputs.
- Ecological pest protection: Farmers can control pest damage and weeds effectively through natural means instead of chemical pesticides.
- Food Resilience: Diverse and resilient agriculture, not monoculture crops, is the best way to protect communities from shocks from climate and food prices.