who furthered the organic movement, including Lady Eve Balfour (the Haughley Experiment, The Living Soil). His 1940 book, An Agricultural Testament, is a classic organic farming text. Such practices were further promoted by J.I. Rodale and his son Robert, in the 1940s and onward, who published the Organic Gardening and Farming magazine and many texts on organic farming. Howard is grouped, along with Rudolf Steiner, Sir Robert McCarrison, and Richard St. Barbe Baker as one of the key progenitors of the Western organic agriculture movement.
J.I. Rodale was strongly influenced by Sir Albert Howard. In 1940, J.I. and his wife, Anna, bought a run-down, 63-acre farm in Emmaus, Pennsylvania that became the site of Rodale's first experiments with organic agriculture. The Rodale Institute was founded by J.I., then run by his son Robert Rodale from 1971 until his untimely death (car accident) in 1990. Robert’s daughter, Maria Rodale, is now the CEO and Chairman of the Rodale Institute, which has been conducting ground-breaking research on regenerative agriculture since 1947.
Through their 40-year-old flagship study, the Farming Systems Trial, they have scientifically proven that organic agriculture performs as well as, if not better than, conventional agriculture. They are demonstrating the power of nutrient-dense organic food to prevent and reverse diseases and are working to create economic vitality in rural communities by training tomorrow’s organic farmers. Furthermore, they are partnering with schools, hospitals, and other community organizations to help people make informed choices about the food they eat and how that impacts their health.
My father was an avid fan of J.I. Rodale, so I grew up with Rodale’s organic farming influence and still have all his original books.
Agronomist and author, William Albrecht (1888-1974) with four degrees, was Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, Emeritus Professor of soils, and a foremost authority in the relation of soil fertility to human health. Albrecht was a prolific author of reports, books, and articles that span several decades, starting with his reports on nitrogen fixation and soil inoculation in 1919.
On his death, he left his research papers to his friend Charles Walters (1926-2009) who promoted Albrecht’s work by founding the magazine Acres USA, which continues to be at the center of the ideal soil movement and is the current owner of the research papers.
INDUSTRIAL ADVANCES AND WAR CHEMICALS
Advances in biochemistry, engineering, and the gasoline-powered engine rapidly and profoundly changed farming. Farms went from no tractors in 1910 to over three million by 1950. Fields grew bigger and the need for manual labor and working animals (e.g., oxen, horses, and mules) was significantly reduced. Machinery, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and computers created the mechanization of agriculture. Research in plant breeding led to the commercialization of hybrid seeds and processed nitrogen fertilizer. These advances have had both positive and negative effects globally on our environment and health.
After WW 1 & 2 the chemical/military industrial-complex conducted a deceitful campaign to dupe farmers and the public about their WMD chemicals so they could dispose of them. For example, the NZ company that made Agent Orange (Paraquat) for the Vietnam War, had tons of of it left over, so they sprayed it all over the north island of NZ and shipped it to their Pacific island colonies to be used as a weed killer. It left behind a trail of dead soil and high rates of cancer. It didn’t stop there. Then came RoundUp containing glyphosate, along with many others.
Another very toxic industrial chemical disposed of under false claims is neurotoxin and endocrine- disrupting fluoride (waste from aluminum and fertilizer production), dumped into our drinking water under the guise of preventing dental decay.
The movement to revert to organic farming gained momentum when returning soldiers, consumers, and farmers started to experience high incidences of birth defects, cancer, hormonal disruptions, and degenerative and chronic diseases from all the chemicals being used in war, our food supply, and the environment.
The demand for organic food was stimulated in the 1960s by the publication of Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson, which documented the extent of environmental damage caused by insecticides.
We now know even more about the harm from these neurotoxic, cancer-causing, endocrine-disrupting chemicals. And, sadly, IQs are lower and over 54% of our children now suffer from chronic diseases. Congress and regulatory agencies have failed miserably to protect the population they are supposed to protect because of corruption and rampant conflicts of interest. Another example is the recent approval of Apeel to be used on our food. https://thehighwire.com/ark-videos/peeling-back-the-truth-on-apeel/
ORGANIC FARMING & HISTORY
BioDynamic, Permaculture, and Regenerative Agriculture are expansions of organic agriculture that go beyond sustainability. As the demand for organic food grew, so too did the attempt to hijack organic terms and the movement by powerful corporate industries desperate to hang on to their control of the global food commodity market.
Referring to industrial agriculture as
‘traditional’ agriculture is a misnomer. Traditional methods of organic farming existed long before the onset of industrial agriculture which started in the early 20th century. Thus, organic agriculture is the true ‘traditional’ farming that has been practiced for thousands of years.
The history of agriculture in India dates back to the Neolithic period. India’s ancient organic methods greatly contributed to modern organic agriculture methods, despite or because of colonialism. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs.
The Indian Economic Survey 2020-21, states that agriculture employed more than 50% of the Indian workforce and contributed 20.2% to the country's GDP. At the same time, radical transitions, industrial corporations, and GMO gangsters have devastated small Indian farms with their obsession for dominance and control. Hence, thousands of farmers have committed suicide because of it.
During the Neolithic period (7000 BCE-3300 BCE), also known as the first agricultural revolution, there was a wide-scale transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and settlement. This transformation produced villages, towns, specialized food-crop cultivation, irrigation, deforestation, and production of surplus food. While population and food increased it did not always correlate with an offspring’s growth and development or good health because of a reliance on a limited variety of staple crops. For example, maize is deficient in amino acids, Lysine, and tryptophan and is a poor source of iron. Plus, the phytic acid in corn inhibits nutrient absorption, especially of calcium, iron, and zinc.
Organic farming recognizes and remediates the harm done by industrial farming and husbandry that uses chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, GMOs, and antibiotics.