1 Healing the Metabolic Rift Between Farming and Nature: Challenges Facing Organic Farmers

There is a growing global concern about food security and safety issues generally and the social and environmental impact of particular farming practices specifically. Recently, John Bellamy Foster (2001) reminded us that over a century ago, Karl Marx used the concept “metabolic rift ” to describe problems of ecological and social sustainability resulting from capitalist industry and agriculture. People working in the organic sector are currently working to establish an alternative type of farming, a ‘sustainable’ agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is said to emphasize: working with natural processes; and minimizing environmental damage through managing nutrient and water cycles, energy flows, and beneficial soil organisms. There is also an explicit connection made between healthy and safe food supplies and vibrant rural communities. In this paper, I examine the efforts of some members of today’s organic farming movement as they work to address the metabolic rift between farming and nature