Sustainability Conversations ... Man cannot own land

"Agriculture can never be an exact science. There is an inescapable kinship between farming and art. For farming depends as much on character, devotion, imagination, freedom and a sense of structure as on plain knowledge or academia. It is a practical art," says Alan Rosenberg.

"When one looks at the practices of modern Agriculture one sees that they are working out of the mineral kingdom of nature. This is a lifeless kingdom immersed in the physical. For a true sense of Agriculture we need a balance, a natural occurring symbiosis between the four kingdoms of nature. These are the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and the kingdom of man. Life begetting life."

"The disadvantages of not being true to the above is the situation we find ourselves in today. The lack of a true cultural understanding that it is man’s birthright to have access to food; that it is a spiritual fact that man cannot own land but merely be a custodian for a period of time; that the earth needs to be fed not the plant; that as with any other organism if it is healthy it will have a natural resistance to pests and disease."

A healthy organism can only flourish if it is fed out of the living. It can only be sustained out of the living. The task of the farmer is to immerse himself as far as possible in this area. It seems an almost obvious solution that this can only be done out of what is described as Organic Agriculture.

"Fundamental to this is the direct relationship between the health of the soil and the health of the people who feed from it. This is known fact. There is a proven difference between food grown conventionally and that, which is organically grown. There can be no doubt that nutrition is the basis of any man. If we receive a healthier diet from nature’s way of growing would any sensible person not choose that way? Can man be so clever yet so unwise. There should be no doubt that the present way of Agriculture is bound to fail as it is not self-sustaining and is a materialistic way of working within nature."


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On the iStart2 Radio Show this week we chat to Alan Rosenberg about Agroecology and the evolution of Agriculture. What are the challenges that we as society face in farming? Is Agriculture an Art? How do we enable people to become connected? How do we collaborate to share? Hear what Alan has to say!

Tune in to the Start2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869.  

 

Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za.