Maarten was invited to give a paper about the health outcomes of organic-biological farm practices at the 3^rd International Conference on The Science of Nutrition in Medicine and Healthcare in Sydney, Australia, May 3-5, 2013.

The conference brochure states that the overarching theme of the 2013 Nutrition in Medicine conference is ‘Modifying the price of progress‘. We live in a fast-paced, 24/7 society driven by technological advancement with predictable effects on human health. Progress may come at a price, but the cost to human health is often identifiable and modifiable. Nutritional science, genetics and genomics, and clinical application of this science through nutritional and environmental medicine, hold the key to the underlying causes of illness and disease and are core to good medical practice. 

Maarten takes this opportunity to raise the awareness of agroecological farming outcomes to scientists and professionals in medicine and healthcare, including questioning the safety of GM food.

Higher nutrient density with agroecological farming | Abstract

World-wide industrial farming practices are degrading soils and bringing about dependency on the use of more synthetic fertilisers and chemicals, which increase chemical contamination of foods and the environment. Their continuous use affects the health of humans and soils. It decimates the abundance and diversity of soil-microbes which greatly lowers the nutrient density of food. Synthetics in food are also increasingly associated with chronic diseases.

Soils are the foundation of life on Earth. Through degradation and urbanisation we are losing one percent of the world’s arable land per annum. Most attention in the news and science focus on issues of human health, food security, biodiversity and climate change, usually without their direct connections to soil health and associated food quality.

Healthy soils and healthy humans are both dependent on an abundance and diversity of beneficial microbes. Producers’ soil awareness and consumers’ healthy food demand are now leading more to farming practices that use far less synthetic fertilizers and chemicals, or none (ie. organic). Such agroecological, low-external input farming improves food quality, soil health, landscape biodiversity and farm profitability. Associated soil carbon sequestration, reduction in GHG emissions and increased soil water retention help slow global warming.

Agroecological farming is still being treated as ‘alternative’ and receives little R&D as it works against vested interests. It has, however, received science-based endorsements in several UN agency reports as the way to feed the increasing world population. This without a need for Genetically Modified (GM) food whose long-term safety hasn’t been proven.

Consumers, supported by nutritionists, are driving the process of change. An important skill consumers, gardeners and farmers do need to (re)develop and use is the capacity to be biosensitive, that is, to trust nature and to be in tune with, sensitive to, and respectful of the processes of life.

Presentation by Maarten Stapper for the Sustainable Farming for a Sustainable City Forum at Richmond, NSW on 23 September, organised by NSW Farmers and the Sydney Food Fairness Alliance.

‘Healthy Ecosystems for Sustainable Urban Food Provisioning‘

Both producers and consumers are becoming aware of negative impacts through food on personal health and the environment. They see a lack of transparency, sustainability and resilience in our mainstream food system and demand change. Consumer demand for ethical & ecological food, chemical-free, minimal processed, free-range, grass-fed and local, however, is leading to changes in food provisioning through farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture and urban farming. Thus connecting rural with urban, and local production with consumption. Food sovereignty is then required for citizens, which entails the right to produce, process, sell, purchase and consume local foods of their choosing.

Urban agroecological farming brings the experience of food production closest to consumers and creates healthy, green, productive environments with gardens in community, streets, backyards and schools. Food is produced and socio-economic activity is generated by replacing the non-edible grass-shrubs-trees ground covers which use resources. Thus producing fruits, vegetables and (small) animal products on vacant land, and above all, keeping fertile lands from urban expansion. Organic city wastes can be recycled, composted, so minerals and carbon can be returned to food production rather than landfills, atmosphere and oceans.

Current modes of food provisioning have originated from cheap oil through industrialisation of food production and processing, and the increasing food miles of globalised markets. It has lead to ever decreasing health of people, degrading soils, depleting water resources, diminishing biodiversity of landscapes and exacerbates global warming. Science, institutions and governments though keep following the current path with support of multinational corporations. They tinker at the edges and treat symptoms rather than the cause of problems in these complex systems.

Food sovereignty can be achieved with a transformation in food production from industrial to agroecological, which minimises use of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals. Agroecological farming has been endorsed by UN agencies as the way to feed the world. Strengths are the greater use of local resources, knowledge and skills with linkages in the community. Such production systems produce healthy food from regenerated soils as it restores the water cycle, mineral cycle and biodiversity of landscapes. Associated soil carbon sequestration, reduction in emissions and increased soil water retention slow global warming.

Successful transition requires governments at all levels to create an enabling environment for production, trading and consumption of local food by communities and small business. Education of students, consumers and producers in preventative health of self, plants, animals and earth is critical. Local solutions for global healing!

Healthy Soils = Healthy Food = Healthy People by Maarten was published in Clean Food Organics, Issue 13: p66-69.