by Karyn B Jules

Created on: April 18, 2009   Last Updated: April 06, 2011

The term "Organic farming" was first coined in 1940 by agriculturalist / author Walter Northbourne in his book "Look to the Land". The book was written in response to a recommendation in 1924 by Dr Rudolf Steiner for an holistic approach to farming wherein "all living beings can survive in harmony and peaceful co-existence". His vision saw the farm being a living organ capable of sustaining itself entirely. The term may be relatively new, but the holistic farming methods it describes were practiced as a matter of course for thousands of years by those who worked the land before synthetic fertilizers brought about a new age of chemical agriculture.

As civilization grew and moved outward into larger communities, farming underwent many changes in an effort to keep up an adequate supply of food to meet the demands of a growing world population. Small family owned and operated farms growing a variety of crops for local supply gave way to large, intensive single crop producing businesses supplying a much wider customer base. This type of intensive farming required heavy use of fertilizers to replenish soil nutrients and ensure good crop production year after year.

Synthetic fertilizers were developed and tested on large farms with very good results as far as crop yields and ease of use. As more varieties of fertilizers with differing mineral and essential element ratios were developed and brought onto the market, manufacturers and farmers believed they had found the perfect solution to the problem of soil fertility. Chemical herbicides and pesticides followed soon after, as farming methods and the build up of chemical residue in soil caused imbalances in micro-organism and insect populations. During the early part of the 20th century, chemical based agricultural products were being used at the rate of hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year.

With this widespread use of man made chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides came a slow realization of their potential hazard to the environment. Small groups of scientists and agriculturalists began to conduct studies on the harmful effects of these chemicals on local waterways and soil. At the same time, a movement towards counteracting the damage was started.

Generally regarded as the founder of the organic movement in the early 1930s, English agriculturalist Sir Albert Howard was well known for his philosophy on sustainable farming. The basis of this, which he called "The law of return", was in the recycling of

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