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Abstract
The potential to meet global food demand fully exists through global
development of the high-technology (HT), high-intensity type of agriculture and
food processing system prevailing in developed countries. This system
unfortunately is also responsible for much natural resource degradation,
environmental damage and ecological imbalance. Meantime the Earth's human
population continues to grow, placing ever-increasing demand on global natural
resources, not only for food but also for living and recreational space. A more
sustainable agri-food system must evolve.
Sustainability is complex, and ought to be approached from a multidisciplinary
perspective and compromise sought in resolving the obvious conflicts
amongst biological, environmental, ecological, socio-economic, and other
individual disciplines and competing philosophies. These form the basis for
comparing three different agricultural production systems: high technology (HT);
reduced input (RI), and organic (ORG). The three systems are compared empirically using primary data from farms in each group in southern Ontario, Canada.
HT systems prevalent in Canada is highly productive, but its sustainability
is questionable. It was concluded that the HT system should not be the model for
the future. The ORG system is the least inimical to the environment, ecology, and
human operators. It was concluded that the ORG system is sustainable except for
its requirement for extensive use of land. The RI system causes minimal
environmental and ecological damage. It is most profitable and is supportive of
rural farm community viability. It was concluded that the RI system holds the
best potential for meeting overall sustainability for the global agri-food system.