Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract

AbstractA logical analysis of the concept of sustainability shows that many current uses of the word derive their ethical content from theories of development rather than sustainability as such. When the aphorism equating sustainability with that which “meets the needs of current generations while allowing future generations to meet their needs” is examined, meeting present day needs becomes a necessary condition for satisfying the conditions for sustainability. Thus no form of agriculture that allows food needs anywhere to go unmet can be judged sustainable. Although this formulation is appealing to food movement activists seeking social justice, it is inconsistent with the view advocated by critics of industrial farming methods who have claimed that inadequate soil and water conservation (not to mention polluting and climate-forcing impacts of agrichemicals) are the factors making current food systems unsustainable. An alternative systems analysis is offered as more faithful to the conceptual content of sustainability as such. One consequence of this analysis is that some sustainable systems may be producing social evils rather than goods.