The Father of Organics

by
Dag Falck, Organic Program Manager 
Nature’s Path Foods

Sir Albert Howard is recognized as the father of the organic farming movement and was a man many years ahead of his time.  The organic farming concepts he spoke about and developed into systems in the 1930’s and 40’s are still considered to be on the avant-garde of modern organic farming practices. 

Howard believed that the key driving factor for agriculture and for human life on earth had to be soil fertility.  He wrote, "Can mankind regulate its affairs so that its chief possession -- the fertility of the soil -- is preserved? On the answer to this question the future of civilization lies."

Have we made any progress in this direction?  The answer is both yes and no.  Organic agriculture systems do, to a large degree, still follow the principles he taught.  However, modern chemical dependent agriculture, which represents the majority of farming practice, has gone in the opposite direction from his advice for sustainable agriculture.

Howard was such a forward thinker that it’s hard to believe in the 30’s and 40’s he was already paying close attention to one of our biggest agricultural challenges today: the loss of soil fertility and the loss of soil by erosion.  Howard contended in his book An Agricultural Testament , that such losses can only be repaired by maintaining soil fertility through the composting process. In addition, he stressed the importance of a little-known nutritional factor, the mycorrhizal association, which is the living fungous bridge between humus in the soil and the sap of plants.

Sir Howard’s work has influenced a great number of farmers and researchers including the late JJ Rodale. It was the reading of An Agricultural Testament which led Rodale to publish his first copy of Organic Farming and Gardening (later Organic Gardening and Farming and now The New Farm ), the bible of the now wide-spread organic movement in America. Rodale wrote; "In the reading of An Agricultural Testament, I was affected so profoundly that I could not rest until I purchased a farm. The reading of this great book showed me how simple the practice of the organic method could be."

Howard's writings and work remain the cornerstone of the organic farming movement. "Sir Howard's work is based upon the premise that good agricultural practice is based upon the observation and the use of natural processes," wrote farmer-poet Wendell Berry in The Last Whole Earth Catalog . "Sir Howard's discoveries and methods and their implications are given in detail in An Agricultural Testament. They are of enormous usefulness to gardeners and farmers, and to anyone else who may be interested in the history and the problems of land use. But aside from its practical worth, Sir Howard's book is valuable for his ability to place his facts and insights within the perspectives of history. This book is a critique of civilizations, judging them not by their artifacts and victories but by their response to “the sacred duty of handing over unimpaired to the next generation the heritage of a fertile soil.'"

If our modern day agriculture would put into practice even a small part of what Sir Howard taught us about sustainable farming, we would begin to reverse the damage we have caused to our planet through pollution and global warming.  He truly was a man ahead of his time, and we could now realize he gave us the blueprint for not only providing healthy food but also for maintaining a truly sustainable environment.

Links:
Sir Albert Howard:
Most excellent resources including An Agricultural Testament available for reading at:
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/howard.html

Journey to Forever:  Excellent website with organic and sustainability information:
http://journeytoforever.org/

Whole Earth Catalog:
http://www.biologydaily.com/biology/Whole_Earth_Catalog

The New Farm:
http://www.newfarm.org/