What has gone right with organic certification? Well, it means something now, and its not really vague or misleading. You need to hold up to specific standards in order to market your product as organic. At the same time some of the standards are very hard to meet. Its also given rise to other labeling practices, like “natural” and others.
Where is it going to go in 25 years? That is a tough one. In all honestly I think that we should consider abandoning it entirely. There shouldn’t be organic standards, there should just be standards. Sustainable practices that all need to abide by, because we shouldn’t tolerate wasteful practices, or practices that result in destroying the environment.

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From my perspective as a KSU student in the horticulture department, when I read what Fred said in chapter 7, about the types of students he classifies, I fit into the second category. It could be because I really don’t care about preparing for a job (which might be a bad thing). I am more interested in solving problems and trying to figure out ways to help mankind and the world.
Hopefully that doesn’t make me sound like a jackass. I really don’t know where to start. This organic farming class, in combination with some lectures on sustainability, by Dr. Ben Champion, influenced me on where I should be focusing my attention. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be as much here at KSU in the horticulture department in terms of sustainability as I would like. My best option may be to major or minor in environmental conservation. I don’t know if that addresses the larger issues. Like you said, people need to collaborate with other fields. An author named Daniel Quinn talked about the same thing in his book Ishmael… or it might have been the Story of B…. Specialization is cool as long as we remember that all things are interwoven, and that even what one person does effects others..

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Has no-till farming replaced the function of cover crops?

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