Alternative farming and agricultural policy in the USA
1992
Petersen, L. (Oldenburg (Germany))
Growing concern about environmental impacts of modern agriculture and food safety problems in the United States have to some extent changed the traditional public view of farmers as land stewards in the course of the last two decades. "Alternatives" in agriculture gained more widespread recognition in the environmental policy arena as concepts for a "sustainable" food production. This article tries to explain "alternative agriculture" as a spectrum of farming systems and briefly outlines its economic role in the american farm economy. The integration of environmental issues in the agricultural policy agenda is prerequisite for its increased political importance. Major obstacles regarding the transition towards alternative agriculture production methods are some federal commodity program rules. The 1990 Fram Bill results in only some minor changes of these rules but introduced "National Standards for Organic Foods". This new provision might lead to some considerable improvement in the marketing of so-called "organic products".
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