What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainable produce is a relatively new idea.  It gives shoppers interested in purchasing organic produce an alternative option at a lower cost, and sometimes a higher rate of availability.  According to the Food Alliance, sustainable produce (although not the same as organic produce) must meet the following criteria:

• Use a range of natural pest controls, such as beneficial insects, careful weather monitoring and scouting
• Use the least toxic pesticides when natural methods don’t work
• Improve soil by natural methods, such as crop rotation and cover crops
• Protect clean drinking water and fish habitat by providing buffer zones in riparian areas
• Provide wildlife habitat and encouraging residency by growing some year round vegetative cover for shelter and food
• Take into consideration quality of life issues for their farm workers and their communities when making daily farm management decisions
• Continually improve their farming practices to make them more environmentally sound, socially just, and economically viable.