Organic Farming: A Review of Trends and Boundaries

Organic farming is reaching a 100-year milestone. This chapter questions whether it has been a century of continuity or of uneven growth. It suggests that a disjuncture contributed to new directions in philosophy and practice and a move away from the traditional ideal of an organic farm. This period has also seen the global expansion of organic farming with opportunities for international marketing requiring worldwide systems of organic certification. Procedural and cost barriers have made existing certification schemes inaccessible for small-scale producers resulting in the development of alternatives. Meanwhile movements concerned with transforming agriculture have proliferated. Boundary theory could help to clarify the position of organic farming, with the possibility of adopting 'transformation of the global food system' as an agreed boundary object.