The Natural Law Party

Contact: Mr John Burns, Party Leader

A Shift to Natural Agriculture and Healthy Food

Irish agriculture is in a constant state of crisis because of distorted government and EU policies that often support profits while putting human health and the environment at risk. It is also at risk because of the increasingly unnatural manipulation of food production.

The future of Irish agriculture depends on its sustainability - that is, the ability of agricultural policies and practices to preserve and strengthen the farming economy, ecology, and community for future generations.

Irish agricultural policies need to foster farming practices which result in the development of agricultural ecosystems that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. The aim of these policies should be a style of farming capable of providing Irish people with healthy food and other raw materials produced in a sustainable, humane and pollution-free way. High-quality food and healthy diets play a part in reducing disease and medical costs (WHO, 1996). Short-term gain should never be allowed to compromise the future health and well being of the population and the ecological integrity of the environment.

Ireland also needs polices to increase and diversify rural employment, thereby bringing balance and vitality to country communities. Long-term, the goal should be to create a diversified, ecologically sustainable, aesthetically pleasing Irish countryside.

Farmers especially need training to align their lives with Natural Law. As a result, their skill and success in co-ordinating the myriad factors involved in crop production will increase, and the creativity and flexibility needed to design new and more ecologically sound farming will develop.

Agriculture is more than a business

Agriculture is more than a business; it is a way of life. The food produced by Irish farmers is basic to Ireland’s health and national security, and farmland itself is an irreplaceable resource vital to sustenance of life. Therefore, the long-term viability of agriculture needs to be ensured.

The present economic framework of Irish agricultural policy is dominated by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP encourages overproduction and wasteful food surpluses, using high levels of external chemical and energy inputs. It favours large producers to a greater extent than small family farms.

In recent years, Irish farmers have lost their traditional esteem as the nourishing parents of the nation. Overburdened with bureaucracy and a succession of crises such as BSE, they are an ageing population showing increasing symptoms of stress and ill health. The high price of land, distorted by the effects of CAP, makes it difficult for young people to enter farming. Mechanisation and the trend to non-local marketing and processing has decreased employment opportunities and led to rural depopulation.

Most Farmers Are Environmentalists

Most farmers are environmentalists. They wish to hand their farms on, after retirement, in a better condition than they began to work them. But in order to make a decent living, they are forced to use chemical fertilisers and pesticides that endanger their health and threaten the land and waterways. For the same reason, overgrazing, over-cultivation, mono cropping, and other non-sustainable, short-term agricultural methods are frequently employed.

Agriculture has undergone a transformation in Ireland, from largely self-sufficient, traditional farming systems to industrialised systems reliant on external inputs of fuel energy and chemicals, and which produce considerable amounts of non-recycled waste. However, this type of farming has given rise to a succession of food safety scares, of which BSE is the most dramatic and costly example, and a deep concern about the long-term effects of pesticide residues in food and water.

There are also serious concerns about the environmental effects of our agricultural system, such as water pollution or the contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gases and global warming. Industrialised farming is giving rise to environmental imbalances, and with its reliance on fossil fuel energy, it is not sustainable long-term.

An increase in pig farms and poultry operations has increased livestock concentrations, confinement housing, and separation of animals from their natural environments. As a result, these animals are more prone to disease; therefore they need more antibiotics; and consequently their wastes become a health hazard instead of a natural aid to soil fertility.

In addition, to ensure maximum weight gain in their livestock, farmers commonly inject antibiotics into healthy animals. Many scientists suspect that this practice helps create bacteria and viruses that are resistant or immune to antibiotics. Since antibiotic-resistant germs have become a major health problem, this practice should be stopped.

200,000 Fatalities Are Estimated To Occur Annually

World wide, three million cases of acute pesticide poisoning, leading to more than 200,000 fatalities are estimated to occur annually. There is also a great deal of concern about potential damage to human health arising from a continual long-term, low-level pesticide exposure. In particular, concern has been raised about possible cancers, genetic damage, foetal damage, various neurobehavioral and neurological disorders, as well as allergies and other immuno-regulatory disorders associated with low-level exposure to pesticides. {The BMA Guide to Pesticides, Chemicals, and Health. Edward Arnold, 1992; Robbins C: Poisoned Harvest: A Consumers Guide to Pesticide Use and Abuse, Victor Gollanz Ltd 300-313, 1991}

Recent research has also shown that nitrate fertilisers may decrease the nutritional value of crops, manganese and zinc being particularly affected {Nutrition and Health 1992, 8:1-6.}. Almost 40% of pesticides currently in use are linked with at least one adverse effect. {The London Food Commission: Food adulteration and how to beat it: Unwin Paperbacks 1998.}

Resistance of insect pests and weeds to pesticides and herbicides is another increasing problem, indicating a need for a change in crop protection strategies. Genetic engineering has emerged as an attempt to extend the fight against nature for a few more years using newer weapons. However, this may have a far higher cost than anything we can now imagine.

Industrialised agriculture also involves enormous hidden costs, which are not included in the cost of food. These include the money spent to clean up polluted water supplies caused by agrochemicals. In addition the taxpayer directly supports other costs, such as the cost of food crises and the cost of restoring the countryside.

Genetic Engineering

The two primary applications of genetic engineering in agriculture are the development of herbicide tolerant crops and the development of crops resistant to pests. A third application is to develop plant varieties with modified functional or nutritional properties. This category consists of novelty products that do not offer uniquely valuable solutions to critical agricultural or nutritional needs. They are superfluous.

The other two categories of agricultural genetic engineering products also turn out to be unnecessary. Through the judicious use of sustainable agricultural strategies, such as crop rotation, crop diversification, and natural pest control methods, the objectives that scientists hope to achieve through genetic manipulations can be accomplished much more simply, safely, and cost effectively. In addition, sustainable methods can be implemented immediately. There is no need to wait for scientists to complete many more years of research and development.

Sustainable Agricultural Strategies

A wide range of methods is available today that can be used to restructure agriculture as a self-sustaining system that supports health and the environment. The central principle of sustainable agriculture is to produce food and fibre for human needs using methods that can be sustained indefinitely. The key to this approach is to restore, preserve, and enhance soil fertility using only renewable resources and methods that do not impact negatively on the environment.

Scientific research has identified numerous effective alternative-farming techniques, including use of fertilisers derived from renewable resources, soil-protective tillage methods, crop diversification, crop rotation, and natural methods of pest control. These methods can produce yields as high as current mono-cropping methods that use primarily chemical approaches {Alternative Agriculture. National Research Council (US), 1989.} Yet sustainable methods are safer and less costly, and do not expend renewable resources. The effectiveness of these make methods make it unnecessary to resort to the use of agrochemicals, genetic engineering, or other damaging practices, and because these methods are sustainable over the long term, they do not erode the basis of life for future generations.

• Renewable Fertilisers

  Fertilisers derived from renewable resources, such as manure, agricultural wastes and cover crops, free the farmer from dependence on chemical fertilisers. The manufacture of chemical fertilisers is extremely energy intensive and therefore depletes petroleum and other non-renewable energy resources.

  Healthy soil contains a rich and complex mixture of organic material, micro-organisms, and other small organisms, in addition to minerals. These all contribute to the blend of nutrients found in the soil. Organic fertilisers enhance fertility by enriching this mixture and by contributing to the growth and vitality of soil organisms.

  In contrast, chemical fertilisers contribute high concentrations of specific nutrients, but disturb the balance of the soil and are actually toxic to many soil organisms. The overall result of using chemical fertilisers is, therefore, to degrade the vitality and fertility of soil.

  Knowledge of a few isolated laws of chemistry is not an adequate basis for enhancing soil fertility or agricultural productivity in the long term. By interfering with the complex network of interactions among living organisms and the diversity of organic and mineral constituents of the soil, more harm is done than good. Fortunately, through application of the holistic and sustainable agricultural strategies these problems can be rectified.

• Crop Rotation and Diversification

  Crop rotation and crop diversification work together to fight erosion, keep pests under control, and improve soil fertility. By planting different crops in successive years, it is possible to prevent the depletion of specific nutrients, which can occur if the same crop is cultivated in that field year after year. By including in the rotation cycle cover crops—such as legumes, which harbour symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria—nitrogen and other soil nutrients can even be enhanced. Crop diversification has also been shown to be beneficial economically. It helps to stabilise and increase farm income while lessening dependence of farmers on subsidies. Greater income stability comes through spreading the risk of price fluctuation over a number of different crops.

• Soil Conservation

  Soil-protective methods such as reduced tillage, counter ploughing, field terracing, and strip cropping all contribute significantly to a sustainable agricultural strategy. By minimising the working of the soil before planting, removal of natural protective cover from the soil is prevented. This reduces erosion while maintaining crop yields, yet requires less investment of energy, labour, and equipment. Contour ploughing, field terracing, and strip cropping all block the transport of soil by run-off. Together, these methods preserve the most essential agricultural resource, the soil, and also reduce farm expenses.

• Natural Strategies for Pest Control

  Natural methods of pest control use diverse strategies to protect crops from pests—insects, weeds, pathogens, and other organisms. For instance, crop rotation and intercropping—the growing of two or more species in close proximity—are very effective in keeping insect populations under control. Another important strategy is to use natural predators to reduce insect populations.

  The basic strategy of sustainable approaches to pest control is prevention. Healthy plants resist pests and pathogens. By restoring and maintaining balance and vitality in crop plants, they are naturally less susceptible to insects and diseases. A similar strategy is used in weed control. Proper care and nurturing improves and enhances the health of the soil, the balance of nutrients, micro-organisms and other soil components. Maintaining balance in the soil enables it to resist the damaging influences of weeds. Sustainable agricultural strategies take into account seasonal cycles and other timing considerations to minimise weed and pathogen damage and to maximise productivity. For instance, planting is often at times to give crop plants an advantage over weeds.

A More Intelligent and Creative Social Climate

Extensive objective research indicates that sustainable agricultural strategies make sense. For instance, a study found that corn and soybean yields actually increase after a transition to sustainable cropping systems. It further found that shifting toward sustainable farming methods through appropriate policy changes can raise agricultural productivity, reduce fiscal costs of maintaining farm incomes, and lower environmental costs in agriculture {“Paying the Farm Bill: U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture,” World Resources Institute, 1991}. Further research confirms the long-term profitability of sustainable agricultural practices{“Texas Agriculture: Growing a Sustainable Economy,”American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, Texas Department of Agriculture 1 1987; 153, 1990}.

Sustainable agriculture is clearly good for food production and farm economy, good for health and nutrition, and good for environments. Sustainable methods have been available for years, yet they have not been widely adopted. Why is this?

It is due to choices that are made by farmers, by government leaders and, ultimately, by the general public. Therefore implementing more life-supporting agricultural policies requires an enhancement of society’s breadth of comprehension, creativity, and decision-making ability.

The Natural Law Party believes that sustainable agricultural systems will neither be created nor supported in Ireland unless there is a more intelligent and creative social climate. Research has shown that group practice of Natural Law technologies—Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying--dissolves social stress and enlivens collective consciousness. This leads to expanded comprehension and improved decision-making ability in society as a whole. It also creates a social climate in which leaders can make decisions that are more intelligent and creative.

Forty-two independent research studies have repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach over the last 20 years. This research indicates that the technology will enable political leaders, and all others who influence agricultural policy and practice, to discriminate more precisely among agricultural options and therefore choose safer and more effective approaches. In such a climate, sustainable agricultural practices will flourish, and dangerous high-tech approaches, such as genetic engineering will be avoided.

The Farmer as Manager

The professional performance of farmers is critical for the welfare of society and of future generations, as well as for their own financial success. Farmers manage one of our most essential resources—agricultural land—and they are responsible for producing our most critical commodity, the food we eat.

The success of contemporary farmers depends not only on mastering those agricultural skills which are traditionally gained through ‘on the job training,’ but also depends on mastering a wide range of modern managerial and technical skills. Farmers must understand financial planning, market forces, and new and highly technical principles of soil chemistry and weed and pest management, as well as more traditional areas of knowledge, such as plant and animal breeding and the use and maintenance agricultural equipment.

Today’s farmers must have the ability to assess short and long-term benefits, and possible harmful effects, of new agricultural products. The decisions that they make are crucial, because these decisions influence not only the immediate productivity and profitability of their farms but also the health and welfare of those who consume their products and the long-term viability of the soil for future generations. Farmers must understand the social and economic forces acting on agriculture, as well as the natural forces of sun, wind, rain, and soil. They must integrate all of these factors in deciding what to plant and when, and how best to care for their fields. If rains are late, or crops fail, farmers are challenged to find creative solutions.

The Natural Law Party believes that Irish farmers need training in how to employ the skilled hand of Nature to quietly organise the infinitely complex network of factors influencing agricultural production. Training courses would include the TM Technique and Yogic Flying programmes designed to enliven the Unified Field of Natural Law in each individual’s consciousness, bringing greater support of Nature to farmers. With this training, farmers will spontaneously be able to work more advantageously with Nature, making better decisions for maximum yields and continuous enhancement of the land.

Research has found that the Transcendental Meditation technique and Yogic Flying increase creativity, productivity, intelligence, and energy; progressively develop higher states of consciousness; and bring more support of Nature to the individual. Additional published research findings on this programme which might be of interest to farmers include increased physiological and psychological adaptability, improved cardiovascular health, increased effectiveness, increased productivity and work satisfaction, reduced accidents and sickness, and improved quality of life in society.

The research reviewed makes it clear that the Transcendental Meditation technique provides the farmer with valuable new resources—better health and vitality, greater creativity, and enhanced clarity of thinking. The result will be more appropriate and effective use of Natural Law, leading to wiser agricultural practices. Wise farming can produce more abundant and higher quality food, without resorting to technologies—such as agrochemical use and genetic engineering—which harm the environment and threaten human health.

Ireland needs to ensure

Ireland needs to ensure the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture while balancing the following goals:

• Ensuring an economical and healthy supply of high-quality food for consumers.
• Promoting health and longevity in farmers and in the population as a whole.
• Protecting natural resources and the environment.
• Cushioning farmers from the natural and financial instability unique to agriculture.
• Enabling farmers to better pursue financial profitability.
• Restoring the vitality of rural communities.

Proposals:

• A total reform of CAP, seeking long-term to minimise government subsidies and, in the medium-term, to design such interventions to encourage the transition to sustainable farming systems. There should be a more comprehensive subsidy structure put in place to help the shift to natural, organic agriculture.
• The State should promote organic agriculture and foster farming practices that result in the development of agricultural ecosystems that have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. Even without considering the many hidden costs of industrialised agriculture, organic agriculture that incorporates environmentally sound technological advances is now highly profitable. Therefore the shift to healthy organic production is entirely viable. It is a shift, which should be made urgently, before chemical agriculture and genetic engineering distort natural systems to a point where organic farming is impossible.
• Farm policies should be redirected to expand opportunities for new and existing farmers to prosper using sustainable systems that will enhance the health of the farmers and the population as a whole. Training and apprenticeship programmes, loans, grants, and other incentives should be devised to assist conventional and entry-level farmers to adopt organic or more sustainable systems. Demonstration farms, farmer-to-farmer networks and field tours, and studies of successful alternative farming systems should be used to hasten the adoption of more sustainable practices.
• Ireland should change its policy focus from ‘cheap (and unsafe) food for the consumer’ to ‘quality food for the consumer on a sustainable basis.’ Through research and education, the department of agriculture is in a unique position to influence (a) the practices of farmers and the food production industry, and (b)the food choices and demands of consumers:
• Field-tested techniques supported by scientific research, such as integrated pest management, integrated crop management, and organic farming, already exist for farming profitably on a low-input, sustainable basis{National Research Council(U.S.), Board of Agriculture, Alternative Agriculture (1989); Northwest Area Foundation, 2}. On this basis, agrochemical use could be reduced by 50% over the next 3-4 years. The Department of Agriculture should initiate and fund research into further development of alternative and chemical-free sustainable agricultural practices, with an emphasis on the development of systems and technologies that can be integrated economically and completely into all agricultural production. In addition, economists have developed accounting techniques that incorporate the costs of pollution and natural-resource depletion into agriculture’s balance sheet (Paying the Farm Bill: U.S. Agricultural Policy and the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture, World Resources Institute, 1991).
• Government legislation should make it a priority to disseminate these practices and techniques to the entire food production industry, showing farmers, producers, and consumers that sustainable food production practices are more cost-effective in the long run.
• Consumer demand drives agricultural supply. Changes in consumer preferences will create a shift towards less resource-intensive food production and a healthier food supply. (The organic food market is a fast growing segment of the food industry.) The Department of Agriculture should initiate and fund research investigating the impact of dietary change on health and longevity, and then launch a campaign to educate the public. For example, government should fund vigorous programmes to inform consumers that chemical-free food is possible now, at a reasonable price. Moreover, scientists have recently concluded that substantial public health and environmental benefits would likely result from more widespread use of vegetables, fruit, and plant based protein in the diet (“Health Effects and Prevalence of Vegetarianism,” The Western Journal of Medicine, 160: 465-471, 1994).
• Rural communities should be revitalised by decentralising government and public services and by favouring building programmes in small towns rather than the extension of city suburbs.
• Given the far-reaching ecological and health impacts of genetic engineering, a moratorium should be imposed on the release of genetically engineered organisms until the safety of such organisms can be firmly established.

Other Initiatives:

• Farm communities should seek new ways to keep ‘value added’ processes and profits as close as possible to the farm. Public policy should promote co-operative development of local processing facilities and diversification into the production of higher-value, specialised crops.
• Residues and wastes within the food system should be utilised to ensure the recycling of mineral nutrients, the avoidance of pollution, and the elimination of the need for fertilisers produced using fossil fuel energy.
• Home food production and processing should be encouraged, using gardens, allotments and urban farming.

The following should be encouraged:

• Tree planting in agro-forestery schemes for perennial food crops, for renewable biomass fuel, for timber, and for benefits in soil stabilisation, nutrient recycling, water management and climate improvement.
• The humane treatment of farm animals.
• The harmonious integration of landscape and people.
• Farmers markets to be encouraged, selling locally produced food {The consumption of locally produced and locally-processed food to be promoted, thereby reducing the costs and environmental damage associated with transport, and increasing the income and employment available in rural communities.}
• The development and testing of production systems matched to the landscape, climate and soil of each locality.

For the above recommendations to be successful, however, it is necessary—for the individual farmer and society as a whole—to develop consciousness and gain more support of Natural Law. Educational programmes should be offered to farmers to develop consciousness, thereby reducing stress, improving the farmer’s health and well-being, and promoting the skills to meet new management challenges. Such programmes will enable farmers to spontaneously make better decisions and better use of the environment, and will bring them greater support of Natural Law in all their activities.

Similarly a reduction of stress in collective consciousness of society would influence consumer choice towards higher-quality food, better health, and more life enhancing behaviour—life in accord with Natural Law.

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