Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.49.2.2
Organic Agriculture – Indicator of Social Values
Jelena Puđak
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Nataša Bokan
orcid.org/0000-0002-0094-025X
; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb
Abstract
In the light of increasing environmental problems, it is necessary to recognize social moments which comprise and/or arise from those very same problems. One of those moments is food production which contributed to environmental and social problems mainly
through conventional agriculture. Organic agriculture is an alternative approach to food production which implies specific social relations, and relations to the nature and technology. Although conventional food production is still predominant, organic agriculture is a fast spreading practice, as a way to a healthier life, as surviving strategies for rural and in some parts urban population, and as a worldview. In this paper we will try to provide answers about facts organic agriculture emerges from, about its forms, and about the implications it arises. We will also induce environmental, economic and socio-cultural benefits of organic agriculture that should be, given the proportion of environmental devastation, one of the
most relevant issues. Ways in which organic agriculture is part of broader, alternative social movement and lifestyle will be considered as well. Finally, we will analyse the state and the possibilities of organic agricultural production in the world and in Croatia. Conclusion
of the article is twofold. On one hand, due to paradigmatic adherence, adoption of alternative ideas is slow, and very often unacceptable; on the other hand, organic agriculture is an activity and a social value which expands worldwide, and therefore it is substantial to identify it both theoretically and socially.
Keywords
organic agriculture; sustainability; agricultural production; conventional agriculture; alternative social movements
Hrčak ID:
74928
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2011.
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