A quick technorati search this morning gave me a general idea of an issue that is on many people’s minds: agriculture is responsible for a large percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. Just have a look here, here, here or here…four different bloggers posting independently of one another, on the same day, raising the same concern.

It’s true, industrial agriculture produces an enormous amount of waste. Fertilizers run off into waterways, feedlots produce unspeakable amounts of methane, and industrial chemicals require absurd amounts of petrochemical inputs. We don’t really need to debate this; this is well known. In fact, our federal government’s policies encourage it; combine poor policy with a very active agrochemical industry and a farm economy built almost entirely on subsidies, and we’ve created a global warming monster.

From a purely technical perspective, there is no reason why our farm systems need to be this way. It is true, our knowledge of agroecological design is, to say the least, limited. True designers, like Bill Mollison, have multiplied their acreage by a factor of eight just by using sound design principles. Mind you, this is without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or any other “cide” that does nothing more than sterilize the landscape and stave off economic and ecological ruin.

So let’s challenge ourselves a bit here, instead of asking, does agriculture induce global warming? (the answer, invariably, is yes), let’s ask some more compelling questions: How is it possible that agriculture can destroy our landscape and atmosphere when there is no logical reason or necessity for it? And more importantly, what must I do to make the shift from consumer to producer?