Big Organic

"So is an industrial organic food chain finally a contradiction in terms? It's hard to escape the conclustion that it is. Of course it is possible to live with contradictions, at least for a time, and sometimes it is necessary or worthwhile. But we ought to at least face up to the cost of our compromises. The inspiration for organic was to find a way to feed ourselves more in keeping with the logic of nature, to build a food system that looked more like an ecosystem that would draw its fertility and energy from the sun. To feed ourselves otherwise was 'unsustainable,' a word that's been so abused we're apt to forget what it very specifically means: Sooner or later it must collapse. To a remarkable extent, farmers succeeded in creating the new food chain on their farms; the trouble began when they encountered the expectations of the supermarket... And so, today, the organic food industry finds itself in a most unexpected, uncomfortable, and yes, unsustainable position: floating on a sinking sea of petroleum." (Pages 183-184)