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1 A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO AGROECOLOGY; RESEARCH DESIGN Towards ‘Authentic’ Wholeness: Project 2000m2 As A Basis for ‘Farm Studies’ Field Trials “Yet with all their investigations nowadays, people are trying to discover, as they put it, what is likely to be most productive for the farmer, and in the last resort it only amounts to this: they try to find how the production may be made financially most profitable.” Rudolf Steiner June 1924 SUMMARY A pilot study recently carried out on a 2000m2 smallholding in Portugal applied Goethean observation as a methodology and with it came the discovery of the impact of the farming techniques; in-situ mulching, shade and ploughing. Within weeks of applied techniques, areas of land with in-situ, under shade and with no-till, showed increased and vigorous growth. Further questions arose regarding the importance of small-scale traditional farming and with it the antagonistic conflation of science and economic policies. These findings and observations have invited a proposal for further examination into the role of holistic approaches to agroecology, specifically through direct connections to farming practice on small scale field trials, with the use of sustainability indicators to assess the synergistic and immeasurable, inputs and outputs of the farming system as a complex whole. INTRODUCTION: ONTOLOGIES, METHODOLOGIES and EVOLVING PROCESSES In June 1924, Rudolf Steiner presented a course consisting of a set of lectures and discussions known as The Agriculture Course (Steiner, 1924). Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a scientist, and soil scientist who participated in the agriculture course and thereafter became a pioneer in biodynamic agriculture. He explained (Pfeiffer, 1938) that the “cultivated field is a living organism, a living entity in the totality of its processes”. Around this time and particularly following World War II, there arose amongst others i , an interest in caring for the health of the farm as a whole. This was in contrast and for Baron Lord Walter Northbourne ii , in reaction, to the inter and post war use of chemicals out of which the Haber-Bosch nitrogen fixing process was transferred to agriculture. Lord Northbourne encountered Pfeiffer and the agriculture course, which led him to establish the first biodynamic farm in Kent, from where his perception of the living farm led him to coin the familiar phrase ‘organic farming’. Pfeiffer also worked with JI Rodale iii , who pioneered the organic movement in America, and attempted a field trial to compare, biodynamic, organic and conventional farming. The Farleigh experiment was not completed but, in 1939, Lady Eve Balfour was involved in the first field trials, in the Haughley Experiment iv which
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A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO AGROECOLOGY; RESEARCH DESIGN

Towards ‘Authentic’ Wholeness: Project 2000m2 As A Basis for ‘Farm Studies’ Field Trials

“Yet with all their investigations nowadays, people are trying to discover, as they put it, what is likely to be most productive for the farmer, and in the last resort it only amounts to this: they try to find how the production may be made financially most profitable.” Rudolf Steiner June 1924

SUMMARY

A pilot study recently carried out on a 2000m2 smallholding in Portugal applied Goethean observation as a methodology and with it came the discovery of the impact of the farming techniques; in-situ mulching, shade and ploughing. Within weeks of applied techniques, areas of land with in-situ, under shade and with no-till, showed increased and vigorous growth.

Further questions arose regarding the importance of small-scale traditional farming and with it the antagonistic conflation of science and economic policies.

These findings and observations have invited a proposal for further examination into the role of holistic approaches to agroecology, specifically through direct connections to farming practice on small scale field trials, with the use of sustainability indicators to assess the synergistic and immeasurable, inputs and outputs of the farming system as a complex whole.

INTRODUCTION: ONTOLOGIES, METHODOLOGIES and EVOLVING PROCESSES

In June 1924, Rudolf Steiner presented a course consisting of a set of lectures and discussions known as The Agriculture Course (Steiner, 1924). Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was a scientist, and soil scientist who participated in the agriculture course and thereafter became a pioneer in biodynamic agriculture. He explained (Pfeiffer, 1938) that the “cultivated field is a living organism, a living entity in the totality of its processes”.

Around this time and particularly following World War II, there arose amongst othersi, an interest in caring for the health of the farm as a whole. This was in contrast and for Baron Lord Walter Northbourneii, in reaction, to the inter and post war use of chemicals out of which the Haber-Bosch nitrogen fixing process was transferred to agriculture. Lord Northbourne encountered Pfeiffer and the agriculture course, which led him to establish the first biodynamic farm in Kent, from where his perception of the living farm led him to coin the familiar phrase ‘organic farming’.

Pfeiffer also worked with JI Rodaleiii, who pioneered the organic movement in America, and attempted a field trial to compare, biodynamic, organic and conventional farming. The Farleigh experiment was not completed but, in 1939, Lady Eve Balfour was involved in the first field trials, in the Haughley Experimentiv which

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examined the relationship between soil vitality and nutrition (Balfour, 1957). Lady Balfour also highlighted the disparity in the notion of the ‘aliveness’ of a nitrogen molecule.1v Such polarities appear to arise from opposing views of life and more importantly from the quest, to discover and apply principles and mathematical laws that govern life, giving rise to a quantitative measurable process of investigation (Kuhn, 1962 ) where benefit would be gained through examination of the subjective qualitative experience (Barnes, 2000); that one is measurable and the other not,

appears pivotal in investigations concerning the farm.

This divide is highlighted in attitudes which regard non-conventional approaches as pseudo-science and destructive: Professor Robert H. White-Stevensvi suggests; “If man were to follow the teachings of Miss Carson (Carson, 1962), we would return to the Dark Ages, and the insects and diseases and vermin would once again inherit the earth.” (Miller, 2017)

Ulrich Kutschera, accuses Dr Steiner of being unscientific for using the term ‘biodynamics’ incorrectly. He suggests the term was first used by Ernst Haeckel, as a synonym referring to general physiology in natural sciences and that Steiner and Pfeiffer’s derivation from biological “dynamization of water” betrays its roots in the homeopathic science of Hahnemann (Kutschera, 2016). Homeopathic efficacy cannot be assessed using empirical reductionist investigations and a holistic approach is unable to provide a rigorous proof (Ernst, 2010).

Pronouncements of a paradigm shift (Kuhn, 1962 ) as well as the arrival of participatory research (Pereira & iDiv, 28 Jan 2016) (IPBES, 22-28 February 2016) are reflected in questions about relevancy of a reductionist approach, primarily, in the science of living processes (Fang C Ferric, 2011)vii (Alroe, 2002). The need for social acceptability of farming practices, has also led to calls for a paradigm shift and with it, the development and use of innovative approaches such as integrated pest management (Surendra K Dara, 2019) and cross discipline collaborations (McDermott, 2019). In addition, the elusiveness of empiricising and substantiating these immeasurables has been recognised as part of an evolving process, for which sustainability indicators appear to be a starting point (OECD, 2011) (S. Valtýniová, 2011).

I find it unquestionable that the study of growth and living entities must also involve the actual investigation of living processes but acknowledge the challenges in viewing the farm as a ‘living organism’viii. Yet, by applying a phenomenological approach, these difficulties can be overcome where the object of study is regarded in its ‘authentic’ wholeness (Bortoft, 1996) which, for the growing of food, implies a direct connection to the farm and its soil.

1 SEE ENDNOTE IV

FIGURE 1; FLAMMARION'S WOODCUT ENGRAVING

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ONTOLOGIES

Through experimental procedure, by reducing living objects to smaller components (Fang C Ferric, 2011), with empirical scrutiny, composite parts can be examined and the findings add to a growing compilation, and like the emerging picture in a jigsaw, form a growing composite ontology which can lead to the emergence of a seemingly limitless (C Lipinski, 2004) whole knowledgeix.

In the case of whole-grains studies: through the knowledge of complex matters and through collaborative practice which often exclude the farmerx, the positivist reductionist pathway leads to the formulation of new approaches which include the remarkable achievement of creating new varieties, like Golden Ricexi. The benefits of this new rice variety, with improved levels of β-carotenexii devised to address malnutrition in children, combat drought and pestilence (Golden Rice Humanitarian Board, n.d.) and produce high yields (Rachel Glennerster, 2017) yet remains unclear (McGrath, 2013) (GRAIN, 2009).

In regarding what is accepted as ontology, as knowledge of the world around us, Michael Polyani’s views on tacit knowledge seem to highlight the very discrepancy between experimental findings and phenomenological studies (Polyani, 1964)xiii. The study of rice growing shows that a Jolaxiv farmer whose livelihood is dependent on her connection to her farm is that of expert; the Jola farmer’s knowledge is real-life based and is rich in the tacit knowledge of 64 different varieties of rice, which she can instinctively match to the needs of her plot and which she values highly, for ritual context (Linares, 2002). The arrival of a new single variety of rice, means, for the Jola farmer, that now she requires training to understandxv; machinery, pesticides and fertilizers and finds her 64 varieties and knowledge of them are redundant, as are her skills and with it comes loss of land and work, and some would add, a reduction in nutritional value (Shiva, 2014) and with the use of additives, further degradation of the land (Béla Teeken, 2012) (Linares, 2002). An underlying major concern is that this approach favours agribusiness to the detriment of the small farmer (GRAIN, 2009), yet some smallholders praise its success (Muiruri, 2011).

CASE STUDY – FIELD TRIALS

A K Loes described the use of a case studyxvi, as ‘farm studies’xvii, as a globally useful tool for investigation into developmental agriculture. Further, as an agroecosystem, it is necessary “to stress development factors in relation to the environment”, so the study has to, ”‘go on for some time.” (Loes, 1990) and:

“The case study approach should try to understand and describe the farming system, answer the questions of why and how an ecological farming system works, and prepare for more detailed developmental research to answer the key questions of ecological or managemental nature that arise throughout the case study. Furthermore, a case study should treat the farm like an organism, as a whole, perhaps as an individual. And as well as other research methods in ecological agriculture, the case study approach should be based on ecology as a science, not only as an environmentally comfortable terminology.” (Loes, 1990)

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At the Rodale Institute, results from ongoing’ farm studies’ field systems trials comparing organic and conventional farming methods, have shown definite patterns and outcomesxviii. Project 2000m2 on the other hand, is more recent with long term projections working globally with farmers and their 2000m2 smallholding plot (Project 2000m2, n.d.).

Through in-vitro studies, ‘Golden Rice’xix, is concerned with immediate solutions for a growing population and a diminishing substrate. Through the case study method, “as a useful and cost-effective addition to the range of research tools used in multidisciplinary farming systems research” (Maxwell, 1986) it will be possible to obtain information that would otherwise be difficult whilst also providing opportunity for a wholesome collaborative effort, involving farmer, scientist and natural scientist (Maxwell, 1986). Furthermore, through engendering relationships, with the wider community, to soilxxxxi and the direct growing of foodxxii, inclusive case studies like, Project 2000m2, can also address the need for transformative change, urgently demanded of us all (IPBES, 2019) .

This study presents a proposal to apply ‘farm studies’ method, on a small scalexxiii field systems trial, with an open timescalexxiv. This is a proposal for a holistic approach to farming, to agroecology.

SUSTAINABLE FARMING

In agroecological terms, sustainable farming is concerned with a farm’s inherent impact both locally and globally, such as on soil degradation and biodiversity and less on its economic efficiency (Fisher, et al., 2013)

xxvii

xxv (Ivan Tsvetkov, 2018). Yet matters of world economy, such as GDP, forces emphasis on commercial yield as a major criterion of sustainabilityxxvi (Johnson, Accessed 23/06/2019). This underlies the need for a common framework of approach that does not focus on the output of yield alone (Thorup-Kristensen, n.d.) yet also recognises realities of financial viability (Muiruri, 2011) and serves a diverse (Menzel, 2005) world population and gives workers dignity in the system .

TRADITIONAL FARMING AND SMALLHOLDINGS

Traditional farming practice is inherently local by nature, yet the term which is both broad and encompassing is applicable globally. It is often linked with small holdingxxviii artisanal family farming using proven techniques as well as modern techniques, handed down through generations, as best practice. Through life experience and through direct connection to the land, these practitioners have a tacit knowledge enriched with an empathic knowledge of seasons and crop timing. Inherent in this is a common and self-determiningxxix connection to food systems in their own farms as well as to the wider community.

Although, traditional smallholding farming cannot measure up well to the vast crop yields of industrial agriculture, it is often considered more sustainable and less polluting than similar industrial techniques (IAASTD, 2009). Threats to their ongoing viability as producer of most of the world’s food, on less than a quarter of the world’s farmland (IFAD, 2013), understandably raises concerns for the farmers and their livelihoods as well as the world’s ability to feed itself (GRAIN, 2014).

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Permaculture Organic Farming: Permanent culture farming with focus on compost, low till, minimal use of pesticides and fertilizers. (Permaculture, n.d.)

Biodynamic Farming: Techniques focus on the use of manure, compost, homeopathic preparations and an almanacxxx. (Biodaynamic Association, 2016) Organic farming is an interim phase for conversion to biodynamic farming (Pepe, 2013).

BACKGROUND: ARRIVING AT A QUESTION

Through citizen discussions, I found that questions regarding the authenticity of organic farming often settled on the following:

‘When looking at a carrot, what is the difference between a carbon molecule found in organic farming and that from an industrial process?’

Over many years, I have visited this simple yet really perplexing question2. How would the extraction of a carbon molecule from its source in a carrot also give insight into the nature of the carrot, much less about the benefits of a farming method? Furthermore, as these micro-constituent parts of the carrot become more compound and complex, the more I learn about the whole carrot, viz, that it contains β-Carotene, also responsible for the colour. To compare between carrots of different farming methods, I need to look at the carrot as a whole, in its natural original context. As an item of food removed from context, it is already just a part of its wholeness because the wholeness extends to include, not only but also; soil; seed; seedling; leaf; air; farm and farmer; the context.

Henri Bortoft explains that ‘the whole is in the parts’ and, in the parts can be found a reflection of the whole. Bortoft explains, that by seeing the ‘authentic’ whole in the parts, the investigator can arrive at phenomenological science in the way described by Wolfgang von Goethe3 and the biologist, Wolfgang Schad4 (Bortoft, 1996).

A holistic approach with scientific methodology in the sense described by Henri Bortoff (Bortoft, 1996), indicates a way of achieving objectivity and subjectivity that meets the rigours of empiricism but has inclusion of human experience (Amrine, 1998). Nigel Hoffman (Hoffmann, 1998) describes a phenomenological approach relevant to studies in agroecology.

2 Lady Eve Balfour gives a definitive description of the difference between Nitrogen molecules. See endnote iv.

3 Goethe’s approach had led to discoveries, including “through reflection and coincidence”, that of the elusive intermaxillary bone (Zajonc, 1998).

4 All mammals can be understood in the way they manifest the whole in the parts

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PILOT STUDIES: MONSANTO, PORTUGAL and SUTTON COMMUNITY FARM

My initial investigations took place on a 2000m2 quintinha in Monsanto, Portugal and involved case studies and Goethean observations (Bortoft, 1996) of the olive tree5.

The case studies were also extended to a number of smaller farms in the locality which had applied permaculture, traditional farming and a blend of permaculture and biodynamics as farming methods.

The impacts of in-situ mulching, shade and no-till as farming techniques, were obvious: The primary studies had shown that in-situ mulching, shade and ploughing had affected the new growth (of hay) and health of the granite-rich soil. Within the plot itself and in comparison, to neighbouring plots, both far and near, there were obvious visible differences, yet, further investigations were needed.

THE FARMING TECHNIQUES

MULCHING

Mulching (Gomez, et al., 2015) is the process of covering the soil with any ‘organic’ layer whereas in-situ mulching returns the cuttings to the source. The pilot study found that the in-situ mulching not only enhanced the quality of new growth, but in the following year the incidence of weeds was lower which was surprising because a lot of the mulch included the then existing weeds. Measurements were not taken but should form part of future studies.

SHADE

It was evident that those areas, that benefited from morning and afternoon shade showed increased growth particularly during the early stages of growth, as thereafter the differences diminished.

NO – TILL

Ploughing is an ancient technique, and evident in many traditional farming sites.

It was evident that growth on ploughed land was slower and ground cover was less dense. Ploughed fields were often bare and showed an absence of sounds of wild life.

A recent study carried out in Frick Switzerland (FiBL Switzerland, 2019), showed mixed responses but overall there was a 7% increase in yield in those areas that had not been ploughed but there remained the challenge of weed control.

5 Over a period of months, I came to profound realisations, regarding life and existence.

FIGURE 2; BENEFITS OF SHADE

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PROPOSALS: TIMESCALES AND METHODS

TIMESCALES

Following Loes’ suggestions, the farm studies, need to continue for a while, with block assessment of 4-year rotations (Loes, 1990) (Thorup-Kristensen, n.d.)

METHOD

FIGURE 3; SUMMARY; PROPOSALS FOR FARM STUDIES FIELD TRIALS

SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS

Answering, the questions of why and how an ecological farming system works (Loes, 1990) is a part of the complex nature of enquiry into farming systems,

PROPOSALS FOR ‘FARM STUDIES’

FIELD TRIALS IN PEDROGAO SAO PEDRO, PORTUGAL

FARM METHOD

Biodynamic Farming

Organic Farming

Traditional Farming

3 PAIRS OF FARM STUDIES FIELDS

BFa:Field A

BFb:Field B

OFa:Field A

OFb:Field B

TFa:Field A

TFb:Field B

Biodynamic Biodynamic + localised farming techniques

Organic

Organic + localised farming techniques

Traditional Traditional + localised farming techniques

ASSESS METHOD Impact

RISE / PUBLIC GOODS TOOL; Sustainability Indicators

ASSESS METHOD Participatory

OPEN NETWORK CONNECTIONS – PROJECT 2000M2 – BLOG

ASSESS METHOD Participatory

ACHIEVING ‘AUTHENTIC WHOLENESS’

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Achieving a common framework of sustainability indicators is difficult and the OECD recognises “... an evolving process depending on changing societal pressures and political choices” (OECD, 2011)xxxi

FIGURE 4; PUBLIC GOODS TOOL (ORGANIC RESEARCH CENTRE)

Using expert guidance, a total of 12 and 11 indicators, some of which overlap, are used as RISExxxii (Fritz Häni, 2003) and The Public Goods Tool (Organic Research Centre, 2011) to produce a comprehensive assessment with data visible in web / radar.

CASE STUDY as FARM STUDIES: APPLYING GOETHEAN OBSERVATION and SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS

To establish ‘farm studies’ field trials (Loes, 1990) using: biodynamics, organic and traditional farming as sustainable farming methods, on 3 x 2 x 2000m2 plots in Central Portugal.

To allocate the use minimal intervention techniques; in-situ mulching, use of shade and no-till, to each farming method.

To establish a cropping system suitable for the farm study in consultation with local farmers and Project 2000m2.

To focus on data relating input and output (IOAs)6 (S. Valtýniová, 2011) to match in-situ mulching, shade and no-till with indicators such as humus content, moisture levels, levels of weed and wildlife sounds for biodiversity.

To engage the local and wider community in farm studies through active participation and through the use of blogs, as in Project 2000m2 (Project 2000m2, n.d.).

To view the farm as a living organism searching for ‘authentic’ wholeness as described by Henri Bortoft (Bortoft, 1996) and can lead to new insights (Barnes, 2000) (Hoffmann, 1998)

6 Input Output Accounting systems

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CONCLUSION

Food is life, yet from seed to waste, in every aspect concerning food, polarities abound. The prevalence of sustainable farming seems to vie against the economic powers of industrial practices with its justifications for mass production of goods rather than production of food by the masses (Schumacher, 2010) and thus food as a stomach filler suffices as nutrition (Steiner, 1924).

FIGURE 5; 'TENSIONS' - BILLBOARD IN MONETMOR-O-VELHO, PORTUGAL

Calls to “stop iconising the maximisation of GDP per capita growth”

xxxiii

7 and to recognise “it’s not the case that we can rely on growth alone to deliver relentless improvements in human welfare” (Johnson, 2016) have been increasingly emphasised (IPBES, 2019) with policy makers seemingly powerless in addressing this. An approach is needed, through farming methodology as well as in methods of investigating its efficacy, which can maintain the integrity of living things and, support the dignity of human beings , for whom biological needs are equal yet whose cultural and economic fortunes lead to a diversity in the provision and consumption of nutrition as food items on the daily plate8.

New insights are possible (Barnes, 2000) and to achieve this, a holistic approach is essential (Bortoft, 1996). Maxwell’s vision of the use of a case study method, as ‘farm studies’, makes it possible to carry out complex investigations on the farm as a ‘living organism’ (Loes, 1990) By following this approach in carrying out the indicated field trials, it will be possible to compare three farming methods as well as examine the validity of minimal intervention techniques and the use of sustainability indicators to determine their impacts.

7 Adair Turner, former Chief Executive for the FSA (Johnson, Accessed 23/06/2019)

8 See Hungry Planet Food Portraits (Menzel, 2005)

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AUTHENTIC WHOLENESS

Furthermore, in line with the flow of paradigm shifts and the pursuit of meaningful tacit knowledge, a ‘farm studies’ approach, provides opportunity to continue with the development of a phenomenological approach to investigations; firstly through achieving a perception of the meaning of ‘authentic wholeness’, and thereafter in realisation of its significance, through the actual search for the wholeness in all its manifest parts.

Rose E Karemi-Murphy

28th June 2019

Updated 29th October 2019

i Notably, Sir Albert Howard, Baron Lord Walter Northbourne, Lady Eve Balfour, J.I. Rodale, and Ehrenfried Pfeiffer. ii Lecturer on agriculture in Oxford University as well as top rower. iii “In 1947, J.I. Rodale wrote on a chalkboard "Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People." We've been putting science behind organic agriculture ever since.” (Rodale Institute, n.d.) iv The Soil Association were involved in these first trials in Haughley, Suffolk, UK. v v “The biologist thinks in terms of life being lived, i.e. function, the chemist in terms of analysis. You cannot study life in terms of chemistry alone because to analyse life you have to destroy the very thing that you are investigating. When the chemist studies an egg he does so from without inwards, separating its constituents, from the shell to the germ, and analysing them. The most he can make of an egg from this approach, as Dr. Scott Williamson so well puts it (G. Scott Williamson, M.C., M.D., Physician Heal Thyself, Faber and Faber, 1945.) is an omelette, but when the biologist studies an egg, he does so from within outwards. His problem is to cultivate a chicken. The chemist tells us that all forms of nitrogen are converted to nitrates before they can be absorbed by plants, and that there is therefore no difference between a nitrate derived from dung and one derived from sulphate of ammonia. The plant, itself, however, demonstrates that there is a considerable functional difference between the two. This applies also to the entities called vitamins. 'A vitamin held in the synthetic complex of a vegetable is not the same entity as a vitamin built up or reconstructed from a physical analysate--chemically pure. Physical purity is biological sterility, such a vitamin is a drug not a diet.' (G. Scott Williamson, M.C., M.D., Physician Heal Thyself, Faber and Faber, 1945.)” (Balfour, 1957) vi agriculturist and biology professor at Rutgers University vii The need for a holistic approach has also been emphasised in the recent IPBES UN report viii In the first of its key messages, the recent UN IPBES report gives the following stark message; “Nature and its vital contributions to people, which together embody biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are deteriorating worldwide” and acknowledges that ‘Nature’ “embodies different concepts for different people, including biodiversity, ecosystems, Mother Earth, systems of life and other analogous concepts.” (IPBES, 2019) ix “As the amount of biological data and its diversity accumulates massively there is a critical need to facilitate the integration of this data to allow new and unexpected conclusions to be drawn from it.” (Hancock, 2014) x The first meeting of GHFWGS included over “300 scientists, educators, food technologists, grain breeders, food manufacturers, marketers, health professionals, and regulators from around the world.” (Mckeown, 2013) xi Also, NERICA – New Rice for Africa xii Hence the colour and its term, Golden Rice. xiii Discrepancies also appear in results obtained between the ‘in-vivo’ and ‘in-vitro’ investigations, such as the impact of glyphosate (Carlos Alvarez-Moya, 2014). xiv Of Southern Senegal

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xv Initial results to its introduction were poor, described as a result of poor follow up training (Rachel Glennerster, 2017) xvi Maxwell’s definition of a complete unit of study. (Maxwell, 1986) xvii Derived from Maxwell’s phrase. (Loes, 1990) xviii “Our decades-long research has shown that organic systems: are competitive with conventional yields after a 5-year transition period; produce yields up to 40% higher in times of drought; earn 3-6x greater profits for farmers; leach no toxic chemicals into waterways; use 45% less energy; release 40% fewer carbon emissions” (Rodale Institute, n.d.) xix The name is derived from the golden yellow colour. xx “An ounce of practice is generally worth more than a ton of theory.” (Schumacher, 2010) xxi Helen Browning; Food for Life, Soil Association chief executive: “to be properly human, you need to get your hands on the soil”. (Johnson, Accessed 23/06/2019) xxii “Our body is the only collection of things which we know almost exclusively by relying on our awareness of them for attending to something else. Every time we make a sense of the world, we rely on our tacit knowledge of impacts that the world makes on our body and of the response of our body to these impacts. Such is the exceptional position of our body in the universe.” (Polyani, 1964)p 20 xxiii Lady Eve Balfour recommends a large-scale and long-term investigation. Schumacher, on the other hand focusses on the ‘small’, but both emphasise the ‘living processes’. xxiv Loes recommends an ideal of at least one period of rotation (Loes, 1990). xxv It is argued that organic farming is still not productive enough to be considered fully sustainable xxvi Financial stability is of course essential, yet conflating this notion with that of extractive commercial profit makes for imbalance in the human socio-economic realm. Dr Stephen Harding (Johnson, Accessed 23/06/2019) applies behavioural ecology in both explaining the powerful benefits as a result of inter-relationships between all forms of growth in a forest and as shared through mycorrhizal conduits, as well as the superimposition of this phenomenology to the economic system for the obvious benefit of all. Extracting this line of thought, however, would suggest that if a monoculture forest was encouraged there would probably be growth and security for the monoculture but little else would survive whilst a diverse forest, such as the rainforests would present a very different scenario. xxvii Also, as employees in industrial food systems seems to come the loss of human dignity and the arrival of the automaton (Our Daily Bread - Unser täglich Brot, 2005). xxviii plots typically under 2 – 5 hectares xxix the basis of food sovereignty (Global Agriculture, 2009) xxx Demeter Standards xxxi The use of Driv-ing Force-State-Response (DSR) indicators (OECD, 2011) is available as data for member countries, including Portugal, for the years up to 2016 (OECD, 2016). xxxii Response Inducing Sustainability Response; RISE is based on twelve indicators of economic, ecological and social situation: Energy consumption, Water consumption, Soil stewardship, Biodiversity, Emission potential, Plant protection, Production of wastes and residues, Cashflow, Farm income, Investments, Contribution to local economy, Social situation of farm family and farm employees. The analysis is defined spatially by the farm area and temporally by a one-year period. xxxiii See; Film ‘our daily bread’ which shows how the food we eat is achieved through the undignified labour of human automatons (Our Daily Bread - Unser täglich Brot, 2005). al., N. M. M. e., 2013. Whole Grains and Health: from Theory to Practice—Highlights of the Grains for Health Foundation's Whole Grains Summit 2012. Journal of Nutition, 143(5), p. 744S–758S.

Alroe, E. S. K. a. H. F., 2002. Towards a systemic research methodology in agriculture. Rethining the role of values in science. Agriculture and Human Values, Volume 19, pp. 3 -23.

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Amrine, F., 1998. The Metamorphosis of the Scientist. In: D. S. a. A. Zajonc, ed. Goethe's Way of Science. New York: State University of New York Press, pp. 33 - 54.

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