This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Sustainable Agriculture–Beyond Organic Farming" that was published in Sustainability

The current conception of organic farming is the result of nearly a century of intellectual thought and dialogue, field observations and experiences, systematic experimentation, and codification of rules. Debates on the future viability of organic farming often focus on its capacity to produce sufficient food to meet the demands of a growing human population. Yet any thorough examination of the pros and cons of alternative farming approaches should consider much more--for example the side effects on soil, water and air; energy and land-use efficiency; global warming potential; conservation of biodiversity; waste generation and recycling; farmer and community well-being; animal welfare; and the capacity to function and meet demands long into the future. The chapters in this book represent perspectives on organic farming and food systems from widely different academic disciplines and different regions of the world. They include replicated field experiments, modelling, systems analysis, case studies and literature reviews. The findings, interpretations, and ideas shared will likely generate as many questions as answers, but asking the relevant and difficult questions is as critical as finding the right answers. This diverse group of authors makes interesting and useful contributions to our ongoing conversations about food, agriculture and the evolution of organic farming.

A synergistic web of visionary farmers, activists, educators, and researchers is transforming the food system in Central California and beyond. This sampling of narratives is drawn from the first extensive oral history of organic and sustainable farming. It documents a multifaceted and interdependent community of change-makers who speak for themselves, offering a window into the dynamic history of a movement.

Explains the concepts and long-term benefits of sustainable farming systems.

Our foods have lost up to 70% of some nutrients in the last 70 years. Even organic foods have little more nutrient density than those conventionally grown. This loss of nutrition may explain our increasing health concerns. Whatever your goals and dreams in life, all will be more easily achieved when your body and mind receive the best nutrition from optimally-grown foods.Learn how the Beyond Organic Growing System (BOGS) can produce Nutrition Grown foods, with many times the nutrient content of typical produce. Plants must receive the optimal nutrition they need to be able to express their full potentials to create large arrays of health-giving phytonutrients. In turn, people and animals who eat these Nutrition Grown plants receive the phytonutrients and biophoton energy they need to help them express their full potentials."The cure just might be in the garden-the Nutrition Grown garden!"Praise for Beyond Organic..."In order to take control of your health, I recommend you make an attempt to grow your own food the Beyond Organic way." Jordan Rubin, NMD, PhD, New York Times Bestselling Author, The Maker's Diet, Founder, Garden of Life"For decades 'fast, convenient and cheap' seemed to be what food production was all about. Now Dr. Bogs suggests it might be about 'nourishing people.' What a novel idea!" Frederick Kirschenmann, Author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays From a Farmer Philosopher, Distinguished Fellow of Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, President of Stone Barns center for Food and Agriculture, and President of Kirschenmann Family Farms"Any type of food produced on fully mineralized soil in proper balance contains much more nutrition. I'm not talking here about the insignificant 20 percent more nutrient density that the organic farming industry claims their fruits and vegetables have when compared to conventionally grown stuff; I'm talking about 200 to 300 percent more nutritional content, which is possible to achieve by going beyond what most people think of as 'organically grown.' In case you don't realize the benefits from taking in several times more nutrition than the average person gets today, the reasons why you should are explained in plain talk (and unobtrusively documented with peer-reviewed publications) by Dr. Jana Bogs, a soil-health consultant working in Hawaii. Her book Beyond Organic: Growing for Maximum Nutrition and Flavor will make you stand up and demand nutrient-dense food." Steve Solomon, author of The Intelligent Gardener"Beyond Organic: Growing for Maximum Nutrition and Flavor, the important new book by Dr Jana Bogs, is a tour-de-force covering the profound relationship between soil health and human health. In her personal, passionate and articulate style she demonstrates that we are what we eat, and what we eat comes from soils that are a shadow of their former selves. Beyond Organic is a call to arms for both food producers and consumers. While industrial, extractive agriculture has often delivered contaminated, sub standard produce, the prevalent 'organic by neglect' model has also failed us. On many occasions we pay premium prices for chemical-free food that is demonstrably lacking in the immune-enhancing nutrients for which there is such a need. Jana"s nutrition-focused alternative offers proven solutions and strategies for both home and commercial food producers. Growers and gardeners will discover the secrets of profitable, chemical-free food production whilst acquiring an invaluable insight into their own health, happiness and longevity. Beyond Organic: Growing for Maximum Nutrition and Flavor is a must-have for those seeking to produce nutrient-dense food with forgotten flavors and enhanced medicinal qualities. Thank you Jana, for sharing your personal journey and your in-depth understanding of both the problem and the solution." Graeme Sait, CEO Nutri-Tech Solutions and author of Nutrition Rules!

Everywhere you look people are more aware of what they eat and where their food comes from. In a cafeteria in Los Angeles, children make their lunchtime food choices at fresh-fruit and salad bars stocked with local foods. In a community garden in New York, low-income residents are producing organically grown fruits and vegetables for their own use and to sell at market. In Madison, Wisconsin, shoppers select their food from a bounty of choices at a vibrant farmers' market.Together at the Table is about people throughout the United States who are building successful alternatives to the contemporary agrifood system and their prospects for the future. At the heart of these efforts are the movements for sustainable agriculture and community food security. Both movements seek to reconstruct the agrifood system—the food production chain, from the growing of crops to food production and distribution—to become more ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially just. Allen describes the ways in which people working in these movements view the world and how they see their place in challenging and reshaping the agrifood system. She also shows how ideas and practices of sustainable agriculture and community food security have already woven their way into the dominant agrifood institutions. Allen explores the possibilities this process may hold for improving social and environmental justice in the American agrifood system. Together at the Table is an important reminder that much work still remains to be done. Now that the ideas and priorities of alternative food movements have taken hold, it is time for the next—even more challenging—step. Alternative agrifood movements must acknowledge and address the deeper structural and cultural patterns that constrain the long-term resolution of social and environmental problems in the agrifood system.