When it comes to food production, sustainability is no mere trend, but rather an established part of doing business. Jason Clay of WWF has called it a “pre-competitive issue”. Yet the very term – sustainability – is tangled in numerous definitions, descriptions and concepts leading to confusion and duplication.
Since the early 1980s, the core tenets of “sustainable agriculture” are portrayed as economic, environmental and social. Most farmers can be forgiven for scratching their heads when asked if they are sustainable. After all, they are unlikely to remain sustainable for very long if they don’t look after their land, care for the environment they live in and make a profit.