Organic farming is more than just a way of life.
It's a philosophy and a sustainable way of living for the future of humanity, according to John Ikerd, professor emeritus at University of Missouri.
He shared his predictions to a room full of farmers and research students during his keynote speech Thursday at the Alan T. Busby Farm Field Day, which was packed with workshops on organic farming methods, pollination and disease and pest management.
Ikerd grew up on a small dairy farm in southwestern Missouri and has dedicated much of his life to farming practices. In fact, he advocated for industrial farming when the farm financial crisis struck in the 1980s. He watched family farms disappear and large, industrial farms absorb more land.
He's written numerous books about sustainable agriculture and was part of the sustainable agriculture program at the University of Missouri before he retired.
"The industrial approach was well-ntended," he said. "It was going to make it more efficient and make good food more affordable, but it didn't do that. We have more people classified as food insecure than we did before. The conclusion I've come to is we can't solve hunger by making food cheap and making farming more efficient."
Ikerd argues making farming cheaper and more efficient also took a lot of the nutritional value out of crops and livestock. More and more human health issues are stemming from a poor diet because food has become cheap and unhealthy, he said.
Industrial farming, also known as conventional farming, isn't sustainable for the future, as it relies on pesticides and fossil fuels, both of which aren't sustainable for human health or the environment, he said.
Organic foods and eating local will be the future, Ikerd said. The fad is picking up around the world, but it stems from the 1960s with people who never subscribed to industrial farming.
The local food movement is about one-third the size of the organic demand, but it's the fastest growing, he said. In 1990 there were about 100 CSAs (Community Support Agriculture), and now there are roughly 12,000, he said.
Organic sales were about $28.4 billion in 2012 and reached around $39 billion in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
People are rebelling against the use of pesticides and want to connect with their local farmers and get to know their agriculture practices and how they treat their livestock.
"The important thing about local is that it's reconnecting people with each other," he said. "And through local farmers people are connecting to the Earth."
He thinks the shift is a necessity that will completely replace industrial farming and could take place in the next few decades.
"Our food system is quick, easy and cheap, so why would we want to change it?" he said. "It's not meeting the needs of the people. I spent half of my career promoting industrial farming, but it didn't work."