3 Wise Men, Planting Ideas Where It Counts

Fred Kirschenmann, from left, Wes Jackson and Wendell Berry in Washington. (By Michael Temchine For The Washington Post)

Kirschenmann: One of the things that's changing, and it's still at its very early stages, is we're no longer seeing communities of farmers and consumers. We're starting to see them as food citizens. Part of what changed that is the food crisis of the last 24 months.

You mean rising food prices?

Kirschenmann: Yes.

More and more people are aware that our current food system is not as secure as we thought. One week it's [food tainted with] melamine, another week it's peanut butter, and so people, their consciousness around food issues is emerging and they're wondering what to do. They want a more trusting relationship with where their food comes from.

Genetically modified plants have plenty of traction in the Obama administration as a solution to feed the world. Do you agree?

Kirschenmann: If you think about it, that approach really isn't working here. If it weren't for subsidies, farmers wouldn't be able to buy the technologies that are supposed to save us. How are African farmers going to afford the technologies? So one of the things we're starting to see -- and President Obama mentioned it in his comments at G8 -- is that we need to address the problem of hunger, but the way we need to address it is to work with people in the communities.

But companies such as Monsanto argue that population growth makes technology essential.

Berry: The inevitable aim of industrial agri-investors is the big universal solution. They want a big product that can be marketed everywhere. And the kind of agriculture we're talking about that leads to food security and land conservation is locally adapted agriculture. And they can't do that. Industrial agriculture plants cornfields in Arizona; locally adapted agriculture says, what can we fit in this place that will not destroy it? Or what can nature help us to do here? That's the critical issue.

Washington doesn't think in 50-year increments. How do you sell this?

Jackson: You sell it the same way as global warming or population growth. Washington thinks it's going to deal with the global warming problem in 50 years? We will have this if we get cracking.

Kirschenmann: Because of our election cycles, you're right. People tend to think in terms of two-year, four-year or six-year cycles. But I think the effort to deal with climate change is starting to change with that, because they know they can't deal with climate change on that timeline. They have to extend the horizon. So we think the time is right to add agriculture to that.