Redesigning agroecosystems for environmental sustainability: A deep systems approach

Abstract

Modern agriculture is unsustainable, largely because our overemphasis on production, and on its achievement through inappropriate physical, chemical and biological manipulation, has resulted in the neglect of maintenance functions within agroecosystems. This blind spot is one of a number that are indicators of our undeveloped and distressed psychosocial state. Only by including such factors in our systems analyses will it be possible to establish a truly sustainable agriculture and food system. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.