An ecocentric or a technocentric approach? What is the future of agriculture and which of these 2 approaches can feed the world better? Probably a mixture of both, although that is a challenging mission, says Joris Lohman, co-founder of Food Hub. Joris is speaking at the upcoming Global Future Farming Summit.
Says Lohman: “What we see today is that there are 2 camps forming. On one side we have the technology advocates that still aim for growth and more efficiency. On the other side we see people that want food production on a small scale, with a stronger connection between farm and nature and according to ecological philosophies. The technology people believe in efficient farming that is seen in Europe and North America for example. But the real discussions are often about the underlying topics such as GMO.
“Topics like these are complicated to get a consensus on, as the views on such topics are often deeply rooted in a person’s principles and feelings. In the debate on farming more circular and more sustainable, we try to look at how we can unite these 2 groups. Can we take the best of both worlds and where can we learn from each other? We need be less narrow-minded and think more in ‘systems’. This demands people who think differently and want to cooperate more.”
