Ecology, Farming, Buddhism - Humans in Farm Ecosystems

While ecology must remain neutral in its observation and tends to view humans as outside the system, agro-industry values financial efficiency in the production of commodities and views humans as either labour inputs and/or recipients of financial rewards.

The agro-industrial approach is human-centric, with its ultimate aim the provision of food and fibre for human use.

Agro-ecology values not only marketable production but a range of less tangible non-market goods and services that a farm ecosystems can provide for people.

The Buddhist ethic is largely unconcerned with production outcomes but is far more concerned with the ethical integrity of any process in which the practitioner is involved, in the case of farming - production. Basic Buddhist principles can be extended, as Thich Nhat Hanh has done, to cover our relationship not only to people, but to all other sentient life forms, and to our relationship with all of life.