Sustainability: What Is Sustainability?

A sustainable system maintains a balance within its own natural boundaries for an indefinite period of time. For the food system, every aspect—starting from on-farm production, to harvesting, distribution, and processing, and finally to consumption, including waste created—plays a role in building responsible, sustainable systems. Deliberate environmental and social practices are implemented that ensure our food, the people who raise it, and the ecosystems we rely upon to grow it are healthy and viable for generations to come. Especially in an age of a changing climate, the urgency to shift toward sustainable production methods that can maintain this balance becomes all the more critical. Daunting as it may seem to disentangle, there are a few basic principles that help to fundamentally orient our decisions and actions toward the creation of a more just and sustainable food system in the way we grow, eat, and advocate for our food.