Interview with Dr. Rene Van Acker about sustainability in agriculture

In this episode, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Rene Van Acker, Dean of the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph. This episode was originally aired on my other podcast, Eco Cast by The Eco Market, but the conversation was too good not to share here as well. Agriculture is something that touches so many industries, including the cosmetics industry, so understanding some of the metrics about what makes agriculture sustainable is important. Too commonly, I find we like to simplify very complex topics, and I find it’s so prominent in some of the certifications we follow and labels we seek out. One great example is organic cosmetics - are they inherently more sustainable? I’m of the view that if we’re looking at sustainability, one of the big things we should be looking at is how feasible will a certain method be into the next 50 years, especially in light of our growing population, our diminishing resources, and our changing environment. Sustainable agriculture is anything but a simple conversation, but Rene was the perfect person to take us through the topic. In this conversation, we talked about what ‘sustainable’ means, how we can apply sustainability principles to agriculture, farming practices, weed management, and lots more. Enjoy!