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How Awesome! Bhutan Wants to be the First 100% Organic Country in the World
The landlocked country of Bhutan, located in Asia on the Eastern end of the Himalayas, is not your average, run of the mill nation. Why?
Well, they believe that the Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product when measuring a country’s progress. Included in this calculation for happiness is how well the environment is protected and nurtured.
In a NPR report that I read the other day, Bhutan has set a goal for itself that every other country should follow: it wants to become 100% organic.
And as we know, going 100% organic would avoid having to using very risky GMOs and toxic pesticides, which pollute the water supply and harm the ecosystem, and would also provide the Bhutanese citizens with the healthiest food possible.
Given that much of the country is comprised of rural farmers who don’t have access to synthetic chemicals, it isn’t too far from attaining this goal.
With an organic program in place since 2007, the challenge will be to convince many of the country’s agricultural researchers, who were trained abroad using conventional farming methods, that this is indeed the best approach.
However, this shouldn’t be too big of an obstacle since the leadership of Bhutan wants to make this happen and its ideology doesn’t appear to be for sale.
MY TAKE:
All I can say is that this is just awesome!
Even though Bhutan enjoys serious advantages over other countries – it doesn’t appear to have lobbyists who “own” politicians and already has a very high percentage of uncertified organic farmers – the fact that the government has set this goal is still incredibly impressive.
It understands that industrial agriculture is not sustainable, exactly what the United Nations said in its International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report, and that organic farming truly benefits and serves its citizens.
What an inspiring story, and I hope many nations around the world take notice.