Transition to new ways of knowing, doing and being require incentives for all participants. Some of these incentives are necessarily economic. Systems and practices that do not include profitability as one of the prime motivators will not be voluntarily implemented. A sustainable agricultural system is guided by a land ethic that considers the long-term good of all members of the land community. Holistic or whole-system analysis views an agroecosystem as a dynamic community of soil, water, air and biotic species.
All parts are important because they contribute to the whole.
This ethic strives to protect the health of the land community, that is its capacity for self-renewal.