Most farmers have nothing to gain from technologies that raise input cost, increase production and, thus, reduce market prices. The 1996 President's Council on Sustainable Development has as its vision statement that a sustainable United States will have a growing economy that provides equitable opportunities for satisfying livelihoods and a safe, healthy, high quality life for current and future generations. Our nation will protect its environment, its natural resource base, and the functions and viability of natural systems which all life depends. The consensus is a sustainable agriculture must be ecologically sound, economically viable and socially acceptable. All three are essential, and are equally critical to long run sustainability.
Human nature is a fundamental part.
People cannot persist in actions inconsistent with their economic survival. A fundamental purpose of public policy is to resolve conflicts between the short run interests of individuals and the long run interest of society as a whole. The demand for food is steadily growing as some 90 million people are added to the global population annually. It is estimated that in the period from 1975 to 2000, the area of cultivated land globally will expand only 4 percent while population will increase 40 percent. Earth cannot achieve a sustainable agriculture and meet the ever-growing needs of people without the use of modern technology, including the appropriate usage of agricultural chemicals.