Instead, decisions for change need to be based on a much more complex set of criteria that follow a long-term model that uses ecology and sustainability as its foci. The ecological and sustainable model consists of human health, soil fertility, water and air quality, and biodiversity. These are the important factors that can measure the success of an agricultural system. This paper is an attempt at redefining how it could and should be possible to examine and evaluate sustainable agriculture systems without using economics as the main driving force for change. Economics is an indicator with which we can tell the success of a society operating within very constrained ecological limits.
Sustainability is a measure of resilience and overall stability of a system.
We believe, however, that these factors are not intrinsic to a sustainable agriculture, but rather separate, desirable goals.