The Happy Lesson From Bhutan's Organic Farmers: Dreams Don't Come True, They're Made True

Organic Ag. Raises Bhutan's Happiness Quotient [and mine]

This morning a friend sent one of the most uplifting articles ever - 'Bhutan's Organic Dream'. It's about the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, who left Disneyland in the dust as the 'Happiest Place on Earth' years ago, and has now become the world's first wholly organic nation.

As Pema Gyamtsho, Bhutan's minister of agriculture and forests explains, "Ours is a mountainous terrain. When we use chemicals they don't stay where we use them, they impact the water and plants. We say that we need to consider all the environment. Most of our farm practices are traditional farming, so we are largely organic anyway." He goes on to say, "...we are Buddhists, too, and we believe in living in harmony with nature. Animals have the right to live, we like to see plants happy and insects happy."

Every seed is awakened and so is all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our animal neighbours the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land. 

-Sitting Bull

'Organic Agriculture and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Context of Food Security', a 40 year multinational, multidisciplinary, peer reviewed study backs the Bhutanese. So does The Rodale Institute's 35 years of data from the Farming Systems Trial by proving that not only is organic farming better for the farmer and better for the eater, it's also MUCH better for the indispenseable biosphere that supports us all.

A few of Bhutan's happy farmers

The science is clear, diverse organic farms produce more food and higher incomes than industrial monocultures. Mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity and increasing food security can thus go hand in hand. Bhutan will not only prosper but it will set an empirical example for the world to follow.

Naomi Klein said recently: "We are really in a spiritual crisis. The idea of humans having a divine right to dominate the earth and being outside the community of living things and living systems is at the heart of the crisis.” Adding, "It does necessitate a new understanding — or an older understanding — of our role in the world. One that says, no, we were never free from nature, nor should we be." The Bhutanese are making their dream of living sustainably come true by basing its development on the pursuit of collective happiness.