Abstract

PIP: Many attempts have been made over the last decade to define sustainable development (SD). However, it is much easier to describe one's expectations of SD. The discussion over SD grew in the wake of the Brundlandt Commission report, Our Common Future (OCF), which describes SD as a process of change in which resources, the direction of investment, orientation of technological development, and institutional change all enhance the potential to meet human needs today and in the future. The OCF stresses the interrelationship between SD and economic development such that nothing can be at the expense of environmental destruction. Close cooperation is needed at the domestic and international political, social, and economic levels and spheres in order to achieve long-term SD. The author discusses the state of affairs in the US and sustainable agriculture and SD.