An observant cynic once wrote, "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."
The organic food movement is certainly a great cause and it has definitely become big business. Now the only question is whether we will allow this well-intentioned movement, started by farmers who strived to be stewards of the land, to completely degenerate into a meaningless food trend.
The organic food crusade began as a grassroots movement for small-scale, locally sourced, sustainable agriculture. Most consumers still associate organic products with those values, and many are willing to pay a premium price for the assurance that their food is chemical-free and produced in an environmentally friendly manner.
But today, Whole Foods sells "organic" produce grown in China and shipped thousands of miles. The company that makes Camel cigarettes also offers "organic" American Spirit tobacco. Wal-Mart, the very embodiment of an unsustainable business model, is now a major player in the organics market. You can even find all kinds of heavily processed foods and sugar-laden treats, like Heinz ketchup and gummy bears, bearing the "USDA Organic" label.
In my new documentary, In Organic We Trust, I set out to explore the content beneath the label and the truth behind the marketing. What I found may surprise the 73% of American consumers who purchase some organic products.
More often than not, the organic spinach, cucumbers and strawberries at your neighborhood Safeway were grown on a monoculture mega-farm, in a field right next to the farm's pesticide-laden, non-organic crops, picked prematurely by the same exploited farm workers, and transported over huge distances by gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting, long-haul trucks to your supermarket produce aisle. The organic meat in the next aisle likely came from pigs, cows and chickens that were raised in overcrowded, waste-infested feedlots nearly identical to those of their "non-organic" relatives.
In a way, the cheapening of organic standards shouldn't come as a surprise because the organic movement was never really supposed to be about standards. When the term "organic" became fashionable, it quickly morphed into a marketing label. At that point, organic agriculture was no longer about sustainability as a central value in food production; rather, it became a matter of checklists and regulations by accrediting agents. It became a system to be gamed, and as with every other industry in America, those best equipped to game it are those with the deepest pockets, the best-placed lobbyists, and the largest economies of scale -- in other words, the same producers that the organic food movement originally emerged to oppose.
The news, however, isn't all bad. Though big companies and corporate lobbyists seek to weaken organic standards, the USDA certification still carries significance and should not be abandoned. The "certified organic" label at the very least signifies to the consumer that the food was grown without the use of highly toxic chemicals. It's more important than ever that we fight to strengthen regulations in order to maintain the integrity of the organic brand, least it becomes just another empty marketing buzz phrase like "All Natural."
Even as organic food has gone Wall Street over the last decade, the original organic philosophy is making a comeback in a myriad of forms: small family farmers dedicated to replenishing the soil, a thriving "locavore" subculture centered on local farmer's markets, and urban and school gardens sprouting up across the country.
There's even a global analogue to this growing "good food" movement -- "Slow Food." Begun in Italy in the 1980s, the Slow Food movement is a deliberate rejection of the fast food culture and an embrace of small-scale, local agriculture that promotes, not destroys, biodiversity. It's about reconnecting food and culture, minding what we put in our bodies, and celebrating regional and traditional cooking. It seeks to replace industrially farmed, highly processed products with carefully grown food that is healthier for people, animals, and the environment -- and tastier, too. It reflects the values that once defined organic agriculture.
In reality, organic is only one part of the solution. Buying locally grown food promotes economic growth and creates jobs in local communities. A dollar spent at a big-box store turns around two-and-a-half times before it leaves the community, but a dollar spent at a local farmer's market, for example, will turn around seven times. Buy local and organic.
Of course, it may only be a matter of time before we visit the neighborhood supermarket and find six packs of soda and bags of potato chips labeled "Locally sourced!" or "100% Slow Food!" Hopefully, if that day arrives, those labels will actually mean something. And if they don't, we'll need a new movement.
Leona Palmer: A Model Farmer: Fashion to Farming
Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff: Reduce Chemicals to Increase Fertility
Rev. Malcolm Boyd: Food for the Soul
Carrie Wiatt, M.S.: Uncovering Food Label and Nutrition Traps
Though it has become a greenwashing effort for some, many are sincerely seeking a more sustainable way to produce food on a larger scale. For those who don't have access to farmers markets or local pasture raised meat, there is at least the opportunity to get decent food at places like WalMart. These companies are not the cheaters - it is to their advantage to maintain consumer confidence.
The market of consumers seeking organic is larger than the availability of organic. Therefore farmers, who don't make much money, can sell their food for more money than usual because if you don't pay the extra $1 someone else will.
The federal government, in the last farm bill, included a provision to refund a portion of the cost of becoming certified organic to incentivize more farms and businesses to produce organic food.
As time goes on and organic producers increase in number and catch up to demand, the cost of organic food will decrease to be same and then eventually lower than the cost of food produced with petrochemicals. This is due to the higher productivity of organic farms, the most productive of which are fully-integrated (animal
But too many humans have nothing to do with their food beyond eating it. More Americans in particular need to plant gardens and involve themselves in their own sustainance, for their health and the health of the biome they inhabit. But most Americans have an aversion to dirtying their hands and would rather someone else do it for them. They are being convenienced to death.
We are beginning to buy more "locally". When there's only produce available from South America we do not buy it, we cook something else. We've begun to eliminate west-coast produce, buy FL oranges rather than CA oranges, same with strawberries. This is a long slow process, as we must shop on a budget.
The secret seems to lie in cooking seasonally (like Grandma used to) with local ingredients.....so, no chocolate or citrus or sugar or flour that is not grown w/in our area or pkged pasta, etc. I guess it also means learning to "put food by", something that my parents used to do.
We cannot do a garden in our yard as we live in complete shade. We need to rely on farmers!!!!
Conventionally-grown crops are fertilized with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with pesticides, both of which leave potentially harmful residues on the food. Organic crops are fertilized with that natural organic fertilizer -- manure -- which contains our old friend, e coli. Given that, regardless of how your food is raised, there's a clear incentive to wash your fruits and veggies before putting them on the table...
Organic farming methods are much better than conventional. Organically farmed soils are typically in much better shape than are conventionally farmed soils, and if done correctly, organic farming will actually build the soil, not deplete it, as well as build nutrients, not deplete them.
Topsoil loss is a huge problem that isn't going away.
Conventionally raised meat is fed GMO grain, which studies have shown to cause damage to animals.
Conventional ag has higher E inputs.
Conventional ag uses chemicals that pollute waterways that hurt marine life. Our marshes have been disappearing and are being polluted, resulting in a loss of certain key indicator amphibian species, as well as the disgusting 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico.
Conventional ag uses chemicals and GMO's that are likely contributing the plight of the honey bee and bat populations.
Conventional ag put the land in the hands of a few. Organic ag employs more people.
There are just a few, off the top of my head...
Do you have any idea what you are talking about? Organic is a very expensive way to farm. Thta is why the food is expensive.
Organic is very energy intensive. Many more passes with a tractor are required through a organic field in a season than a conventional field. Modern farming got rid of the numerous cultivator passes each season to get rid of weeds. Organic still needs a cultivator, thus more fuel burned.
Any ten year old farm kid can see that.
And as long as we're talking about farming effects on water quality, dare I mention that manure, being an organic nutrient, has also got a debilitating effect when runoff carries it into streams and estuaries.
Bottom line, there's no "perfect" solution for farming methods; but people are working on it, with hopeful results. Just one example is my alma mater Virginia Tech, where there's been ongoing research into sustainable farming practices for decades. The research benefits both organic and conventional growers.
Unless the label says "100% Organic" instead of just "Organic", chances are it contains GMO's. This, to me, is probably the biggest issue contributing to watering down of this cause.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1599110,00.html