Visiting her organic farm on a mid - September day , grandiloquent sunflower bow their golden head , sweet-flavored cherry love apple dangle , a few Cucurbita pepo shine orange and tantalizing red - green apples are almost ready to break up .
What becharm me the most , however , are several lush and festive rows of salad greens : red kale , arugula , endive , chard and more .
Wandering inside Terry Ann Carkner ’s farm storehouse , I find oneself a heavy bowl brim with mixed greens fresh from the field for about $ 7 a lbf. . Money is no option : I require a salad made from lustrous , goodly repair that do n’t come in a bag ( and grow slime several days subsequently ) and I need it now .
I savor nipping , organic salad every day for nearly a week , sure that my body and the Earth are just a bit healthier for it .
Apparently , I ’m not alone in my cravings for organically farmed produce . consort to the Organic Trade Association ’s ( OTA ) entanglement situation , organic intellectual nourishment sales grow 16.2 per centum in 2005 , reach $ 13.8 billion in consumer sales .
Fruit and vegetables calculate for 39 per centum of this total , the largest circumstances of any food for thought class . And judging from preceding growth , the time to come of organic foods looks lustrous : Since 1997 , organic food sales have shown yearly outgrowth rates of around 15 to 21 percent .
Of course , this drift has n’t gone unnoticed by the supermarkets and society stores . Where once only innate food store and farmer ’s markets conduct organic , now everybody wants in on the act .
In fact , cover the OTA , about 46 percentage of the full organic food dollar bulk was deal through mass - market channels during 2005 .
So what ’s the great deal with constitutional crops ? Are they genuinely good for consumers , for the environment and for small Fannie Farmer ? As a hobby farmer , should you jump aboard the qualified constitutive wagon ?
constitutive farmers eschew these toxic and potentially carcinogenic stimulation in favor of enhancing the filth with compost , manure , crop rotation and track crops . They battle weeds with good , sometime - fashioned tilling rather than by applying herbicides , and they nurture diverse crop to reduce the need for pesticides . While these eco - well-disposed tactics take meter and hard piece of work , the constituent granger unremarkably has fewer out-of-door disbursal to recoup .
Anyone who wants to label and stand for their agricultural products as “ certified organic ” must abide by consistent standards and regulations laid out by the USDA National Organic Program .
Here ’s a sample distribution of requirement . For muckle more , head to www.ams.usda.gov/nop and penetrate on “ NOP regulations . ”
205.103 : A certified cognitive operation must maintain records concerning yield , harvest home and handling of Agriculture Department product that are to be sell , mark or represented as “ 100 % organic , ” “ organic ” or “ made with organic . ”
205.202 : The farm must be spare of veto substances for a period of three long time preceding crop ( check out the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances in this same written document ) .
205.203 : The manufacturer must cope industrial plant and animal material to maintain organic matter subject in a personal manner that does n’t chip in to contamination of crops , grease and water … Raw manure must be composted unless it ’s use to land used for a crop not mean for human consumption , or incorporated into the dirt not less than 120 days prior to harvesting of a product whose edible share has direct impinging with the soil ( 90 daylight prior to harvest if the edible portion does not have lineal link with the soil ) .
According to Bob Scowcroft , the Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation in Santa Cruz , Calif. , farmers making the switch to organic receive a premium for certify organic products .
“ The challenge is how to get there , ” he say . “ A farmer with 1,000 acres of beans and corn says ‘ I want to go constitutional and trade to a grain emptor or wholesaler ’ and the challenges get complex almost immediately .
He or she has to check the organic certification requirements and Virginia Wade through 400 to 500 pages of constitutive rule . In this country , you have very little entropy on how to make the transition to organic farming ; it ’s almost always Fannie Merritt Farmer passing noesis to Fannie Farmer . A lot of constitutive growers are very open and uncoerced to share with other growers — that ’s unusual . ”
When Carkner and her husband , Dick , bought their 20 - acre property 22 years ago , the farm had been a conventional raspberry monoculture since the forties . Divided on the exit of going organic , the Carkners continued growing raspberries conventionally , come up it easy to apply celluloid chemicals and rise one crop , until constitutional foods became more popular about five years later .
“ Cascadia Farms articulate they could use our berries for their constituent jamming if they were certified organic , ” says Carkner . “ Then the market for constituent grew — that ’s what nudge us over . Boy , I would never go back now . We ’re into it philosophically and 90 percent of what we eat is constitutional . I retrieve what ’s good for the surroundings is good for us ; we also think the flavour is effective . ”
For Carkner , farm organic meant diversifying ; first by growing other type of Chuck Berry , then , alternatively of letting the land Trygve Lie fallow between berry rotation , planting a blanket and colorful sort of vegetables .
constituent FYINational Sustainable Agriculture Information Service(800 ) 346 - 9140The Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas ( ATTRA ) site feature excellent selective information and article on sustainable land , the National Organic Program and organic certificate . Organic Farming Research Foundation(831 ) 426 - 6606This national public interest organisation works to improve organic farming practices , supporter research and train the public about important organic farming issues . inflict their site to check about projects they fund , see research upshot , and find information about constitutive production and marketing . Organic Trade Association(413 ) 774 - 7511This membership - base business association promotes and protect the increment of organic trade . You ’ll find constitutive news and facts , information on organic standards , and more . The National Organic ProgramThe official USDA National Organic Program land site is packed with intimidating but crucial information for farmers planning to become certified . You ’ll find a list of USDA - accredited certification agents , organic production and handling standard , the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances , and a doubtfulness - and - answer section . “We grow about every veggie you may grow , ” Carkner say . She also lend a mountain of laying chickens and began raising broilers . Now her sassy , certified - organic crops give a successful CSA business organization with over 270 customers .
Organic Trade Association(413 ) 774 - 7511This rank - based business association promotes and protects the growth of constituent trade . You ’ll find organic news and fact , information on organic banner , and more . The National Organic ProgramThe prescribed USDA National Organic Program site is packed with intimidate but essential information for farmers planning to become evidence . You ’ll regain a list of USDA - accredited corroboration agents , constitutive product and handling criterion , the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances , and a question - and - answer incision .
But her favourite pay - off is deserving the extra study : “ When my grandkids visit , we can wipe out berry right off the vine and pull carrot out , give them a rinse and eat them , too , ” she says happily .
“ I do n’t have to place mansion that say ‘ toxicant . ’ My CSA customers can come out to the farm and cuckold around with their kids , and I do n’t have to concern . ”Halfway across the country , Diane and Dave Andersen ’s desire to raise their 12 tyke in the country led them to buy a 200 - acre organic farm in Ottertail , Minn. , 10 years ago .
They discovered the farmland necessitate “ fixing up ” as much as the house and outbuilding ; they soon learn to replenish the grunge with innate practice like manure program and summer fallowing of specific piece of terra firma .
Today , the family ’s diversify organic operation encompasses crop such as wheat , rye whisky , barleycorn , corn whiskey , clover , flax and oats . A bountiful household garden output capsicum , tomato plant , broccoli and other treasures . round out the farm operation , the Andersens ’ betray organic Milk River from their herd of Jersey cows , and organic brown eggs good manners of their hens . “We promote [ constituent farming ] with our whole hearts , ” says Diane Andersen . “ Psychologically , knowing that we are n’t contribute to the chemical substance input and contamination of those around us gives us confidence . Environmentally , we enjoy the respectable life , the wildlife around us and know that those weeds thrive out there provide homes for specie who could n’t outlast otherwise .
Being able to survive on these 200 acres without a good deal of outside source saves revenue and create a solid work ethic in the minds and hearts of our children . ”To Andersen , marketing their crops and products is the only downside to constitutional farming . “ While that can be enjoyable in the social aspect , it can also be very thought-provoking as you step into a world that understands little about the benefits of organic fertilizer . The prevalent mindset is still ‘ pass as picayune as we can for as much as we can get . ’”Organic Certification & MaintenanceFarmers planning to label their crop “ organic ” must stick to standards adumbrate in the USDA ’s National Organic Program .
If you sell more than $ 5,000 worth of organic agricultural intersection a year , you must be endorse by a USDA - credit certification way .
“ Anyone who sell less than $ 5,000 of products [ each class ] does not have to become attest — it ’s voluntary , ” stress Scowcroft . “ However , you ’ve got to keep records and follow the rule to apply the condition ‘ organically produce . ’”The road to organic credentials commence with choosing a private or governmental USDA - accredited certifier and find an program packet . You’ll reconcile an software , fee and an Organic System Plan packed with information about your prop ’s farming history and your planned organic direction praxis . For lesson , how will you ameliorate the soil and controller pests ? Where will you obtain seeds ? How will you treat your harvest?After your design ’s review and assessment by the certifier , the next pace involves an on - situation review of your farm . An constitutive examiner go over all aspects of your operation in lodge to determine whether your direction plan comply with the National Organic Program criterion . Once the certifier reviews the inspector ’s report and determines your farm fits the bill , you ’ll be publish a certificate . The entire cognitive process ordinarily hold around eight to 10 weeks . At last you ’re costless to sell — and label — your craw as certified organic . That is , until the follow class when you ’ll have to pretty much repeat the same process to conserve your certification . Feel overwhelmed yet?When prevail a business , however , detailed provision and disc - holding can mean the departure between achiever and bankruptcy .
The road to constitutional credential start out with choosing a private or governmental USDA - accredited certifier and obtaining an program packet .
You ’ll pass on an covering , fee and an Organic System Plan packed with information about your property ’s farming history and your planned constitutional direction practice . For exercise , how will you improve the stain and control pests ? Where will you receive seeds ? How will you address your harvest home ?
After your architectural plan ’s review and assessment by the certifier , the next gradation involves an on - situation inspection of your farm . An organic examiner review all aspects of your operation in rules of order to square off whether your management program abide by with the National Organic Program standards .
Once the certifier reviews the examiner ’s report and determines your farm outfit the bill , you ’ll be cut a credentials . The full process ordinarily take around eight to 10 workweek .
“ Each year you have to make a farm programme as part of the certificate process , ” explain Carkner . “ The plan describes what your major weeds , pest problems and disease are , and what you ’ll do to handle them . You have to keep a tilt of what you buy and put on your crops , and know where your compost get along from . I probably keep too elaborate of record , but it ’s helped me mature my business . ”“Becoming certified is not as openhanded a deal as people seem to think , ” Andersen adds . “ Our farm was organic when we buy it , so it was only a thing of researching and settle on which certifier we wanted to go with . At that point , we needed to be indisputable we had a paper trail prove that our undercoat was organic , that the seed we bought to plant was constituent , and that no chemical substance or unapproved product were being used on our farm . We attain organic certification with little problem , and only have to uphold raise and live our lives organically to assert this certification . ”Why Certify?Given the expense of certification ( it varies substantially from certifier to certifier ) and its challenges , why would a farmer who makes less than $ 5,000 a twelvemonth from his or her crops want to go the endorse organic route ?
For one , only with certification can you commercialize your farming Cartesian product under a USDA - certified constitutive seal . In a mankind where the range of supply has grow ever longer , this seal control customers that you ’ve been inspected by a third - party certifier and that your growing methods comply with the constitutive measure adumbrate in the USDA ’s National Organic Program . Otherwise , they have only your word to go on that your production is sincerely organic . There is a significant expense to being certified , Scowcroft admits .
He think corroboration is worth it , however : It shows you ’ve made the commitment and provide security system as part of your marketing .
“ Your buyers can get your paperwork — the consumer ’s right hand to know how you grew something is codified in the audit trail . ”The Giants Go OrganicTo me , knowing how my luscious , eco - favorable salad was nurture is only part of the allure of organic . I wish that my salad come fresh from a farm a mere 15 miles forth , so it did n’t have to be enthrall across three states by a gas - guzzling truck . I wish using my purchasing ability to support an endangered species — small family farms like Terry ’s Berries . I do n’t heed pay more for caliber constitutional produce that ’s priced to reflect the real cost of farming . And that ’s why you wo n’t see me shop for constitutional produce at Wal - Mart . grant to a news report released by Cornucopia Institute ( www.cornucopia.org ) , an organic guard dog that promotes economic judge for kinsfolk - scale farming , Wal - Mart sources constituent products from what are essentially factory farms , as well as from Third World countries . little , organic farmers worry that this could extend to lower constitutive solid food timber and loosened standards . What ’s more , as jumbo corporation like Wal - Mart drive down organic food prices , small farmers could recover their businesses menace . All this begs the question : Can a huge factory farm really be organic?Carkner and Andersen do n’t think so . “Organic land can not be done on a large scale , ” says Andersen , who feels affirmative that factory farm wo n’t endure .
“ Educated people know and understand that food turn in the open air and on the farm down the road is just what it is promoted to be . Who could hope the factory farm to provide a healthy merchandise or for that intersection to be what they say it is ? Integrity means so much . The factory farms may make an impact for a short while , but in the long launch the small producers will still be there . ”
Is Organic adept …
… for the environment and farm workers?Yes . “ When you farm organically , you ’re not applying over 8,000 different chemical to your crops , ” tell Bob Scowcroft , Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation . “ You ’re not exposing farm workers to chemicals or contaminate solid ground water supply . ” Other environmental benefits : Organic practices build filth instead of eroding it , they save energy ( in the manufacture of synthetical pesticides)and reduce water - polluting N campaign - off triggered by the software of synthetic fertilizers .
Is constitutional well for our health and the wellness of our children?Probably , but more research – and backing — is needed . “ I do n’t palpate well-off enjoin organic is healthier for you — yet , ” say Scowcroft . “ But there is some intriguing inquiry out there . ” Research has revealed lower pesticide residues in organic foods . In one study , publish in the February 2006 Environmental Health Perspectives , researchers substituted organic nutrient for conventional in the diets of elementary schooltime children for five days . Concentrations of organophosphorous pesticide metabolite in the childrens ’ urine fall to nondetect levels straightaway and stayed that means until they resume a schematic dieting . Another study in 2003 by researchers at U.C. Davis find out more born antioxidant in organically grown berries and corn than in conventionally big .
