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For many people the New Year is a rejuvenating time for taking on new
challenges, committing ourselves to life-affirming resolutions or
recommitting ourselves to goals that we have previously set for ourselves
but may have let slide with the chaos of the holidays. Buying local and
buying organic are two goals that are increasingly on many peoples
lists, and with the increasing availability of organic foods, the second
of these goals is becoming easier for people around the country to commit
to.
With "Organic" becoming so pervasive, it is important that we look at
what is happening to the meaning of the term, and to consider what the
current marketing trends are doing to the "organic food" movement and
what the effects of this are on small farms.
Mega chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Wegmans, Safeway, to name a few,
are now selling organic food items often at lower prices than can be
found in our local mom-and-pop co-ops, farmers' markets, or natural food
stores. A lot of these new organic food items to hit the supermarkets are
now being produced by major food processors such as Kellogg and Kraft, who
are still pumping out Rice Krispies and macaroni and cheese, but now with
"organic" options.
There is a sea change occurring in the organics industry as these large
producers and retailers stake their claim in this booming new market of
everything and anything "organic." And while it seems that the hugely
profitable organic market signals the occurrence of a much needed shift in
consciousness about our food choices and how they impact our bodies,
quality of life, families, and our environment, it also seems necessary
to step back and think about the larger implications of the recent
corporate embracing of the "organic" label.
While Wal-Mart is marketing its new emphasis on organic food as being a
democratizing move towards making organic food available to everyone, many
worry that the retail giant's new "Organics for Everyone" slogan merely
signifies the repackaging and clever, if not insidious, marketing of
processed junk food. Many large food processors are now offering "mass
market" organics. While these companies will still have to meet the same
organic standards that other producers have to comply with, the "organic"
label, used in this way, will nevertheless merely help to legitimize
packaged and processed food and turn the consumer's attention away from
other fresh, unprocessed, and more sustainable food options.
Others worry that the entrance of these heavy weights into the organic
market will signal the demise of organic standards, both in terms of the
USDA organic guidelines and with the outsourcing of organic agriculture and
food production to other countries that don't have adequate environmental
and human rights regulatory oversight.
While these concerns are quite real, we at LocalHarvest think that the core
issue, and one that is sometimes lost in the discussion, is the definition
of "organic." It is unfortunate that the organic movement, which started as
a reaction against the industrialization of agriculture, and grew mostly
due to the desire by consumers to support more "wholesome" old-fashioned
farming, became known for and branded by a singular and simplistic avoidance
of synthentic chemicals, in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. It is
this singularity that has made the organic movement so likely to be, and,
in fact, so easily co-opted by big business interests, which too easily ignore
the larger picture that pesticide-free farming practices are merely a part
of. Most "organic food" in the market now is grown by factory farms which in
many cases use practices just as insidious as those of their "chemical"
competitors. What is needed is the willingness to embrace and support the
earlier vision of "organic" - not simply as signaling the absence of pesticides
and chemicals, but rather as the more integrative and holistic concept of
sustainability.
Some of LocalHarvest's member farms now feel that "organic" has lost much
of its meaning, and are now choosing not to certify their farms as such.
Also, organic certification has gotten more expensive and bureaucratic, and
many small farms cannot afford it anymore. Small farms that sell less than
$5,000 of organic produce per year are now allowed to sell their produce as
"organic exempt", but for some small farms that exceed this threshold, the
effort and expense of organic certification, coupled with the dilution of
the "true meaning" of the term, as seen by many of the small farms that
created the movement, make it less appealing for them to become certified.
Ideally, buying local from farms you know and trust, coupled by consumer
awareness, would reduce the need for certification, but for many, the time
and effort required for this is out of reach, which makes certification
necessary. Alternatives to "Organic" such as "Certified Naturally Grown"
are now becoming popular. Buying locally grown whenever possible and knowing
your local farms is the next step in the evolution of what was originally
called "organic". Now that the term also encompasses many things that the
original creators of it never intended, many purists are going back to the
roots, by promoting things like CSA subscriptions, humane treatment of
animals, and the importance of buying local.
Organic farming practices, and consumer commitment to buying organic, should
indicate a dedicated willingness to produce food humanely and ethically,
both with the health of our bodies, environments, and future generations in
mind. When we commit ourselves and our New Year to "organic," we should
also make a commitment to sustainability in our food choices, our
environmental impact, and our relationships. In addition to buying organic,
cultivating relationships with our small, local farmers, getting to know
them and their farming practices, supporting CSAs, as well as farmers'
markets, and buying local whenever possible, are just a few ideas for "going
organic" in the New Year.
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