Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

   "We are losing farmland at an alarming rate in this country as we
rapidly degrade the biodiversity of our ecosystems. In the Midwest, the
"breadbasket" of America, some of the richest soil on the planet is being
continually weakened by pesticides and drained of nutrients by
monocropping, despite the fact that crop rotation has long been accepted as
the best method for preserving the nutrient content of soil.

   "Centralized agriculture means that we are eating foods that are shipped
an average of 1,300 miles from source to mouth according to Michael Pollan
in "The Omnivore's Dilemma," a distance that uses an extraordinary amount
of fossil fuels, further contributing to climate change.

   "In addition, big agribusinesses are contributing to the loss of family
farming in this country and worldwide, destroying the way of life of
thousands of families who have been responsibly cultivating their land,
making a living and contributing to local economies for generations."
-----------

Organic is more than an 'Eco-Friendly' trend
Sara Franklin
http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2007/12/03/OpEd/
Organic.Is.More.Than.An.ecoFriendly.Trend-3127951.shtml
 12/3/07 Section: Op-Ed

This article is a response to Richard Brown's Nov. 27 op-ed favoring
conventionally grown food over organically grown food. Many of the points
Brown makes are poorly researched and do not consider the full story.

For starters, many people buy organic food in major supermarkets because it
is better for their bodies, not the earth. A great deal of research has
shown that pesticide residues on foods are retained in the human body.
Further research, like that of scientist Michael Pollan, has documented the
potential harms of pesticides, especially for young children and women who
are, or may become, pregnant.

And those who consume pesticides are not the only ones exposed.
Conventional agriculture requires a great deal of farm labor, and the
workers who handle pesticides receive the bulk of pesticide exposure, which
can lead to a plethora of health problems ranging from respiratory illness
to cancer.

To make matters worse, many of these workers cannot afford healthcare
because of political red tape and immigration policies, and are therefore
hit by the double whammy of ingesting poisons and not being able to access
health care when those poisons cause ill health.

Even those who buy organic, as Brown said, because it is purportedly
"greener" than conventional agriculture are on to something. Conventional
agriculture in this country goes hand in hand with the heavy use of
chemical fertilizers, monocropping (growing the same crop year after year
on the same plot of land without rotation) and centralized food production.

We are losing farmland at an alarming rate in this country as we rapidly
degrade the biodiversity of our ecosystems. In the Midwest, the
"breadbasket" of America, some of the richest soil on the planet is being
continually weakened by pesticides and drained of nutrients by
monocropping, despite the fact that crop rotation has long been accepted as
the best method for preserving the nutrient content of soil.

Centralized agriculture means that we are eating foods that are shipped an
average of 1,300 miles from source to mouth according to Michael Pollan in
"The Omnivore's Dilemma," a distance that uses an extraordinary amount of
fossil fuels, further contributing to climate change.

In addition, big agribusinesses are contributing to the loss of family
farming in this country and worldwide, destroying the way of life of
thousands of families who have been responsibly cultivating their land,
making a living and contributing to local economies for generations.

As far as price goes, organically produced food costs more than
conventionally grown food because conventionally produced food actually
costs more than we pay. Government subsidies, which are currently under
extreme scrutiny by proponents of major reforms in the 2007 Farm Bill, have
allowed agribusiness owners, who primarily grow wheat, corn and soy, to get
rich, while those who grow "specialty crops" (i.e. the fruits and
vegetables we need to eat to have optimal health) are being denied federal
aid.

That is why products that are made primarily of the commodity crops of
corn, wheat and soy, like candy bars and soda, are so much cheaper in the
supermarket than fruits and vegetables - the government in effect pays
farmers to overproduce, thus falsely deflating their prices.

All this is only in defense of the "organic" label, however, which is not
the ideal of proponents of sustainable agriculture. As a former grower on a
small organic farm owned by a non-profit organization in Waltham, Mass., I
can say that locally grown, organic food not only tastes better and is much
fresher than anything you'll find in a Shaw's or even a Whole Foods, but
that those who have dedicated their lives to preserving our land by using
it in a sustainable and responsible way work incredibly hard and for very
little money.

When you pay a bit more to buy from them, you are supporting a local
economy and cutting out middlemen, thus contributing directly to the salary
of a hard-working farmer. Additionally, supporting small and family-owned
farms helps preserve green spaces, curb overdevelopment and protect
biodiversity and local ecosystems.

To read more, there is a growing body of literature about sustainable and
organic agricultural practices and their advantages. Some starter texts
are: "Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill" by Daniel
Imhoff, "GRUB: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen" by Bryant Terry and Anna
Lappe and anything by Vandana Shiva.

Check out www.localharvest.com, the Community Food Security Coalition,
Community Alliance with Family Farmers and Farm Aid online for a sense of
the ways that people are trying to activate change in U.S. food policy.

To Mr. Brown, next time, think carefully about the information you are
sharing with the general public. Do your homework and read what the other
side has to say. You may choose not to buy organic because you are not
willing to pay a bit more for a more responsible food system, but think
twice before criticizing those who are.