Market Farming

["Kevin Ancell" <kancell AT goodearthgardens.com>]

Certified organic growers hope new standards boost business
By Susan Salisbury, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business
News

Oct. 22 - M&M Groves in Fort Pierce isn't growing just run-of-the-mill
Florida oranges. The 3,000-tree grove is certified organic by Florida
Organic Growers of Gainesville.

"It's a tough thing to do," says M&M's co-owner Vicki Miller, who began
organic citrus growing with her husband, Walter, about seven years ago.

"We don't use any pesticides or herbicides. We mow our weeds. The fruit
can't be put in a truck that has had fruit with pesticides on it."

The Millers and other 120 or so certified organic growers of fruit,
vegetables, sugar cane and rice in the state are hopeful that U.S.
Department of Agriculture national organic standards that took effect Monday
will boost their business.

"That is the hope of everyone. The good thing about this is the
standardization," said Marlon Sequeira, organic program manager for West
Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals Corp. "Now we have one playing field and
it gives us a competitive edge.

"Before, you could grow tomatoes at home and call it organic, but they
weren't certified. Now, organic means you are certified."

Under the new standards, foods that are from 95 percent to 100 percent
organic will be labeled as such and are permitted to carry a green USDA
organic seal.

Farmers and food processors must be certified by USDA-approved agents in
order for their products to carry the labels.

Florida Crystals began growing a small portion of its crop organically seven
years ago.

It produces the nation's only organic sugar, which also is exported to
Europe, and is one of a handful of organic rice growers in the United
States.

The company's Sem-Chi Rice Products Corp. produces about 3,500 tons of
organic rice a year.

Organic farming in Florida is a young but growing industry, said Marty Mesh,
executive director of Florida Organic Growers, formed in 1989.

The state's 120 organic producers on 12,000 acres are a fraction of the
state's total of 44,000 farms, which sit on more than 10 million acres,
according to the USDA.

"Most industries run away from government regulation. The organic industry
went to the government in 1990 and said, 'Please regulate us,' " Mesh said.

Mitch Blumenthal, president of Global Organics Speciality Source Inc. in
Sarasota, which distributes organic produce throughout the southeastern
United States, said the new regulations will give organic growers
"credibility."

"A lot of people buy it not just because it's organic, but because of the
quality of the product," Blumenthal said.

"It looks good and tastes good."

Florida's organic growers maintain they remain in the difficult business
because they care about the environment.

Rose Edwards and her husband Fremont, who previously worked on conventional
farms, started Three Bird Organics in Hendry County in 2000 and produced
1,500 20-lb. boxes of squash last year.

"Organic growing is expensive, but if you don't, who will?" Rose Edwards
said.

"Somebody has to take a stand."