|
Texas | Can't let this one get by without getting my thoughts in. I have a sister in law who preaches organic while her husband works for a chemical company. Oh the irony. I would also like to add that sustainability has become another word that goes along with oraganic.
First, how did all of this start. My theory is that most of it started because of the home gardens we had in the past coupled with the movement from rural to urban America. Everyone remembers how we used to go out to the garden and pick fresh corn, peas, okra or whatever else we grew. The people and families remembered this and went to the farmers markets and purchased produce and other goods grown on our farms. Many farm families needed the extra inome from the garden products they sold to supplement their farm incomes. People realized these foods tasted better and began to rationalize their trips to the farmers markets. At the same time, local restauranteurs realized they could serve a better product by purchasing locally grown products that didnt sit on the shelves in the stores.
This process continued to domino and growers began to realize they could grow it on a larger scale and sale directly to different retail outlets and increase their profits. They didnt think they could increase their profits with their conventional practices. At the same time retailers realized increased sales from locally grown products. At some point in time the label organic began being placed on the organic products and the marketing of organic food began to magnify. Production increased to large scale farms in areas close to the major metropolitan areas. Foreign growers then realized the potential profits and began producing the organic products. Problems that slowed the conversion of US growers, namely labor and regualtions, were less of a hindrance to foreign growers.
Now we add a new word into the equation. Sustainablility. If you read about it you will find there is a lot of different definitions and explanations for what this means to agriculture. It is a good thought but there is no way the world can be fed with organic and or sustaniable ag practices.
Overall, farming has a major disconnect with the general public. As someone stated earlier, there is a certain romantic view of Ag that fits the small, organic farmer. What they do not realize is that production ag is more efficient (evironmentally and economically) than ever before. We are also having to produce more food and fiber than ever before in a world with a growing population and major stresses being placed on our land resources. This is not just occuring in the US but all over the world. What many don't seem to realize is that we don't want to spray our fields for pests. We don't want to give our cattle antibiotics or treat for diseases. These things usually cost a great deal of money and that may be after the fact of economic damage to our crops and livestock.
The public wants us to use terms like safer food, sustainable prodcution methods etc. What they don't understand is that most of us are the greatest stewards of the land and that we have to take care of it to keep it producing. We do things like implement no till systems and crop rotations to preserve and make the land better. We install drip irrigation systems to save water while increasing production. We use mechanical harvesting to save money while eliminating the need for laborers hand gathering their food.
A couple of final thoughts,
How many of you have had gardens and offered someone to pick some corn or peas but they never show up?? How many of you have had people ask you to bring them corn or peas from your garden??
How many hands have touched that organic squash or lettuce that is being sold in the store?? How many have touched the non organic??
How many people from the city would go walk through a pile of composted cow manure???
Finally, how many of the customers of starbucks would continue drinking their coffee if they knew it was sprayed with fermented cow urine to keep the bugs off of the coffee beans??
No offense to the organic growers meant. I applaud your entreprenuerial spirit and the hard work you do to accomplish your tasks. Please put a good word in for the commercial growers out their. | |
|
What is wrong with Organic food?
