From Dave Smith

In a recent article, author Sandra Steingraber writes: “By directing our food dollars toward organic farmers, we help build healthy soils, sustain rural communities, defend the ozone layer, prevent cancer, protect drinking water, and keep our children healthy… According to the most comprehensive study to compare conventional and organic systems, organic farms produce yields comparable to those of conventional farms, and they consume far less energy and natural resources to do so. They also leave soils healthier for future generations.”

Marilyn Diamond, in her American Vegetarian Cookbook writes: “The prices for organic food, though sometimes higher than conventional food, are fair in terms of giving the farmer a chance to make a living, making organic practices not only sustainable agriculturally but also economically. The price we pay for organic food allows the farmer to put more back into the soil, rather than using the fastest and cheapest “fertilizers” (which do the opposite of making the land fertile). The organic matter used by organic growers brings fertility back to the soil by building up the soil, creating stronger, more disease-resistant plants. When we request and buy organic produce we are lending our support to the replenishing of the lands that yield our food… an investment in the future. ”

How do organic practices differ? From Fatal Harvest: “For an organic farmer, controlling weeds requires formulating a multiyear strategy. Unlike a conventional grower, who simply treats his fields with tons of toxic herbicides each year, an organic farmer must remove the weeds using a plow or a hoe. He also plants cover crops that suppress the weeds, and he manually or mechanically removes any weeds that do arise before they mature enough to produce seeds. Organic pest control is similarly strategic. “Everyone asks, ‘What do you do about bugs?’” says Carol Ann Sayle of Boggy Creek Farm near Austin, Texas. “Well, mostly we leave them alone.” Organic farmers typically plant habitat crops that attract predatory insects, which, in turn, eat the insects that feed on the vegetables. Boggy Creek Farm also applies natural Bt to control worms and employs workers to inspect the crops and remove harmful insects by hand.

“We usually find… that when we see aphids, for instance, if we just back off and wait a few days, the beneficials, like lady bugs, will come to our rescue,:” says Sayle. “And we concentrate on our soil, believing that a healthy soil yields a healthy plant, able to resist most insect attacks.”

Organic farmers have found that they do not need chemical-based pesticides, fertilizers, or lab-modified seeds to produce high-quality vegetables… For organic farmers, keeping toxins and chemicals out of vegetable farming simply makes sense. Not only does it protect the health of consumers, but it also maintains the health of the land and ensures that farms will continue producing crops for many years to come. “Making a living off the soil entails taking care of it, preserving it, and returning it to the richness that allows us to be nourished from it… for generations.”
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Dave Smith is author of To Be Of Use and lives in Mendocino County, California.
Photo Credit: Fatal Harvest
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