Study debunks myths on organic farms

[DJ Droood]

Study debunks myths on organic farms
By Paul Hanley, Special to The StarPhoenix September 27, 2011

The results are in from a 30-year side-by-side trial of conventional and organic farming methods at Pennsylvania's Rodale Institute. Contrary to conventional wisdom, organic farming outperformed conventional farming in every measure.

There are about 1,500 organic farmers in Saskatchewan, at last count. They eschew the synthetic fertilizers and toxic sprays that are the mainstay of conventional farms. Study after study indicates the conventional thinking on farming - that we have to tolerate toxic chemicals because organic farming can't feed the world - is wrong.

In fact, studies like the Rodale trials (http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/ fst30years) show that after a three-year transition period, organic yields equalled conventional yields. What is more, the study showed organic crops were more resilient. Organic corn yields were 31 per cent higher than conventional in years of drought.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/ ... z1ZMT6Ft6O

[skydove]

What we need now then is to get the message to the farmers, growers and governments, any ideas?

[DJ Droood]

What we need now then is to get the message to the farmers, growers and governments, any ideas?

Refuse to buy anything that isn't grown organically in your region. The only thing with a voice in the system is $$.

[Twig]

A produce guy at Whole Frauds told me that stuff can now be labeled "organic" if it is grown free of chemicals and is grown in soil which has had at least three years' history of totally organic soil. Otherwise, anything can be grown in it, such as GMO, hybrid, or otherwise tampered-with foods. How else could Driscoll's get by with labeling those strawberries which never go bad as "organic?"

[DJ Droood]

A produce guy at Whole Frauds told me that stuff can now be labeled "organic" if it is grown free of chemicals and is grown in soil which has had at least three years' history of totally organic soil. Otherwise, anything can be grown in it, such as GMO, hybrid, or otherwise tampered-with foods. How else could Driscoll's get by with labeling those strawberries which never go bad as "organic?"

I guess the "organic" certification is different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction...in Saskatchewan, where the tests were conducted, I would think they fall under the Federal standards, which means no GMO.:

SOIL MANAGEMENT

Organic matter produced on-farm must be primary source of soil amendment. Off-farm soil amendments must come from list of permitted substances.
Use of GMO soil microorganisms is prohibited from use in soil composting
Use of municipal sewage or manure from intensive livestock operations is prohibited
Practice of summerfallow is not recommended
Soil in cultivated fields shall be covered by crop residues or a cover crop in a cycle of crop rotation to prevent erosion. Minimal tillage is recommended.
Producer shall establish long-term soil quality monitoring program

CROP PRODUCTION STANDARDS

GMO plants and organisms are prohibited. Isolation from GMO crops and pesticide treated crops and land is required.
Sanitation of farm equipment to prevent contamination with unpermitted substances and commingling with conventional produce
Produce storage facilities must be regularly sanitized and kept free of pests and pest wastes.
Regular rotation of crops to interrupt insect and disease cycles
Pest and disease management through lists of permitted and prohibited substances

ORGANIC PROCESSING, HANDLING, AND TRADING

Ionization and irradiation techniques are not allowed for food preservation
Ingredients containing or produced via GMOs are not permitted
All extraneous inputs including sanitation agents must be approved by OCPP
Parallel processing of both organic and conventional, but otherwise identical, products is not allowed unless demonstrated that commingling will not occur
Packaging materials must be free of fungicides, preservatives, and chemical additives. Food grade packaging materials must be used at all times.
Transportation, handling, and storage of organic raw materials and finished products must prevent contamination with unpermitted substances. Sanitation logs are mandatory.
Facilities must have contemporary solid, liquid, and gaseous waste disposal systems which take advantage of recycling opportunities.

ORGANIC INTEGRITY RULES

All participants in the organic food chain must be independently certified to a recognized standard on an annual basis
Certification status must be continuous and based on at least one independent inspection per year.
Specific standards are required for the production and processing of the following products: grain crops; fruits and vegetables; wine and vinegar; herbs and spices; dairy products; honey; poultry and livestock.

http://londonfoodcoop.org/recipes-and-r ... ification/

[Twig]

And there you have it. I live in the United States, where the FDA has no teeth.

[Jake]

A produce guy at Whole Frauds told me that stuff can now be labeled "organic" if it is grown free of chemicals and is grown in soil which has had at least three years' history of totally organic soil. Otherwise, anything can be grown in it, such as GMO, hybrid, or otherwise tampered-with foods. How else could Driscoll's get by with labeling those strawberries which never go bad as "organic?"

And there you have it. I live in the United States, where the FDA has no teeth.

Twig, I agree our standards should be much tighter, but your produce guy is totally incorrect. And in the US it's the USDA, not the FDA, that sets federal organic standards.

You can read the whole shebang here: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/te ... ain_02.tpl

As for GMOs, they are not permitted to be labeled "organic" in the US either:

Organic crops. The USDA organic seal verifies that irradiation, sewage sludge, synthetic fertilizers, prohibited pesticides, and genetically modified organisms were not used.

(Emphasis mine.)
(http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fet ... nopgeninfo)

[Twig]

Wow, Jake, I really blew that post. It was so misinformed that I think it qualifies me to run for a high-level political office.

Iknew when I typed "FDA" that there was something not-quite-right about it, but I didn't let that stop me. I have a kitchen full of stuff with the little green and white circle that reads "USDA Organic," but my brain bonked out on me. Thank you for being so gentle with your admonishment.

As for all the other things I got wrong, I share partial blame with the mis-informed produce guy at WF. Still, I should have double-checked his "facts."

WF has come out and said that they are allowing GMO products in their stores. How can we know for sure that those last-forever strawberries which are labeled "organic" haven't had something done to them? Maybe it's all legitimate, and they have bred two organic breeds of strawberries together to get them to last so long. My apologies for being such a cynic. I am of the mind that we are living in an era when the greased palm will allow all sorts of tricks to be played on the public.

Nevertheless, I am grateful for that link you posted and will study it with an open mind. I can actually still do that -- most of the time!

[DJ Droood]

How else could Driscoll's get by with labeling those strawberries which never go bad as "organic?"

Yea, I wouldn't go near the massive, hard, red strawberries they sell, especially in those plastic shipping boxes...

I gave up kiwis awhile back for similar reasons (sorry NZ)...I bought some kiwis and waited for them to ripen to the not-too-soft stage I like...and waited..and waited...and weeks later, they were still hard, and eventually started to desiccate (it was an experiment by this point), but never ripened or went bad...and I had lots of time to think about how far those franken-kiwis traveled to get to my store...

[Twig]

More wisdom from my sterling source at WF: He told me that produce from NZ or AUS was organic, even if it wasn't labeled as such. According to him, the soil in both of those places has not ever been contaminated with chemicals as they have no need for them there in Shangri-La. So, I've been getting the kiwis (with the organic label & without) feeling so smug about knowing this secret information.



It's possible to ripen those baseball-kiwis, DJ. I put mine in a brown paper bag which I close up and put in a drawer in my kitchen. They'll ripen in a week or 10 days (still a ridiculous amount of time to wait). They are the proper consistency when they ripen that way and are quite tasty. Probably full of poison, too... Anyway, the hardest part of this method is remembering to look in the drawer.

[DJ Droood]

More wisdom from my sterling source at WF: He told me that produce from NZ or AUS was organic, even if it wasn't labeled as such. According to him, the soil in both of those places has not ever been contaminated with chemicals as they have no need for them there in Shangri-La. So, I've been getting the kiwis (with the organic label & without) feeling so smug about knowing this secret information.

I was just assuming they were G-moded 'cus they didn't go bad...he maybe right on this count. In the end, it was the ethicality of eating something that probably needed numerous trucks, planes and trains to get from the other side of the world, at a price of 3 kiwis for $2, that did me in.

[Twig]

Oh, yeah. The travel thing is ridiculous! Texas has a very fertile valley near the border of Mexico, and we used to get all sorts of produce from there -- especially yummy citrus. Now, we've got citrus from all over the world. And don't get me started on the apples!! Must be NAFTA?

I treat myself to maybe 3 or 4 kiwis a summer because they are (supposedly) amongst the most nutritious fruits. I feel too ethically-compromised if I eat any more than that.