The Trouble With Organic
In 2008, we were all about the election of a new President. In 2009, we are all about the economic troubles. But something happened in the last 18 months that has gone largely unnoticed – the organic food industry has been exposed as a fraud. During this time, spinach, tomatoes, beef and peanuts all alleged to have been organic have been found to be no more special than non-organic food. For many, myself included, this has been a bit of an eye opener. I have become frustrated that we put our trust in the organic label as the key safe source of food, only to discover it is not true. I also came to see that we had unrealistic expectations concerning what organic food is about.
In a recent New York Times article, the issue of food safety in relation to organic food was discussed in some detail. In short, they explained that food safety is not part of the organic oversight. I, like many, thought food safety was a component of organic food; it was one of the main reasons I sought out organic foods and supermarkets such as Whole Foods. As it turns out, we were naive to think that there was much difference between organic food and non-organic food or supermarkets.
We, the public, projected other elements onto the mantel of the organic label. Simply put, organically grown and processed foods (can we even say organically processed?) are about environmental sustainability not safety or even taste. I have come to find that organic food doesn’t necessarily taste better than non-organic food. If an organic tomato is picked early and transported from Florida or California, it will suffer the same problem as a non-organic one: it won’t taste as good. If you buy fresh and local, chances are that fruits or vegetables will taste better because they spent more time ripening naturally.
Sadly, most of the country doesn’t have enough organic farming to make local a viable option. In my home state of Maryland, there is very little sustainable or organic farming period. The state seems to support large agribusiness and developers but not local farming. This forces local cooperatives and supermarkets to label the produce “local” when it comes from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Even when organic is available, it doesn’t always taste best. My wife and I were members of a local organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We stopped participating for several reasons, but the topper was that the tomatoes and other produce didn’t taste any better than what was available in the supermarkets. In season fruits and vegetables should be at the height of their taste, and I hope this farmer was the exception. I want to support responsible sustainable, organic farmers but the fact remains, for us taste is important.
So, if we eliminate taste and safety as key benefits of organic food, what does this leave us with? Well, it leaves us with the basic element of what organic food is about. Environmental and health benefits.
Organic farming is about growing and producing food in the way God/nature intended. No artificial fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. These artificially introduced chemicals produce a dependent ecosystem that is bad for everyone and everything. The soils become depleted of natural nutrients by the chemicals used to enhance growth and output of the farm. They then need increasing amounts of chemical fertilizers to keep the ground saturated with the nutrients needed to grow the plants. Add to this that most farmers, particularly giant agribusiness, don’t use crop rotation so the soil is further depleted of certain nutrients requiring a forced rebalancing. The control of pests and weeds via chemical means also contributes to nutrient loss. All these chemicals lead to ground water contamination which in turn upsets the whole water system endangering plants, animals and humans. Crab and oyster losses in the Chesapeake Bay are a result of this imbalance (that and over fishing).
This environmental issue shouldn’t be under emphasized. As I stated, many environmental problems in this country are due to our over use of chemicals. This isn’t some leftist diatribe. I believe if we don’t change our ways soon, they will have disastrous affects.
So what of the health benefits of organic products? Well in spite of the fact that taste isn’t necessarily an element of organic superiority, increased vitamins and minerals ARE a key benefit. Study after study have found that organically grown food is higher in nutrients than non-organically grown. The additional health benefit may not be overwhelmingly high, but it is better. And given that most people over cook their vegetables, we need all the vitamins we can get in hopes that more will remain. Isn’t this what we want from our food? Better nutrition which leads to more nutrients in our blood stream, leading in turn to the body ending our hunger pangs sooner. Therefore, we eat less which leads to lower weight and better overall health.
Throughout all of this, people are partly to blame. We always want bigger, shinier, more perfect produce. It is what catches our eye. Perfection in visage is not an indicator of quality nor does larger mean more flavor. If you have ever lived on a farm or picked your own fruit from a local farm, you know that the ugly looking apple often has the best flavor. However, we won’t buy what we perceive as flawed or overly mature produce.
Additionally for produce – organic or not – to make it to the Midwest or east coast from Florida or California, it has to be picked before ripe, packaged and sent via rail/truck. A higher volume of produce is needed therefore to offset the damage in transport and premature aging on the way. Notice I didn’t say ripening. I don’t think it can be called ripening if it is off the vine/plant. Natural ripening adds nutrients and elements we perceive as flavor. Aging is simply what happens after a product is picked with no additional nutrient and flavor development. So farmers grow higher volume, larger more perfect looking produce to catch our eye and to overcome the problem of long distance transport.
Also on the people’s plate of responsibility is the need to eat food out of season. I have mentioned it before in another article but it bears repeating. Our desire to have out of season fruits and vegetables causes great harm to our environment. All this unnecessary transport of out of season food, increases pollution, which, regardless of your stance on global warming, is not good.
These problems are overcome by getting back to basics, eating fresh, eating local and yes organically. This applies to animals also. Animals should be allowed to eat grasses, live in open, natural spaces and eat wholesome grains when grass isn’t available. There should also be limits on the size of herds. These kinds of limits lessen the affects of animal waste on the water system. There is no better example of that than the east coast poultry industry. Massive damage is being done by agribusiness runoff which is putting the whole life system of the Chesapeake Bay at risk.
It’s clear our whole system of organic certification is in a questionable state. What people believed to be true of organic food is not true. It isn’t safer, doesn’t taste better and in too many cases may not even be organically grown. The spinach debacle of 2008 stemmed from the fact that contaminated water was being used to irrigate the spinach. How does that qualify as organic? According to the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) inspectors’ argument from the New York Times article, contaminated water would have been a food safety issue so therefore it wasn’t inspected. Why isn’t food safety considered in organic certification?
In addition to poor process definitions, we need to closely watch our government agents to ensure they aren’t being bought off or influenced. The entire process of inspection and oversight should be reviewed and improved to correct known flaws.
What do we do with all this? Well as I see it, the biggest problem we face with organic certification is one of greed. When you read that New York Times article, you will see that farmers and companies must pay for certification by the OCIA. So therefore the agents of this company are motivated by money to approve these farmers. The higher goal should be the examination of the growing processes not profits. This is why, in spite of potential for misdeeds, the government should be in charge and most importantly properly staffed and FUNDED! I acknowledge the argument for smaller government but consider this for a moment. If companies could be trusted to act in an ethical, responsible way there wouldn’t be a need to have such intrusive oversight.
For all my ranting here, we cannot simply point the finger at one group or another. It is a systemic failure. From those people who only eat large, pretty food, to the companies who want to reap financial gain from the hyper inflated pricing for organic labeling, to faulty inspection and certification processes.
The truest solution is overly simple. Only grow food the natural way. If we passed a law banning the practice of fertilizer and chemical sprays, wouldn’t that be easier than trying to certify every company? Yes it would still require oversight but if we make the punishment for violators harsh, the risk of being caught would outweigh the potential profits.
If these goofballs with the peanut processing plants were facing jail time for every illness and more for each death, they would have thought twice. Harsh? Yes, but consider the cost. People are getting sick and DYING. If terrorists had poisoned our food supply like we have seen in the past 18 months, people would be panicking, demanding government action. But these weren’t terrorists, they were American food growers and processors. So we just shrug our shoulders and go on with life. Until of course, we are the one whose loved one gets sick or dies from tainted food.
While my thoughts on how to improve the process are dependent on government action, here is a starter list of things we can do to affect change:
- Ask our government to stop farmers and agribusiness from using artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides and herbicides. Though the yields will temporarily reduce, they will recover in the long run.
- Also insist farmers be required to practice crop rotation. We preach it to other countries, so why don’t we follow that rule.
- See if there is way to regionalize the food growth and distribution. This will reduce pollution and energy use and also ease inspection and oversight.
- Learn to buy locally, from pick-it-yourself farms, CSAs and farmers markets for instance.
- Demand that our local governments support and aid small farmers.
- Ask your supermarkets to carry truly fresh, local food.
- Where practical, grow your own vegetables.
It is time we act to stop this cycle of greed and corruption to fix our food supply. There is no reason we can’t expect our food to be safe, fresh, healthy and not harmful to the environment.
Cashmere Rose Farm wrote:
Howdy,
I read the nice article you wrote on organics. I am trying to start an organic farm just north of Mt. Washington, MD. We have 15 acres owned and about 40 acres we can graze. We plan to have a couple acres of market gardens and raise sheep, goats, poultry and bees.
In doing research on the business plan I stumbled upon this article you wrote.
Although I grew up around here my experience is ranching organically following holistic management techniques in Texas. Google Allan Savory and HMI.
Our goal is Good Food that Tastes Great. The organic foods you have probably tasted are merely varieties breed for shelf life, shipping abilities and looks. Some food marketing person, I think decided since they have to sacrifice taste and nutrition to get shelf life and shipping they will make up for it in good looks. Personally I grow and buy food to eat.
Since we intend to market direct to the consumer around us we can select the varieties of plants, animals and poultry for taste and nutrition. Since I can’t compete with organic food from China, which is somewhat of an oxymoron, on price, we will use the fact we are fresh and grow stuff stores don’t sell as our marketing point. Compared to other parts of the country Baltimore is just beginning to wake up to bad food so we believe our timing is right. Down the road we hope to grow heirloom wheat and grains on about 6 acres, and do some small scale milling of grains for flour. I just like to have my own pancake patch and make real buttermilk biscuits which is the extent of my baking abilities.
PS based on your comments on the food system I take it you knowledge of modern farming is limited. The official policy for agriculture and food is still get big or get out. Which is why less than 1/2 of 1% of the farms in the US are organic or do what you recommend. Transitioning off of drug addicted crops is not as simple as switching from chemical fertilizers to organic ones and planting cover crops. A simple analogy would be switching from gas to diesel. If your car now runs on gas what would happen if you filled your tank with bio-diesel. Due to the economics most farmers can’t transition to organic because the banks and system won’t let them even if they wanted to. They don’t because of old age. The average US farmer is 58. Over 25% are over 70 . Less than 5 % are under the age of 35. If farmers were animals we would be near the top of the endangered species list. Human nature being what it is, after 30 or 40 years of doing things one way and surviving, I think selling out to a real estate developer is higher up the to do list than starting over.
The current government solutions for food safety basically defy reason. Take for example E Coli 157, campylobacter bacteria and bSE (Mad Cow). Various land grant colleges have proven that cattle eating a natural diet of grass, forbs and legumes are significantly less likely to have any of these diseases. E Coli 157 from a grass feed cow generally will die on arrival in a humans digestive tract due to the shock from going from a rudiment to our stomachs. So instead of keeping cows in feedlots, where they are feed an unnatural diet and wade around in their own manure, which makes it nearly impossible to keep fecal matter from contaminating the meat during slaughter, the new USDA regulations being pushed are to encourage more feedlot operations. It calls for implementing a system of tracking where a cow goes, so if it comes into contact with a sick cow it might be known. That way if someone dies from eating a meat product we can go back and check the herd. The new proposed food safety rules basically put natural grass raised beef producers out of business. To me this new system proposed is like closing the gate after the cows get out. I would like a solution that keeps bad meat out of the system in the first place.
In Europe and Japan they do something along these lines and every cow going into the human supply chain is tested. At slaughter there is more than ample opportunities to collect a tissue and blood sample. If such a system were implanted in the US however a lot of the beef cows headed to the human food chain would instead be burned and buried because they are so sick. This would effect the bottom line of some big companies. Next if cows were not feed corn and soybeans, grain prices would drop like a rock and some other big ag’ companies bottom lines would be hurt. To keep us safe last year the USDA won its lawsuit making it illegal for a producer to test his own cows for Mad Cow. It is however okay to test lamb and chevron, which is why we decided to raise sheep and goats and not beef.
The USDA calls it meat inspection system HACCAP. According to Dr Martin Lo at the University of Maryland Food Science Dept. an expert in the area of food safety, this stands for Have Another Cup of Coffee and Pray. Dr Lo is Chinese and knowledgeable on China’s food safety system. In his opinion he is not sure who has the worst program.
Chase Ridgely
Farm manager
Cashmere Rose Farm
Thanks for the input Mr. Ridgely. In my article I was obviously mad about the failures in our food systems and the naive trust I had put in certain labels. I appreciate your insight and the education.
Mr Ridgely replied:
Sure – here is our definition of Good Foods that Taste great
* Healthy, as in it won’t make you chronically ill.
* Green, as in it was produced in a manner that enhances the environmental .
* Fair, as in no one along the production line was exploited for its creation.
* Affordable, as in people of all socioeconomic backgrounds are able to purchase it and have access to it.
* While taste is subjective if you have ever eaten a real tomato, or ear of corn grown naturally,a freshly picked naturally grown strawberry, peach or apple, a fresh free range egg, grass feed lamb and gone wow, this taste great, you understand what we mean by taste. I need to add old fashioned heirloom variety somehow to this.
A dialog about food should be started and you should be angry. Next I don’t believe the government is the answer because large agri-businesses are too entrenched with the government. The peanut butter scandal is only the tip of the iceberg.
What it come down to is integrity. Which is why the local food movement has taken off and why we are starting a farm next to a commuter light rail station in Baltimore.
Here is an interesting study on why food is really important.
When defining our products, Good Food that Taste Great, it must be noted that food is more than just stuff to eat and fuel the body. It is not just another commodity.
Food has strong cultural significance. While a subject unto into self, we find it interesting that according to a survey done by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation of all National Merit Scholars from the past 20 years, they all had this in common: without exception, they came from families who ate dinner together three or more nights a week. According to the study , no other single factor correlation was as strong in correlation, not socio-economic status, not race, not religion, not culture, not school attended, not geography…nothing. Food is important. Good Food that Taste Great is essential to the future.
If all goes well, we will be planting a small patch of heirloom wheat and some other grains for flour and I will email you about what to do with it. Our soil is a clayish loam and we are planning to build a cob oven. I will have honey, fresh milk, eggs and flour so I am hoping I can bake something edible.
Plenty of strong details that you have made in this article. Although I don’t understand each, they are legitimate.
Thank you for bothering to create this. I value where you are coming from with this article and yet I believe that there is more to be said.
Thanks so much for posting a lot of this excellent content! Looking forward to seeintg more blogs!
Thanks very much for posting a lot of this excellent information!
Thanks for sharing.
Great story, saved your site with interest to read more information!
I’m a big proponent of eating healthy and taking care of yourself. Hell I even started an online store selling discount strength training equipment… that’s how much of a workout freak I am!
Interesting topic buddy i should bookmark your website
Useful article can i have your permision to summerize this on my site? Thanks
@ kristle – yes you can use what you need on your site.
Excellent reading. Great post, finally a decent website with good information in it.
I can see that you are an expert in this area. I am starting a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business.
organic foods are the best for our health since they are free from dangerous chemicals and toxins -`-
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.
Very detailed post! I agree with above poster! I have your website bookmarked!
I have browsed most of your posts. This post is probably where I got the most useful information for my research. Thanks for posting, maybe we can see more on this. Are you aware of any other websites on this subject.
There are plenty of web sites on the subject and many better written than this one. I am working on a more detailed series of articles on the subject of organic food.
I am researching the topic in detail and setting up interviews with proponents on each side of the issue.
thanks for reading.
KitchenBoy
Organic food, or better say homegrown food is much more healthier than store foods. It is not just the food, its the seeds that must be organic in order to get those healthy vegetables. A main thing about organic foods, is that you are full after eating a smaller portion, than you would be if you eat something at McD’s