Sustainable & Organic Farming: May 2008 Archives
Remember the little fruit stands that used to be the norm along suburban and rural roads? I grew us shopping at our neighbors' farm stands...and even sold homegrown dill and apples in our own miniature version as a rural version of a kids' lemonaide stand. Can you imagine the sparse customers for dill? :-) But we actually had a few regular customers who needed dill for their pickle canning...and it gave me my first taste of agricultural marketing!
California is a big state...an agricultural state and a state with millions of potential "local shoppers". Now we just need to understand WHY that is important. My husband and I were discussing the news I read this morning about a man from Croatia flying to New York to buy clothes because they are such a bargain right now!!!!! What?!? Croatia -- that war ravaged country that is trying to recover -- they are flying to New York City -- one of the most expensive US cities in which to live? What's changing this drastically?
One word. We've lost our local manufacturing // and agriculture.
That's why shopping at local farm stands, local farmers markets and insisting that your grocery store carry locally grown produce rather than imports is important.
Barbara Steinberg recently wrote about how she's trying hard to buy local...and how it's not always easy!
There are great farm, wine, and harvest trails throughout the state.
Barbara includes a wonderful list of FARM TRAILS in California on her blog. I hope that if you live in California, or are coming to visit this summer, you'll support our local California farmers ... and treat yourself to the succulent, fresh, tasty products of our all-American soil! Barbara's list of FARM TRAILS is worth exploring!
California is a big state...an agricultural state and a state with millions of potential "local shoppers". Now we just need to understand WHY that is important. My husband and I were discussing the news I read this morning about a man from Croatia flying to New York to buy clothes because they are such a bargain right now!!!!! What?!? Croatia -- that war ravaged country that is trying to recover -- they are flying to New York City -- one of the most expensive US cities in which to live? What's changing this drastically?
One word. We've lost our local manufacturing // and agriculture.
That's why shopping at local farm stands, local farmers markets and insisting that your grocery store carry locally grown produce rather than imports is important.
Barbara Steinberg recently wrote about how she's trying hard to buy local...and how it's not always easy!
Buy
I really took it to heart when learning about the whole "farm to table" philosophy, which promotes buying produce that's been grown within 100 miles of home. Let me tell you something...it's tough. But I try. And failing that, I tell myself, "It must at least have been grown in California." When that doesn't work...at the very least, it should be grown in the U.S. How hard could that be? Well, sometimes really, really hard. Why? Because labeling is so misleading and even with produce you to read the fine print. Haas California avocados are a great example. You see them everywhere. But many times, those buttery fruits are grown in Chile. CaliforniaInsier.typepad.com
Barbara includes a wonderful list of FARM TRAILS in California on her blog. I hope that if you live in California, or are coming to visit this summer, you'll support our local California farmers ... and treat yourself to the succulent, fresh, tasty products of our all-American soil! Barbara's list of FARM TRAILS is worth exploring!
The Organic Center has researched a new method to quickly and cost-effectively track
changes in soil quality brought about by the transition to organic
farming.
Alan Franzluebbers, Ph.D. and Richard Haney, Ph.D., two leading soil scientists working for the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote The Organic Center's Critical Issue Report (CIR 2006.2), "Assessing Soil Quality in Organic Agriculture." The full report is available for free at: http://www.organic-center.org/science.environment.php.
The report explains why better tools are needed to manage the transition of soils when farming methods change from chemical-based to organic.
"How we manage soil and how the soil responds to this management are critical issues facing the long-term success of our society," says Alan Franzluebbers, ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville, Georgia and co-author of the report. The proposed minimum-data-set (MDS) approach for assessing soil quality is composed of routine chemical and biological assays that can be carried out in most soil testing laboratories for a collective cost of less than $100 per sample.
In 2007, The Organic Center plans to begin a national survey of soil quality on conventional, transitional and organic acreage. The Center's project will apply, test and refine the MDS approach, and integrate the measures into an index of soil quality.
"Farmers and scientists have recognized for decades that well-managed organic systems improve soil quality," says Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., and chief scientist of The Organic Center. "But better tools and solid data are needed to quantify these benefits and identify the best strategies to maximize them."
First, development of practical tools for farmers, crop consultants, extension specialists, and agronomists to use in the field in mapping the course for cost-effective transitions from conventional production to organic management. New tools are needed to determine how quickly a soil can be transitioned, how resilient the soil is likely to be during the transition process, and how soils and crop yields are likely to respond to key organic farming practices and inputs. Soil microbial activity, in particular, can offer a benchmark for transitioning from conventional to organic farming systems.
"There is a need to provide farmers with a soil test tool to guide a cost-effective transition," says Richard Haney, soil chemist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Temple, Texas. "Microorganisms are very sensitive to changes in the soil and we can take advantage of this fact by tracking the impact our management practices have on soil microbes."
The Organic Center's second goal is to develop methods to quantify the benefits to farmers, rural communities, and the nation from improvements in soil quality possible through organic management. Key benefits that will follow expansion of organic production, and which need to be quantified, include: increased efficiency of nitrogen use; less reliance on purchased sources of nutrients; reduced runoff and leaching of nutrients and pesticides, and hence improved water quality; more stable crop yields; and higher returns to farm labor and management.
The Organic Center's next Critical Issue Report focusing on soil quality will be released in the spring, 2007. It will address the potential of organic farming systems to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in corn production in the Midwest.
The Organic Center is a 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2002 to present and provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence on how organic products benefit human and environmental health. The Organic Center's research and educational efforts are funded through individuals, foundations, businesses and government programs.
For information about The Organic Center, its current programs and scientific reports visit www.organic-center.org.
Alan Franzluebbers, Ph.D. and Richard Haney, Ph.D., two leading soil scientists working for the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote The Organic Center's Critical Issue Report (CIR 2006.2), "Assessing Soil Quality in Organic Agriculture." The full report is available for free at: http://www.organic-center.org/science.environment.php.
The report explains why better tools are needed to manage the transition of soils when farming methods change from chemical-based to organic.
"How we manage soil and how the soil responds to this management are critical issues facing the long-term success of our society," says Alan Franzluebbers, ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville, Georgia and co-author of the report. The proposed minimum-data-set (MDS) approach for assessing soil quality is composed of routine chemical and biological assays that can be carried out in most soil testing laboratories for a collective cost of less than $100 per sample.
In 2007, The Organic Center plans to begin a national survey of soil quality on conventional, transitional and organic acreage. The Center's project will apply, test and refine the MDS approach, and integrate the measures into an index of soil quality.
"Farmers and scientists have recognized for decades that well-managed organic systems improve soil quality," says Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., and chief scientist of The Organic Center. "But better tools and solid data are needed to quantify these benefits and identify the best strategies to maximize them."
The degradation of soil quality continues in the United States as a result of erosion, the compaction of soils, leaching of nutrients, and loss of soil structure and biodiversity.
Organic farming methods have great potential to reverse these losses by increasing soil organic matter content, building the pools of nutrients cycling within soils, and enhancing soil microbial communities. The Organic Center's work on soil quality seeks to accomplish two goals.
First, development of practical tools for farmers, crop consultants, extension specialists, and agronomists to use in the field in mapping the course for cost-effective transitions from conventional production to organic management. New tools are needed to determine how quickly a soil can be transitioned, how resilient the soil is likely to be during the transition process, and how soils and crop yields are likely to respond to key organic farming practices and inputs. Soil microbial activity, in particular, can offer a benchmark for transitioning from conventional to organic farming systems.
"There is a need to provide farmers with a soil test tool to guide a cost-effective transition," says Richard Haney, soil chemist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Temple, Texas. "Microorganisms are very sensitive to changes in the soil and we can take advantage of this fact by tracking the impact our management practices have on soil microbes."
The Organic Center's second goal is to develop methods to quantify the benefits to farmers, rural communities, and the nation from improvements in soil quality possible through organic management. Key benefits that will follow expansion of organic production, and which need to be quantified, include: increased efficiency of nitrogen use; less reliance on purchased sources of nutrients; reduced runoff and leaching of nutrients and pesticides, and hence improved water quality; more stable crop yields; and higher returns to farm labor and management.
The Organic Center's next Critical Issue Report focusing on soil quality will be released in the spring, 2007. It will address the potential of organic farming systems to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in corn production in the Midwest.
The Organic Center is a 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2002 to present and provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence on how organic products benefit human and environmental health. The Organic Center's research and educational efforts are funded through individuals, foundations, businesses and government programs.
For information about The Organic Center, its current programs and scientific reports visit www.organic-center.org.
Driving pesticide
risks downward is important because, according to pediatrician Alan
Greene, M.D., chairman of The Organic Center's board of directors,
"Recent science has established strong links between exposure to
pesticides at critical stages of prenatal development and throughout
childhood, and heightened risk of pre-term, underweight babies,
developmental abnormalities impacting the brain and nervous system, as
well as diabetes and cancer."
"Yes, with surprising frequency, all Americans, including infants and children, are exposed to pesticides via their diet and drinking water," added Dr. Benbrook.
In fact, Dr. Benbrook noted, recent USDA pesticide residue and food consumption surveys show that most people consume three to four residues daily just through fruits and vegetables.
"Accounting for residues in conventional milk, tap water and other foods, the average American exposes him or herself to ten to 13 pesticide residues daily," Dr. Benbrook added.
The frequency of multiple pesticide residues in conventional produce contributes significantly to each person's daily dose. Multiple residues are eight-times more likely in conventional produce than in organic produce. Reasons why include:
Converting Nation's Produce Farms to Organic, Coupled with Buying Organic Imported Produce, Would Reduce Pesticide Risks by 97%
The Organic Center bases its 97 percent risk reduction estimate upon a "Dietary Risk Index" (DRI), developed by the EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG). The EPA-OIG used the index in a 2006 appraisal of the impacts of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) on pesticide dietary risks.
The Organic Center applied the same DRI to estimate the changes that would occur in risk levels if all produce were grown using organic methods. The Organic Center concluded that a 100 percent reduction in risk is unattainable because of the widespread use of pesticides on conventional farms, and the movement of pesticides in the air and water onto organic farm fields.
"While it will take years to convert most American fruit and vegetable farms to organic methods, the process is well underway and accelerating fast, especially in the Western U.S.," Dr. Benbrook noted. Already, organic produce accounts for nearly ten percent of retail sales of fresh fruits and vegetables. Several major fresh produce grower-shippers have recently announced aggressive timetables to convert all or most of their fruit and vegetable acreage to organic, assuming consumer demand continues to grow.
The report points out that a substantial reduction in pesticide exposure will remove, or markedly lesson, an important risk factor for several serious public health problems.
SOURCE: www.organic-center.org
"Yes, with surprising frequency, all Americans, including infants and children, are exposed to pesticides via their diet and drinking water," added Dr. Benbrook.
In fact, Dr. Benbrook noted, recent USDA pesticide residue and food consumption surveys show that most people consume three to four residues daily just through fruits and vegetables.
"Accounting for residues in conventional milk, tap water and other foods, the average American exposes him or herself to ten to 13 pesticide residues daily," Dr. Benbrook added.
The frequency of multiple pesticide residues in conventional produce contributes significantly to each person's daily dose. Multiple residues are eight-times more likely in conventional produce than in organic produce. Reasons why include:
- A conventional spinach sample in 2006 testing was found to have nine residues, a kale sample had 10, and a raisin sample contained 11;
- Almost half the conventional peach samples in 2006 contained five or more residues;
- Conventional sweet bell peppers top the multiple-residue chart, with two samples containing 12 pesticides in 2003 testing; and,
- More than one-third of conventional fruit and vegetable samples in 2006 contained multiple residues.
Converting Nation's Produce Farms to Organic, Coupled with Buying Organic Imported Produce, Would Reduce Pesticide Risks by 97%
The Organic Center bases its 97 percent risk reduction estimate upon a "Dietary Risk Index" (DRI), developed by the EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG). The EPA-OIG used the index in a 2006 appraisal of the impacts of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) on pesticide dietary risks.
The Organic Center applied the same DRI to estimate the changes that would occur in risk levels if all produce were grown using organic methods. The Organic Center concluded that a 100 percent reduction in risk is unattainable because of the widespread use of pesticides on conventional farms, and the movement of pesticides in the air and water onto organic farm fields.
"While it will take years to convert most American fruit and vegetable farms to organic methods, the process is well underway and accelerating fast, especially in the Western U.S.," Dr. Benbrook noted. Already, organic produce accounts for nearly ten percent of retail sales of fresh fruits and vegetables. Several major fresh produce grower-shippers have recently announced aggressive timetables to convert all or most of their fruit and vegetable acreage to organic, assuming consumer demand continues to grow.
The report points out that a substantial reduction in pesticide exposure will remove, or markedly lesson, an important risk factor for several serious public health problems.
SOURCE: www.organic-center.org
The Editor at Organic Center Newsletter reports that in Europe, there is a lively debate going on in the U.S. soil science and climate change communities about the impact of various farming systems on soil carbon sequestration and net greenhouse gas emissions. As the underlying science is settled, models will emerge for projecting the impact of various farming systems on greenhouse gas emissions, and these models can then be used to support meaningful labeling programs and carbon trading or credit schemes.
The Organic Center
P.O. Box 20513
Boulder, CO USA 80308
tel 303.499.1840
fax 419.858.1042
www.organic-center.org
One factor that adds complexity to such estimates is well known – the level of organic matter in the soil plays a direct role in how much additional carbon the soil can hold, and hence how the soil will respond to a given change in management practices.
In general, the higher the organic matter level in the soil, the less additional carbon the soil can sequester. As a result, the carbon sequestration benefits of any farming system that can raise soil organic matter concentrations from, say 1.5% (i.e., a degraded soil) to 3%, are enormous and will likely take one to three decades to achieve.
But all soils have a practical limit on organic matter levels, and hence soil carbon sequestration cannot go on forever, at least not while continuing to use land for food and fiber production.
These practical realities frame an important policy issue that has not yet received any serious attention – What happens to farmers who have preserved their soil organic matter, and/or rebuilt it to near-maximum levels through, for example, several years of careful organic management?
The Organic Center
P.O. Box 20513
Boulder, CO USA 80308
tel 303.499.1840
fax 419.858.1042
www.organic-center.org
My family buys a weekly box of organic fruit and vegetables from a local organic delivery service. This small business is run locally, and buys its produce from local suppliers when possible...and from local organic wholesalers who supplement their stock with both regional and international organic produce.
I've noticed that some of the pieces of fruit and veggie are seconds -- in that their size, shape and color aren't premium, uniform and spit polished :-) ... but they are invariable delicious, well seasoned (as in not too green nor too ripe)...and the price is better than I can get in the grocery store.
And I save the shopping time and gasoline in my car to go buy them myself.
We've saved money by not having to go shopping as often, and the quality of our meals has improved because I just didn't have organic selection available at our nearby grocery stores.
You might try it...search Google or Yahoo, etc. for +organic +delivery and your city.
You might be lucky enough to find a CSA -- a community supported agriculture supplier in your community. That's even better in the areas of freshness and local farmer support! But I live in the heart of Los Angeles, and the closest CSA is probably close to 100 miles of urban sprawl away from us!
Bon appetit!
I've noticed that some of the pieces of fruit and veggie are seconds -- in that their size, shape and color aren't premium, uniform and spit polished :-) ... but they are invariable delicious, well seasoned (as in not too green nor too ripe)...and the price is better than I can get in the grocery store.
And I save the shopping time and gasoline in my car to go buy them myself.
We've saved money by not having to go shopping as often, and the quality of our meals has improved because I just didn't have organic selection available at our nearby grocery stores.
You might try it...search Google or Yahoo, etc. for +organic +delivery and your city.
You might be lucky enough to find a CSA -- a community supported agriculture supplier in your community. That's even better in the areas of freshness and local farmer support! But I live in the heart of Los Angeles, and the closest CSA is probably close to 100 miles of urban sprawl away from us!
Bon appetit!
