Archive for the ‘organic farm’ Category
March 5th, 2010 | 
Author: Do you grow, transport, store, or sell farm produce? Do you prepare any manner of produce in a restaurant? If so, you need to read this article!
If the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (HR 875) is passed, organic farming as we know it, will be forever changed. Once law, this bill will mandate that anyone who produces fruit or vegetables for public consumption will register and comply with new standards. The government will give birth to yet another agency which will be empowered to detain, seize, condemn and take “other appropriate enforcement action” against any person exhibiting non-compliance. Under the guise of food safety, organic farmers will be told what chemical to use, how much to use and when its use is required, and violators will be prosecuted. Furthermore, growers of organic produce will be told what kind of seeds can be “safely” used and where they must be purchased.
Once law, the parameters covered by this bill could easily be expanded to cover all food grown on private property for personal use. And your input and preferences won’t matter.
Does this all sound far-fetched? There are people working hard right this minute to make it a reality! I’m not talking about a group of patients in a facility for the criminally insane – I’m talking about a member of the United States Congress who has introduced a bill which is already being studied in committee.
Let’s look at the motivation behind such an idiotic piece of legislation.
First, the bill was presented by Democrat Rosa DeLauro, the wife of Stanley Greenburg, who is an executive at Monsanto. Monsanto, as you probably know, is the world’s largest manufacturer of chemical herbicides (grass and weed killers) and genetically engineered seeds.
Can anyone say “conflict of interest!”?
Second, let’s peruse Section 3, Article 14 of this bill. Please note that the official definition of ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation. That means any farm, regardless of size– even a small family farm.
A few more high points:
3. Growers will be required to register and comply with all new regulations; non-compliance will be countered by an agency empowered to detain, seize, condemn, and take “other appropriate enforcement action.”
4. Growers will be told what chemical to use, how much to use, and when to use it.
5. Organic growers will be told where to buy their seed.
If this doesn’t sound bad enough, it’s a good bet that the paperwork and compliance regulations are going to be as easy to understand as the current tax laws.
So what happens after you register as an organic grower? What are these new rules that must be adhered to? How much is it going to cost to register? What kind of fees will be imposed? The answer to all these questions is: no one knows yet, because the head of this new agency will decide and this bill specifically states that all regulations will be retroactive.
What is particularly disturbing is that this possible new agency will be headed up by a presidential appointee. (Here’s a few rhetorical questions worthy of consideration: how often, in recent memory, has a presidential appointee actually possessed the qualifications necessary for the job, as opposed to being given a plum position as a reward for some political favor? Can we expect the appointee to be anyone with experience or background in agriculture or food safety? Will the new “Food Safety Czar,” like other agency directors we’ve seen, thumb his/her nose at future congressional inquiries?)
Back to the bill: Ah, but, you’re not an organic farmer or grower, so this won’t affect you, right? Wrong! Further investigation of this bill reveals an expanded scope of authority – to the extent that persons who handle anything defined as “food,” or who are involved in the production, storage, transportation, or preparation of food must register and comply with all the regulations of this new agency.
Doesn’t this sound like something written about Russia back in the cold-war era? Can this really happen in America?
If you think not, consider that the word “terrorist” has been eliminated from the guidelines and official speech of the Department of Homeland Security. Consider that soldiers who have served faithfully with honor in Iraq and Afghanistan have been put on the Department of Homeland Security’s official watch list? The same sort of mentality that came up with those winners is now going to define “food” for us and tell us how to grow it.
If we do not raise our voices collectively and in the streets to confront this kind of silliness, we will soon wake up and find that we have lost our ability to say anything at all. Call your State’s representatives today and tell them to kill this bill in committee! We know that it’s a fact that those who fail to learn from history, will see it repeated. Let’s Roll!
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Why is organic farming bad, if it is? We have been told that organic farming is good for our health. Proponents have trumpeted the message that organic farming is good for the environment. How could it possibly be bad?
It seems that, increasingly, life is being divided into traditional and alternative. Each side claims their methods to be better than the other’s. Each tries to win people to their side. Traditional schooling fights alternative schooling. Conventional medicine fights alternative medicine. Mainstream culture fights alternative subcultures.
Farming, too, is involved in a battle, conventional farming against organic farming. Environmentalists and those concerned with their health assure us that organic farming is preferable in many ways. But others argue that organic farming is bad.
Why is organic farming bad?
Research Results
In 2002, Swiss scientists at the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture published in “Scientist” a highly publicized study. Their study, which covered 21 years, compared four types of farming. Two of those types were organic farming. The other two types were conventional farming.
Reporters quickly stated that the study proved organic farming was more efficient. Organic farming’s advocates said the study showed that organic farming uses 50% less energy. The facts?
1. Conventional farming is 20 percent more productive than organic farming.
2. Crop yields were significantly lower in organic farming.
3. The above two facts meant energy savings in organic farming were actually only about 19 percent per unit of crop produced, not 50 percent.
4. The study did not test organic farming against the most current methods of conventional farming. If it had, experts say, the 19 percent advantage of organic farming would disappear.
5. Current conventional farming matches organic farming when it comes to environmental advantages. Both have beneficial insects, produce less pesticide and fertilizer runoff, and reduce soil erosion.
6. Food quality was almost identical in conventional and organic farming. Advocates of organic farming had long claimed their food was far superior.
7. Current conventional farming methods produce the same or greater yields mentioned in number 1 above.
This research does not, of course, conclude that organic farming is bad. On the face of it, the conclusion is more that organic farming is not very different from current conventional farming. There most be other reasons for people believing organic farming is bad.
Organic Farming Can Kill
Many took from the Swiss study a realization that, as Cambridge chemist John Emsley said, “the greatest catastrophe the human race could face this century is not global warming, but a global conversion to ‘organic farming’- [where] an estimated 2 billion people would perish.”
Organic farming may supply food for small markets, but how can it feed starving nations? Its adversaries claim that current conventional farming is the only hope for these people. If we turn entirely to organic farming, they say, we will doom billions to die of starvation.
Challenging Organic Farming
Alex Avery, Director of Research and Education for the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues, recently published a new book, “The Truth About Organic Foods.” (2006) In this book, Avery offers an unemotional look at the odd origins and unscientific basis for organic farming.
Nobel Peace Prize Winning Agricultural Scientist, Dr. Norman Borlaug, says about this book, “The Truth About Organic Foods gives consumers a thorough and straight-forward explanation of why organic foods offer no real health or safety benefits. More importantly, Avery communicates why organic farming’s lower yields and reliance on scarce organic fertilizers represents a potential threat to the world’s forests, wetlands and grasslands. The book offers scientifically sound evidence that more-affordable conventional foods are healthy for families and also good stewardship of nature.”
Skimming Mr. Avery’s book, one finds statements that indicate:
1. Organic farming started in the 1920s when a German mystic advised use of only animal manure because synthetic fertilizers had no cosmic energy.
2. Soon, the wealthy decided manure-fertilized produce was better.
3. J.I. Rodale first published his “Organic Gardening Magazine” in 1942, and the organic farming / organic gardening movement was named.
4. In 2007, organic farming advocates still have no credible science to support their beliefs.
5. Organic farming does not avoid pesticides. About 5 percent a vegetable’s weight is natural pesticides, some of which are cancer-causing.
6. Foods from organic farming have more illness-causing bacteria. (The January 2007 issue of “Consumer Reports” showed that chicken from organic farming has 300% more Salmonella than that from conventional farming. University studies have found more bacteria in vegetables from organic farming than in vegetables from conventional farming.
7. If organic farming, which decries synthetic fertilizer, was chosen over conventional farming, we would have a choice. We could kill millions of people to reduce global food needs, or we could sacrifice wildlife habitat in the amount of millions of square miles so we could produce more manure.
Why is organic farming bad? Mr. Avery believes he has the answer.
Notwithstanding Mr. Avery’s new book, I am not sure whether organic farming is bad or not. It is often difficult to sort through rhetoric and find fact. I do know that my forefathers had large organic farms. The produce was good and it was nourishing. Before I can turn my back completely on organic farming and organic gardening, I need clearer evidence. You probably want to do more research, too.
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The most important part of organic gardening is to nourish the soil. Your plants will take their nourishment from the soil, and will only be as healthy as the soil is. The healthier your plants, the fewer of them will fall victim to garden pests. The soil, therefore, is the most important part of organic farming or gardening. Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the plants. Fee the soil compost tea, and you will have healthy, productive plants.
Compost tea for organic farming or gardening is easily made. You won’t need a teapot or hot, boiling water, but you will need the best compost you can purchase or make.
Compost is organic material produced when bacteria in the soil cause garbage and biodegradable trash to decompose. It is an organic fertilizer. Making compost requires regular turning of the pile, mixing the materials in it, and exposing them to air. It is an ongoing process, and is a good way to recycle kitchen scraps and other vegetable matter.
Compost tea for organic farming or gardening will only be as good as the compost you use to make it.
Reasons for Making Compost Tea
There are a number of organic fertilizers you can use on your organic garden or farm. Why would you want to get involved in brewing, straining, and spraying compost tea? Why not just work fresh compost directly into the soil?
The main reason for making compost tea for organic farming or gardening is that it helps you increase compost’s benefits. Compost tea can be sprayed on your plants’ leaves to reduce leaf disease. Sprayed compost tea can give your plants additional nutrients besides what they absorb through their roots.
Studies have shown that compost tea can increase the nutritional value of the vegetables that come to your table. It can also improve their flavor.
Compost Tea Recipe
Compost tea for organic farming or gardening can be mixed in large or small quantities, as needed. Our compost tea recipe is for a small quantity – about 2.5 gallons.
You will need these “aquarium” items from a pet store:
* 8 to 10 feet of air tubing
* 1 gang valve
* 3 bubblers, i.e. air stones
* 1 pump, large enough to run the 3 bubblers
* 2 5-gallon plastic buckets
* 1 stirring tool or stick
* 1 small bottle of organic unsulfured molasses
* 1 Tablespoon measure
* 1 old pillowcase or half of pantyhose for straining
Water: Well water may be used as is for compost tea, but water from a municipal supply contains chlorine, which will kill the beneficial organisms you need in your compost tea. Run the bubblers in municipal supply water for at least an hour before using it for compost tea.
Directions for Making Your Compost Tea
1. Hang the gang valve on the rim of one empty bucket.
2. Arrange the 3 bubblers on the bucket’s bottom. Cut 3 lengths of air tubing long enough to connect the bubblers to the gang valve. Leave an inch extra on each so they will not be dislodged when adding compost. Connect one end of each tube to a bubbler, the other end to the gang valve.
3. Add compost loosely on top of the bubblers (don’t pack) until the bucket is about one half full.
4. Cut a piece of tubing long enough to go from the gang valve to your pump. Attach both ends.
5. Add water to the bucket of compost until it is between 2 and 4 inches from the top.
6. Turn on the pump, and watch to be sure the bubblers are all activated.
7. When all 3 bubblers are working, add 2 Tablespoons of the molasses, and stir quickly. The molasses will feed the organisms you want to grow. After stirring, reposition the bubblers to be sure they are spaced evenly and sitting on the bottom.
8. Stir your compost tea several times each day. After each stirring, check the bubblers to be sure they are spaced evenly and sitting on the bottom.
9. Your compost tea will be done in 3 days. Turn off the pump, and remove the bubblers, etc. If you cannot use your compost tea immediately, continue aerating, but add 2 more Tablespoons of molasses to keep good organisms active.
Let the finished compost tea stand until the compost is well settled to the bottom. This should require 15 to 25 minutes. Strain the compost tea into your second bucket. Pour into a sprayer and apply.
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The farming in old fashion which is known otherwise as non organic farming, consisted of using various chemicals and pesticides to fight against various pest infestations as well as for the production of better crops.
The aim of organic farming is to produce livestock and crops by making use of economic, humane and environmental systems that are available naturally to the maximum level. For organic farming to function, we need two things. One is the presence of a land which is very fertile and which will aid in the healthy growing of various crops. The second factor is the availability of people who will be working on the land which has been chosen.
The following are the major factors to be considered if you are choosing to go ahead with the concept of organic farming:
1. The land which has been chosen for organic farming should contain soil that can be utilised for long periods of time without the usage of artificial fertilisers which are normally used while non organic farming.
2. The crops which are produce by organic farming must be given care in a very careful manner by avoiding the use of pesticides and herbicides.
3. The residues of the organic materials as well as the livestock must be recycled so that these can be used as manure for the crops grown via organic farming.
4. The growth of weeds as well as infestation of insects needs to be given proper control by employing the technique of crop rotation in organic farming. This indicates to avoiding the usage of scientific methods which are normally employed in non organic farming.
5. Do not opt for using the genetic engineering method for growing animals on the organic farming method.
Finally, the various effects the organic farming will have on the environment must be assessed thoroughly.
