Just 12 years ago a survey showed that the average age of Farmers was 54.6. The link between this statistic and our ever-shrinking local food system and small, family farm operations cannot be ignored.  Perhaps this article is another inclination that the public’s view of Farmers being a second-class citizens deserving of little or no repute (or respect) is shrinking rapidly.  In a world where food supply cannot keep up with population growth, this is a frightening statistic.

Hat’s off to these brave young men and women.

Slow Food USA seeks to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system.  We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food.  We inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat.

Amen!

We read their blog religiously, and a recent post caught our eye. This month, Foodprint USA was launched “to bring together information, resources and communities of food and climate justice advocates around the country working to reduce our climate “foodprints” ~ our food system’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global climate change through the production, processing, packaging, shipping, storage and disposal of food.”

On their site, they state that approximately 12% of the total GHG emissions per U.S. household result from growing, packing, preparing and shipping food nationwide. And that according to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, approximately 50 years ago in the United States, most foods were generally consumed within close proximity to where they were being produced and or packaged, while today, food typically can travel approximately 2,485 miles from farm to table.

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We’ve talked about what constitutes “organic” and “local” on our blog. We know the shortest distance between safe, fresh food and your fork is your own backyard. But we also know that adult habits die hard, and that our biggest hope is in educating our children.

So, we have published a FREE e-coloring book, How Organic Gardens Save the Earth, to educate families on the benefits of organic produce – to our health and that of the planet. The story is about Reed, who buys his tomatoes from the supermarket, and Posey, who grows her own in the backyard. The tale tells how each tomato was grown, the journey it took to get to them, and what the Earth thinks about it all. It also talks about how special it is to share a harvest. It is written by us and illustrated by Jeff Petersen.

Download and enjoy this educational story book with children of elementary school age. It’s a perfect way to learn about the difference between conventional and organic produce, and how that choice goes far beyond what we choose to put into our bodies.

But long before I was certified, I was organic.  I never used pesticides or herbicides.  And I wasn’t even growing edibles.  I just had a clear understanding that my nursery would have as litle environmental impact as possible, even after my plants left for a new home.   This became one of the key missions of Surf City Growers, Inc. But there came a day when we felt that our word was just not enough—that being certified would make all the difference to our customers. Or would it?

One of the strongest reasons, we found, for people to buy our stock had more to do with the fact that we were local than whether or not we were organic.  This was especially true for ornamentals, which made up the majority of what we grow.  People didn’t seem to care whether or not the plants they put in their gardens were organic or not.  On more than one occasion, people would ask me, “Why are you organic?”

The simplest answer goes straight back to our mission that I spoke of before.  Most people seem to think that if it’s not going in their mouth, why care?  Well, environmental awareness doesn’t need to come to a screeching halt at the gas pump or produce section of your grocery store.  Regardless of what we do, it enters the food chain (which we as humans are obviously a link), and eventually, right back to us.

When it comes to food, organic has made a huge surge in popularity.  Although organic is still only 3% of total food sales in the U.S., it’s a rapidly growing market.  Organic food sales increased from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $21.1 billion in 2008. Sales of organic foods increased annually between 12 and 21 percent during this period as well (Nutrition Business Journal, 2008).  Produce and Milk account for approximately half of these numbers.  So when trends like these catch the eye of Big Box business, you are sure that they will capitalize:  Corporate giants like General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Dean Foods either acquire smaller, more successful organic producers, or find ways to inject their own organic products into the marketplace.  Grocery chains also create their own organic labels to compete.  These larger companies are what keep ‘organic’ on the shelves of Wal-Mart, Target, and Costco.  And with supply so low (organic producers are way behind this rapidly growing demand) these companies are searching abroad to meet the needs of the marketplace.

But now a new panic is setting in for these corporations.  It’s something so insidious that they will probably find a way to crush it underfoot if at all possible:  Local. But what is ‘locally grown’?  Grocery chains have locally grown labeling programs that might include multi-state handlers and producers.  People might not realize this, since most consumers consider local products as being produced much closer to home—in their State, within 100 miles of their community (Natural Foods Merchandiser, 2008).  This also illustrates why farmers markets have grown in popularity.

People want to keep their money spent on goods and services within their communities.  It’s a growing phenomenon that has the big guys in a tizzie.  So is locally grown a complement or competion?  It depends on what side of the table you are sitting.  Local and State infrastructures would benefit for obvious reasons.   And since ‘locally grown’ is a loose term, it could mean anything:  Within 50 miles, within the state, or even within the borders of our country; there’s no set definition for using ‘locally grown’ in comparison to using ‘organic’.  No certification is necessary.  So what you might think is not impacting the environment or helping your community might be coming from hundreds of energy miles away and benefitting another community altogether.

So my question is this; Is ‘Locally Grown’ going to fall the way of ‘Natural’?  Do we need to somehow define, even certify, what constitutes local?

Or when you pick up that tomato should you just ask where it came from?

Trent McNair

An integrated pest management system (IPM) isn’t just reserved for the big organic farmer.  Having one in your own backyard (even inside your home) is easier than you think.  Some systems make use of synthetic pesticides in their IPM, but I’m really just going to talk about organic methods.

I like to think of my garden as an ecosystem that I am invading.  Really, as humans we are disrupting an environment that has found a balance, bending it to our will.  Gardeners and landscapers are exercising their mastery over the environment to create something that we

Dinner Time!

find more aesthetically pleasing, or to grow food for our families and communities.  This manipulation has gone on for over 20,000 years and is the backbone of modern civilization—without it we would never have had empires that could sustain themselves over the millenia.

So, what did we do 1,000 years ago?  There was no Monsanto to head out and spray herbicides and pesticides back then.  How did farms feed millions?

I have a small area on the globe where I enjoy a very mild Mediterranean climate here in Aptos, CA.  Average temperatures are about 70F.   This allows me to grow a very wide range of plants and veggies for an extended (practically year round) season.  But in order for me to be successful, I need to understand and respect the insects and fauna of my locale.  I also need to have an understanding of local native plant species.  Why?  For one, these are the native species’ homes, and they thrive in them.  Exotic plant species are likely to become a susceptible target to their feeding patterns, often without the built in resistances or defense mechanisms to fight them off.  Predatory bugs (assassin bugs, damsel bugs and the minute pirate bug) need a home, so having a wide diversity of plants in your garden will encourage this.  One thing I always ask myself:

Where does this plant call home, and what are it’s natural enemies there?  What environmental conditions does it like best?  Can I emulate those here, so it doesn’t stress and become ill at ease and a weakened target for disease and insect attack?

Heres a simple checklist that I like to follow as well.

• Allow hedgerows of native plants to exist at the borders of your garden
• Grow flowers and herbs within your vegetable garden
• Create a wide diversity
• If you get a particularly nasty infestation, remove the affected plant and take it far from your garden to dispose of it
• Thoroughly inspect plants you purchase before bringing them home – they often travel far and hitchhikers may be unwanted
• Grow ‘host’ plants that encourage predator insects to make a home

I also on occasion purchase insects.  There is a wonderful site online called Nature’s Control that will give you great information as well as quick shipment of predatory insects.  ‘Hiring’ bugs is always a great way to avoid spraying harmful poisons.

Trent

We recorded Oprah’s Earth Day Special yesterday.  If you didn’t get the chance to see it, She opened up the show with images of the North Pacific Gyre, also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  This is known as the largest landfill (seafill?) in the world.  It consists of approximately 100 million of tons of floating garbage:  Plastics make up most of this, sometimes as deep as 90 feet.  I first learned of it when I read The World Witout Us by Alan Weisman.  Global warming may be the most talked about ecological issue of recent years, but in my opinion it has overshadowed a problem which will most likely be just as destructive to life on this planet:  Plastic.

Plastic has only been around for some 60 years.  It has in that short time become an ingredient in our daily lives.  Shopping bags, sandwich bags, water bottles, shrink wrap, food packaging, toys and

Would You Eat This?

their packaging…just take a look at your desk right now.  Your phone, computer, keyboard, mouse, printer, picture frames, pens, staplers…on and on.  It’s all plastic.  And it NEVER goes away. We recycle 1% of it.  The rest end up in landfills or our oceans from as far way as Iowa.

So what happens to it?
Plastic goes through a process of photodegradation brought on by the ultraviolet rays of the sun. This means that plastics just get broken down into smaller and smaller particles, but it’s still a polymer.  These small particulants end up in our fish and subsequently our food chain.  We’re eating and drinking it, feeding it to our kids.  I bet if you went into your bathroom right now and read the label on your exfoliant, you would find that it uses plastic – bite sized and headed right down your drain to waiting marine life.

What can we do?
Cleaning up the mess is not going to be easy, but if we just concentrate on stemming the tide of plastic garbage, that would make a huge difference.  Here’s some things that we do in our household:

1. Stop using plastic grocery bags. Use reusable bags.
2. Stop using bottled water.  Buy a Britta or RO unit for under your sink and buy a reusable bottle to carry around.
3. Grow your own food.  Most plastic is coming from your grocery store.
4. Pick up trash when you see it.  Organize 1 day a month that you walk your beach or neighborhood park with your family and friends.
5. RECYCLE

Linda McNair

Being my first post, I figured it would be a good idea to tell you why Trent and I decided to embark on this organic adventure back in 2005. Most of our friends and family thought we were nuts. I guess that’s what happens when you’re unconventional!

Overabundance of Food. You can read more details about us on our website, but in short, we left full-time jobs in the high tech world to help families and schools eat healthier, support local organic farming and do our part in saving the planet.We are not people who sit on the sidelines. We want to be part of the solution. We hope you are inspired to do the same.

Full Disclosure: We still do our old jobs as consultants and enjoy working with our clients. As you can imagine, our passion for organics doesn’t pay the bills — yet. But, we believe that if you do what you love, eventually, the universe will provide.

HELP! I’m an Organic Newbie!

I know when Spring is in the air when I start getting asked about what to plant in the garden and why it should be done organically. I’ve answered these questions a lot over the years, in different ways, but have never taken the time to write things down. And now that I am, I realize that there are so many reasons, I simply don’t know where to begin. I also recognized that I had to dig deep because when I talk about it, I become very passionate – I stand up, wave my arms around while I’m talking, my voice rises in enthusiasm, and my eyes glisten. Where does this reaction come from?

After a lot of thought, I turned to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I’m sure you’re all familiar with it, but what Abraham Maslow studied (circa 1943) about humans is that we have very basic needs that must be met first before we can realize any needs higher up in the pyramid. In other words, we need to be able to breath, eat, drink, have a roof over our heads, sleep, avoid sickness and disease, create income, care for our families and pets before we can further develop friendships and intimacy with our loved ones or focus on personal achievements or self-actualization. Makes sense, right?

Eating organically is about fulfilling your very basic needs – eating well and staying healthy – for yourself and your family. And guess what? You’re helping the planet too, so you’re securing the safety of your children and grandchildren.

Teaching them why it’s important, and putting it into practice, will continue this legacy for generations to come.

You may think I’m a crazy hippie. Yes, maybe. But, I prefer to call myself a huppie – a combination of a yuppie and hippie – who would like to explain her point.

How bad is conventional produce?

The next time you serve any type of fruit or vegetable that is grown by an industrialized farm, spray it with bug repellant before you put it on the table.

You really think I’ve lost it, right? But, that’s what you’re putting into your body, and those of your friends and loved ones, when you buy conventional produce. If you grow your own, but spray your garden with pesticides to keep the bugs from eating your fabulous harvest before you do, you’re doing the same thing.

Now you’re thinking, conventional produce is the most practical way to eat. How bad can these pesticides possibly be? If you’re the analytical type, here are some stats for you, taken from one of my favorite organizations and websites, Sustainable Table (www.sustainabletable.org):

• According to the EPA, over 1 billion tons of pesticides are used in the U.S. every year to eliminate pests. These chemicals are known to damage the environment and human health.
• The American Association of Poison Control Centers estimates that in 2002, 69,000 children suffered from pesticide related poisoning or exposure to poisonous pesticides.
• According to the EPA, agricultural practices are responsible for 70% of all pollution in U.S. rivers and streams.
• Many operations consume water at an unsustainable rate, causing aquifer depletion and ground subsidence.
• Conventional produce is shipped an average of 1,500 miles before reaching consumers.

That’s right. In addition to poisoning our bodies and the soil, that poor tomato you’re eating has guzzled up an enormous amount of fossil fuels and power.

It was probably picked when it was green in Mexico or Chile, then flown in and put on a truck where it drove for hundreds of miles before getting to your grocery store. And who knows how long it’s been sitting there before you put it in your cart.

How good is organic produce?

Organic farmers are committed to growing food in a natural manner – free of pesticides – and harvesting it when the time is right. Our farming practices protect our land and water from being poisoned, which means we all have safe water to drink and nutrient-rich soil that continues to yield healthy produce to eat.

We’re less reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels because we sell our products to local stores, at our farm stands or farmers markets, or through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. When you buy our products, you are supporting your local economy. And when you eat our products, your taste buds will dance because the flavor is undeniably delicious.

With all of these benefits, why isn’t everyone eating organic food? The biggest excuse is that it’s too expensive. The reason for the cost is the economies of scale. At least 30% of our crops don’t make it to you. Nature does its thing, of course, and we let it. Organic farming is laborious. We plant crops seasonally and harvest them when it’s time. That means we watch over our crops every day, harvest every day, and deliver every day. Finally, the demand for organic produce isn’t big enough to push the prices down – yet.

Do you often you wonder why that piece of produce looks so perfect? Why it has that waxy coating? Why it can sit in your fruit bowl or refrigerator for what seems like forever? Conventional produce is cheaper because most of it isn’t spoiled due to pesticide spraying or genetic modification. It is harvested in large volumes all at once on a certain schedule – whether it is ready to eat or not. Most of the time, it is not ripened by nature, and therefore lacks its full nutrients and of course, taste. By the way, all of these pesticides depletes all of the nutrients in the soil, so yet another chemical is put into the earth – synthetic fertilizers. In order to continue to grow produce, the cycle of these chemicals continues year after year. The more national land we poison, the more dependent we become on buying from outside of our country.

How can I go organic — affordably?

With the economic issues we’re facing these days, it’s hard for me to sell the idea that investing in healthy food today will pay off in dividends tomorrow – for example, less health issues and medical expenses or a safer planet for ourselves, our kids and future generations. Families are trying to save precious cash.

If you want to make an affordable change now, buy conventional items that naturally protect themselves from absorbing most of the pesticides — bananas, melons and most citrus – and invest in those that cannot, such as organic apples, grapes, berries, pears, lettuce and tomatoes. The skins of these items are thin and easily absorb toxins that no amount of scrubbing or washing can remove. I really enjoyed this recent article on the Dr. Mom blog. Dr. Colleen Trombley-VanHoogstraat goes through her thought process when she’s grocery shopping and her advice is terrific.

Some of you might think we’re all doomed anyway, and there’s no way you can make a difference. Well you can in three very simple ways:

1. Buy fresh, buy local.
   It’s the mantra organic farmers have been chanting forever. Buy direct by going to your local farmers markets or through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in your area. Patronize restaurants that buy from local sources. Even chains like Fresh Choice are adopting local business practices because they realize the financial and community benefits
2. Buy organic at your grocery store.
   If your market doesn’t carry organic food, ask them why. If they do, check where it came from and if it’s packaged in yet another plastic container or it came in from anywhere outside of a 100-mile radius, ask why. That store is there to serve you, remember? Participate in what they are feeding you and your family.
3. Grow your own.
   It’s like a classic piece of clothing; it never goes out of style. Even David Rockefeller, who has created the amazing Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in New York (www.stonebarnscenter.org) states in their must-read report – “Taking Root: Five Seasons of Growth 2004-2008” – “An alternative food culture is emerging. There is an increasing interest in growing at least some of our own food.”

Involve The Next Generation

Handful of Healthy Food

As a parent of a six- and 13-year-old, I’m telling you from experience that you can get kids away from the computer, TV, iPod and gaming machine and involve them in the process.

I promise that they will at least try, if not eat, what they grow. Why? Because they’ll be proud and curious. And then the taste of fresh, organic produce will seal the deal.

Your next excuse is probably “I don’t have the time.” Here’s my advice: make your kids responsible for the garden – feed the dog, make your bed, and check the garden for stuff we can pick today.

If your final excuse is “I don’t know how to garden” or “I kill everything I grow,” here comes our plug.

Try My First Organics seed starting kits (www.myfirstorganics.com). For only $14.99, you have everything you need to begin your adventure on your windowsill. It takes 5 minutes to start, it’s a natural, interactive and fun activity that lasts for months, and you’ll save money!

How much? Well, I went to my local Safeway today and a pint of organic cherry tomatoes, about 36 of them, goes for $4.79. Each tomato plant, and you get 8 of them in our kit, produces hundreds of fruit. Your kit pays for itself after harvesting just one plant. Plus, you’ll enjoy several pickings throughout the season.