Organic not always the best?
Hi kids.
Today’s topic…Local Family Farms and Organic.
Hubz and I often chat about which path to take when buying food.
Organic vs. local vs. free range vs….
There is SO much love for the word Organic these days. And I do buy certain organic fruits and a few organic vegs from the grocery store. But mostly I try to support the local farmers around here, during the growing season. Many of these farms practice organic farming, but they are not USDA certified as Organic.
Want to know why?
Because it costs too much money and requires far too much paperwork for small scale farmers. Way too much time goes into certifying a farm as Organic, and that is time spent away from, ya know, farming. And the cash flow that comes from labeling produce/meat/dairy as USDA Organic isn’t the boon for small farmers that you would think. It’s often a wash.
The folks over at Civil Eats have shed light on an alternative process for family farmers to pursue called Certified Naturally Grown.
Certified Naturally Grown is a grassroots alternative to the USDA Organic process where farmers audit one another for sustainable practices. This alternative is neither costly nor bogged down in paperwork. You can read more about it on the CNG webpage.
Support your local farmer! If you don’t know where they are, check Local Harvest or Certified Naturally Grown.
Lunch was good, not great.
- leftover coconut pork on whole grains + lettuce + LC garlic/herb cheese
- pear
- carrot
- Musselman’s Raspberry Acai no sugar applesauce (good!)
It’s Friday. I’m working. More writing today than hugging trees, but that’s okay. I am mucho looking forward to the weekend!
Chocolate Covered Katie’s updated her recipes page, which looks fabulous! Watermelon salsa anyone?
I shook things up with Breks!
- whole wheat muffin with eggwhites + veg sausage and peppers/spinach + cheese
- COFFEE
- eaten in the car (head hung with shame)
Time to wrappity wrapz up the work day. C’mon 5PM.
P.S. Everyone wish Amanda good luck with her race this weekend!
© 2009, Erin. All rights reserved.
Tags: Cartified Naturally Grown, farming, local farm, Local Harvest, sustainable
This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 2:44 PM and is filed under Breakfast, Local. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 29th, 2009 at 2:47 PM
Chocolate Covered Katie says:Aww, you are so sweet
And I love that blue plate!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:23 PM
Heather says:Great topic Erin! I am extremely lucky to have an organic farm right in my hometown. I buy most of my produce from there, and the rest I buy mostly organic. I agree that organic isn’t always the best option when you consider the high costs, but I do believe that it is worth it in most cases.
That pear looks so delicious! I just love the summer-fresh produce!
Good luck on the rest of your workday! It’s FRIDAY!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Rebeca says:I completely agree on the local produce front… While I often get fruit based on cravings, all my other produce is as local as I can get it!
I need to take a placemat to work… it makes work lunch look much more fun!
May 29th, 2009 at 5:50 PM
K says:Thumbs up to the applesauce! It’s 5:47 so YOU’RE OUTTA THERE!!
Can I just rant for a second about ‘organic’? I feel like lately organic has been thrown around because it’s the “cool” thing. For an example, when I watch Jon and Kate Plus 8, Kate ALWAYS makes a point to toss out that she only buys organic foods/sweets/whatever. Drives me NUTS! /rant
May 29th, 2009 at 6:36 PM
janetha says:love the insight in this post regarding organics. i buy some organic stuff but when the farmer’s market opens that is where my loyalty lies!
have a great weekend girl!
May 29th, 2009 at 6:37 PM
Run Sarah says:I totally agree - I try to buy local as much as possible, organic is a bit too expensive for me.
May 29th, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Emily says:i would choose local/sustainable over organic. i tend to agree with k’s rant above too.
have a great weekend! rest yo’self!
May 29th, 2009 at 7:49 PM
Kailey says:I would choose local over organic too! Its seems to be cheaper too which i love
love egg sammies in the morning!
have a great weekend!
May 30th, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Timothy Fitzgerald Young says:While I have staked my career on local food systems, “local” does not change the fact that agricultural chemicals cause havoc to our bodies and environment. Therefore I do all I can to purchase local organic and do my best not or over romanticize the relationships I have with farmer at my local farmer market that say they are “organic but not certified.” And as a gizzled old organic farmer near me once said about trusting farmers claims that are not third party varified, “Every crook is local to someone.”
Timothy Fitzgerald Young
President/Chef
Food For Thought
June 1st, 2009 at 12:28 PM
OrganicTrade says:We are often told that we have to make a choice between buying local and buying organic. In fact, this is a false choice. Local and organic are not in competition with one another. On the contrary, they embrace many of the same values. They both emphasize support for the farmers involved in food production. And they both encourage people to consider the environmental impacts of their purchasing decisions. Plus, as more and more local farms make the shift to organic, the choice between local and organic disappears: to buy one is to support and reap the benefits of both.
What should you do, then, if you are in the grocery store and the option to purchase locally grown, organic products does not exist? Which type of product should you choose?
When faced with such a choice, consider the following: organic offers a range of benefits that non-organic local products do not. Because they are regulated by the federal government, products bearing the organic label must meet a strict set of production/handling guidelines. They must be made without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic engineering. Additionally, they must not undergo irradiation or contain ingredients made from cloned animals. Local products are not held to any such standards, and therefore cannot be counted on to meet any of the aforementioned criteria. And, because the term “local” is itself undefined, no guarantees can be made about whether a product is, indeed, local!
Organic products are also distinct with respect to traceability. In order to meet federal regulations, careful records must be kept about every phase of organic production. This means that everything from the source of the seeds to the way the products are placed on store shelves must be documented. Moreover, each of these steps must be verifiable by a third party. Local products, by contrast, are neither required to provide such documentation nor to undergo third-party review. As such, no guarantees can be made about where local products come from or how they are handled.
Does this mean you should abandon buying locally made products? Not at all. Instead, it means you should be thoughtful about the local products you choose to buy. If they are labeled organic, you can feel confident that they have been produced in a manner that not only supports personal and environmental health, but also helps to ensure product integrity from the farm to your family.