Wednesday, March 23, 2011
---
What does it meant that we dedicate ourselves to Organic Farming? Today, we went over the definition of organic, which includes understanding what the USDA standards are for organic. One initial question I wrote in my notes was "What is the USDA?" I think I know what the USDA is, but I don't think I actually know much about it. What exactly is the certification process, and who are the major certifiers? Who owns the major organic certifying entities?
Some definitions of "Organic" are: Practice-based standards, mandatory certification, required organic system plan, use of only approved substances and on-site inspection. During our discussion of Organic standards, we talked about what constitutes purity of land? Organic certification requires a 3-year transition period... but really, how long is long enough for the "bad stuff" of commercial farming to work itself out of land? (Where does the "bad stuff" go?) An organic system plan includes a distinct buffer zone between the organic land and areas around it. How big should the buffer zone be? Do we account for if land is downhill from a non-organic farm? What about wind patterns?
About a year ago, for my job at Rainbow Grocery, I attended the Eco-farm Conference that was held in a beautiful location on the coast of mid-California. Tons of very interesting lectures and workshops where hosted. Being even more urban-land-locked than I am right now, most all of the information about ecological farming was very much over my head. I do remember how awesome and in awe I was to hear from farmers directly about their experiences in growing. Eco-farm solidified my immense respect for farmers that continues to this day. I do remember some information from one talk given by somebody associated with Lakeside Farms, in Watsonville, California. Rainbow buys a lot of produce from Lakeside, and so it was interesting to hear from somebody directly associated with the farm itself. It was through this talk that I first heard of a buffer zone around an organic farm, and this gentleman described how Lakeside uses buffer zones to grow plants that are beneficial and/or complementary to the neighboring crop. This means buffer zone plants that draw beneficial insects and animals, as well as preventing soil and wind erosion.
In our class today, we also talked about organic requirements for soil and fertility inputs. Compost must follow organic regulations, as well as anything else as anything else added to the soil and/or plants. Naturally-mined fertility inputs are allowed, and organic farmers must use organic seeds and seedlings (no treated or GMO seeds allowed). Burning crop residue and using sewage sludge is prohibited. We learned that some synthetic materials are allowed, like certain kinds of soaps and sticky traps. OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) is an entity that keeps track of most of the allowed and prohibited substances in organic farming, but I guess there are some things that are not on OMRI's list. It is unclear to me how farmers are to fully know what is or isn't allowed, but it seems like to begin or transition one's farm to organic, a farmer should work closely with the organic certification entity that would be inspecting and approving their farm to make sure that everything they are doing along the process matches up.
 |
| A completely organic breakfast I enjoyed last summer because of organic farming. |
It is really awesome to learn about what it takes to have an organic farm, but overall, I don't think becoming an organic farmer is a career that I am drawn to. I really want to understand the whole organic system as much as possible and I think that for any future profession, it is helpful for anybody to understand the system through which we are provided with food. Just as an individual interested in one's own health, knowing about how our food is grown is important. Myself, as someone interested in sustainable design, I believe that understanding the organic system will definitely come into play in ways that are currently unforeseen by me!
No comments:
Post a Comment