Farming Communities Facing Crisis over Nitrate Pollution, Study Says

By Stett Holbrook
Nitrate contamination in groundwater from fertilizer and animal manure is severe and getting worse for hundreds of thousands of residents in California's Central Valley farming communities, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Nearly 10 percent of the 2.6 million people living in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley might be drinking nitrate-contaminated water, researchers found. And if nothing is done to stem the problem, the report warns, nearly 80 percent of residents could be at risk of health and financial problems by 2050.

High nitrate levels in drinking water have been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes, hair loss, birth defects and "blue baby syndrome," a potentially fatal blood disorder in infants.

The report is the most comprehensive assessment so far of nitrate contamination in California's agricultural areas.

The problem is much, much, much worse than we thought," said Angela Schroeter, agricultural regulatory program manager for the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state water agency.


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The Organic 1%: Sustainable Farming in a Broken System

By Cyndie Hoffman
Local, sustainable food has become a regular part of our everyday culture as demonstrated through the growing interest in school gardens, Community Supported Agriculture, local farmers' markets, underground dining clubs, and organics in general. This enduring trend in sustainable food reignites a question posed on Triple Pundit two years ago: "Is Sustainable Farming Going Mainstream?" Unfortunately not at all as the sustainable food hype trumps the numbers.

In 2008 organic cropland represented only 0.7 percent in the United States and, at the current growth rate, it is expected to reach not more than 2.5 percent by 2050.

Much of the momentum and buzz in the organics industry has been sparked by key icons and influential leaders who have driven the conversation through thought-provoking books, films, TV shows, and other media engagements. Storytelling about food issues has changed the way Americans view and think about food. Since Michael Pollan unveiled Omnivore's Dilemma in 2006, vivid images of cattle crammed together in CAFOs and swimming in antibiotic-infused manure occupy the minds of many. And, when Jamie Oliver visited schools in 2010 and discovered that kids confuse potatoes with tomatoes and school bureaucrats call french fries a vegetable, education about where food comes from has become increasingly popular. 


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Organic Farming as a Green Jobs Strategy? Demand for Organics to Stimulate 42,000 Jobs

By Cole Mellino
A new report released this week finds that demand for organics may create up to 42,000 jobs by 2015, up from 14,000 today.

That's only a fraction of the 980,000 farmers in the U.S. But the organization that released the report, the Organic Farming Research Foundation, is calling on Congress to consider the growing economic impact of organic farming as it reconfigures the 2012 farm bill. Due to the rapid growth in consumer demand for organics and the labor-intensity of organic farming, OFRF says that job creation in the sector can more than double the rate of the conventional sector:

As our country has been dramatically affected by the worst economic downturn in 80 years, the organic industry has remained in positive growth territory and has come out of the recession hiring employees, adding farmers, and increasing revenue. The organic industry has grown from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $29 billion in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 19 percent from 1997- 2008. The organic agriculture sector grew by 8 percent in 2010.

The latest data indicate that 96 percent of organic operations nation-wide are planning to maintain or increase employment levels in 2011. Organic farms hired an average of 61 year-round employees compared with 28 year-round employees hired on conventional farms, according to a recent survey of organic and conventional farmers in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. 

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Organic Farming Can Be More Profitable in the Long-Term than Conventional Agriculture

By Jeremy Hance
Organic farming is more profitable and economically secure than conventional farming even over the long-term, according to a new study in Agronomy Journal. Using experimental farm plots, researchers with the University of Minnesota found that organic beat conventional even if organic price premiums (i.e. customers willing to pay more for organic) were to drop as much as 50 percent.

"Doing an economic study like this, it's important to get as complete a picture of the yield variability as we can," explains Timothy Delbridge, lead author of the study and a doctoral student studying agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota. "So, the length of this trial is a big asset. We're pretty confident that the full extent of the yield variability came through in the results."

Conducted over 18 years, the study found that a conventional farm, rotating corn, soy, oat, and alfalfa over 4 years brought in $273, while an organic farm netted $538. Even if the organic premium dropped by half, it would still be more profitable given that the cost of production was lower for organic, since organic farmers would spend nothing on chemicals.

"What we're looking at here are results between an established organic and an established conventional system. This research doesn't take into consideration the issue of the transition itself: how difficult or costly that may be," cautions Delbridge.

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Farming Makes a Comeback

By Connie Springer
There's no Aruba, Barbados or Maui for this bunch.

A modern farmer's life still portends grueling hours, endless chores and plenty of sweat, especially in the sweltering summertime when many of us head for the mountains or the beach.

Yet six local farmers insist that they wouldn't have it any other way.

"We don't really take vacations," says Teresa Biagi, of Hazelfield Farm in Owen County, Ky. "There is no place we would rather be."

Each of the farmers speak about being driven by the desire for fresh, unadulterated vegetables, self-sustainability and being close to nature. They find joy in handling the moist, rich soil and in nurturing tiny seeds that grow into fruits which, in turn, provide nourishment. As one farmer put it, farming is a lifestyle, not a job.

And as consumers increasingly look for fresh, local produce, farmers markets have proliferated, giving the farmer an ideal setting in which to sell their bounty.

Whether the farmer works the land full-time or has a day job and farms after-hours, Herculean best describes the level of work involved.

"It takes commitment and persistence, creativity and ingenuity, a whole host of skills, a can-do attitude and a never-give-up mentality," says Jeff Ashba, of the Organic Farm at Bear Creek, in Clermont County.

The farmers agree that the rewards of working in nature far outweigh the sacrifices.

"It is an honor to spend our time outside working and learning from Mother Nature," says Sarah Mancino, who with husband Adam, owns Farm Beach Bethel in Bethel, Ohio.

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Prince Charles: Save the World with Organic Farming

Britain's crown prince has a message for America: You don't pay enough for your food. And the way you produce it is ruining the planet.

Fresh from his oldest son's wedding, Prince Charles came to Washington to slam today's conventional agricultural system as unsustainable because of its reliance on biotechnology and chemicals.

"The current model is simply not durable in the long term," he told a food-policy conference hosted Wednesday by Georgetown University.

The prince, who has long been a virulent opponent of biotechnology, has devoted some of the royal lands to organic farming. He ran through a list of the challenges facing the globe - growing populations, rising commodity prices, increased demand for meat as incomes grow, a changing climate, and limited water supplies. He offered organic farming as the answer to those challenges because of its ability to maintain soil fertility reliance on chemical inputs. 

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Organic Farming Just as Productive as Conventional, and Better at Building Soil, Rodale Finds

By Tom Philpott

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA's All About Organics page, and our Farm Issues page.

Organic agriculture is a fine luxury for the rich, but it could never feed the world as global population moves to 9 billion.

That's what a lot of powerful people -- including the editors of The Economist -- insist. But the truth could well be the opposite: It might be chemical-intensive agriculture that's the frivolous luxury, and organic that offers us the right technologies in a resource-constrained, ever-warmer near future.

That's the conclusion I draw from the latest data of the Pennsylvania-based Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial (FST), which Rodale calls "America's longest running, side-by-side comparison of conventional and organic agriculture." Now, Rodale promotes organic ag, so industrial-minded critics will be tempted to dismiss its data. But that would be wrong -- its test plots have an excellent reputation in the ag research community, and the Institute often collaborates with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Housed on Rodale's 330 acre farm, the FST compares three systems for growing corn and soy, the first two organic and the third conventional: 1) one based on rotating feed crops with perennial forage crops for cows, and fertilizing with manure; 2) another based on rotating grains with cover crops, with fertility coming from nitrogen-fixing legumes; and 3) a system reliant on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

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Top Organic Food and Farming Trends in 2011

1.  The Economy: Wall Street may be recording record profits, but the job market is lagging. As such, hard-pressed consumers will continue to look for value. Core healthy lifestyles shoppers will be more discerning in their budgets for organic, and low-income families are particularly strained in finding healthful food alternatives. With people looking to save money, coupon redemption is up 25% this past year, and coupon use in the natural sector reflects a similar growth trend. Also, redemption rates for Internet coupons, while still small, account for the fastest growing segment in the business. Private label product sales also increased from 15% of total food sales before the recession to 18% this past year, according to research firm Booz & Company, which also reports that the new frugality may be here to stay, as consumers continue to feel they are on shaky ground. The natural and organic companies that can communicate value as well as benefits will continue to grow in a tough market.

2.  Social Networking: Word of mouth travels fast in the social network, good or bad. Take an active role in making it good. Stay engaged on Facebook and Twitter and build your brand among friends and followers. Sustainable consumers tend to be early adopters on the web and build strong online communities. "Friend" and "follow" other like-minded Facebookers and Twitterers

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