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The Organic
Continuum: Eco-Apples?
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| Eating
Economically at the Co-op series |
by Miriam Axel-Lute
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The
new “eco-apple” designation, currently earned by Indian Ladder Farms,
is an attempt to certify fruit grown by fairly strict ecological
standards that are better adapted to this climate than the national
organic standards are. Learn more at www.redtomato.org/ecoapple.php.
If you’re like me, you probably often pause in your shopping to hover
over the omnipresent, angstful choice: organic or cheaper? (Happily
organic is not always much more expensive these days, but the premium
is still usually there.) My decision varies, based on a complex
cocktail of what the item is, who grew it, where it grew, how big the
price difference is, and how my bank account is doing.
It’s a very individual choice, and certainly there is no argument that
a general move toward supporting organic practices is the best for the
environment and our health. But as we try to have the greatest effect
with limited food dollars, it is worth remembering that food that is
not certified organic is not all created equal. Shopping from
“conventional” but local farmers is often a much bigger step toward
ecological agriculture than you may think. First of all, becoming
certified organic is a costly, complicated, and long process, so there
are many local farms that are practicing those methods without being
certified. The only way to find out is to ask.
Second, organic standards are one-size-fits-all, and some
conscientiously ecologically minded farmers choose not to follow
organic standards for ecological reasons. Amy Hepworth, of Hepworth
Farms, for example, is one of many growers who are concerned about
using too much sulfur—which is technically allowed under organic
standards—because it is a broadbased pesticide that also kills off
beneficial insects. Instead she uses small amounts of a not-“organic”
chemical when necessary, but much less than she would have to if all
her beneficial insects were gone.
Third, many local family farms that are not organic still use far less
pesticides, and less toxic ones, than massive industrial farms out
West, for a couple reasons: Smaller family farms tend to produce
diverse crops, rather than monocultures, which keeps both plants and
soil healthier and allows for crop rotation. And they are small enough
to use integrated pest management (IPM), a practice that involves
careful in person inspection of fields and orchards to notice
infestations early, employing non-chemical responses such as manual
barriers or natural predators first, and only spraying when pest levels
warrant it, rather than routinely.
Gade Farm in Altamont, for example, uses IPM. “There’s no such thing as
just spraying for the sake of spraying,” says third-generation farmer
Jack Gade. “We use less and less every year. And 90% of the
insecticides we use are biologicals.”
Arthur Agnello, of Cornell, works with fruit growers on IPM, ecological
growing practices, and switch ing to new, less toxic, more selective
insecticides. He notes that the climate and a few specific pests make
it hard to grow strictly organic apples in New York state. On the other
hand, he notes that remotely sourced organic apples are mostly grown
out West in irrigated desert, hardly an ecologically sustainable
practice.
Knight Orchards, which supplies the co-op with local apples year-round,
has been working with Agnello for years. “I have not used
organophosphates or general insecticides in eight years,” says Jerry
Knight, a third-generation farmer at the 100-year-old orchard. “For us
as workers, it’s very reassuring not to be working with high toxicity
anymore.”
“Twenty years ago,” says Richard Ball of Schoharie Valley Farms, a
major supplier to the Co-op, “the distance between organic agriculture
and conventional agriculture was very wide. The distance has narrowed.
We’ve all learned a lot. I think we’re better farmers than we were 30,
40 years ago.”
At Ball’s farm, they use IPM and beneficial insects; drip irrigation
has drastically reduced tomato diseases, and moving the potato crop to
new fields each year has entirely taken care of the Colorado potato
beetle. When they do use chemicals, most of them would qualify as
organic.
“Probably the number one question I get at our retail store is ‘Are you
organic?’” says Ball. “My response is ‘I’m glad you asked me that
because it shows you care about your food. But it’s not the right
question. There’s a lot of assumptions. You should get to know the
grower. Is the water chlorinated? Do the workers wash their hands? How
do they store the food?’”
In other words, “conventional” at the Co-op just might be better for
you than “organic” at Wal-Mart.
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