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Organic Hype or Real?

The "Green Revolution" has the world's attention but with every one hopping on the bandwagon, what does the future hold for the food we eat?

Agribusiness and the multinational food producers over the last 75 years have done a wonderful job of providing substantial amounts of nutritious food for a fast growing world population, but is this scenario sustainable? Currently there is a tremendous amount of debate between organic farmers and conventional farmers who are looking for common answers to this debate.

In many countries including the United States, China and most of Europe; organic farming is defined by law, so that the commercial use of the term organic is regulated by the government. Unfortunately, these laws are constantly usurped by greedy and unscrupulous parties.This is due to the fact that families' demand for organic products in developing economies has grown at about 20% on an annual basis due to of increasing awareness of organic farming methods.

Organic pest control which allows for a minimal amount of pest damage, encourages the use of beneficial organisms rather than toxic chemicals, utilizes careful crop selection and crop rotation and mechanical, thermal and mulch controls for weeds. Organic pesticides; which are usually derived from plants and not chemicals, allow for the use of natural benign methods of protection.

Conventional farming requires farmers to precisely apply only those necessary fertilizers to the soil in order to minimize waste pollutants. Organic farmers on the other hand do not have that option because they depend on natural supplements such as manure, which contains fixed amounts of various elements which can not be adjusted. The most common problem is over application of these organic fertilizers because of their relative lack of potency. These over applications will very easily lead to pollution of the water supply.

Organic farming advocates claim that the impact of laboratory genetic engineering on food quality and plant and animal health is not yet fully understood. Proponents argue that genetic engineering is vital to create higher volumes of produce in the fight to end world hunger without requiring additional land. Often forgotten in this debate, is the fact that some classical genetic engineering such as grafting and plant propagation, has been used for thousands of years, and has done much good for mankind.

The pro-organic point of view as far as the environment goes, is that conventional agriculture is depleting our natural resources such as fossil fuels and potable water and is seriously polluting our air, soil and water. The large quantities of agricultural chemicals, water wastage through high-volume irrigation and the heavy use of fuels for the farm machinery and long-distance transport are some of their arguments. An organic farm using natural compost and manure on a large-scale may possibly cause as much damage to groundwater and soil as does manufactured fertilizers.

Organic farming is at a crossroads. Even though there are laws that ensure that the rules are the same for producers and consumers, these laws have been found to be full of loopholes that have led to charges being leveled against the major certifiers in our government such as the FDA and the USDA.

If agribusiness can convert to large scale organic farming and will they still be able to make a profit without raising consumer costs to unacceptable levels?

The current food distribution system favors high volume production with corporate operations and is not easily altered. What we now know as organic farming may change very dramatically in the coming years. An aware consumer market is normally one of the main factors encouraging conventional farmers to convert to organic agricultural production methods. I believe this trend will continue.

While this debate goes on, families are making their own decisions regarding this subject by doing the sane and sensible thing; growing their own foodstuffs. The "Green Movement" is more than a slogan. It has become a way of life for those who are choosing to join in to make this world a better place to live.