RODALE NEWS, STATE COLLEGE, PA—This wasn't just a loose gathering of statewide farming friends meeting up to shoot the, uh, compost. Although jovial in nature, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's (PASA's) 19th Annual Farming for the Future conference featured a feisty undertone, with attendees vowing to amp up efforts to stand up against an industrial food system propped up by chemicals and genetically engineered crops. And PASA's argument for the viability of organic ag just grew even stronger. Last Wednesday, timed to the kick off of the conference, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its first ever wide-scale survey of organic producers, done in response to the growing interest in organics among consumers, farmers, businesses, policymakers, and others, according to Kathleen Merrigan, agriculture deputy secretary of the USDA. The numbers add up to more organic edibles reaching your table, either directly from farmers, or as fresh food that gets packaged food at your supermarket.
THE DETAILS: The 2008 Organic Production Survey released last week found that while certified-organic farmers and ranchers do invest more in production costs, they also gain a higher return on their investment. The survey counted 14,540 U.S. certified-organic farms and ranches in 50 states, covering 4.1 million acres of U.S. land. Twenty percent of organic farms were located in California, the state that led the country in organic sales; Washington, Pennsylvania, and Oregon followed. Most organic producers sold their products locally, with 44 percent of sales taking place less than 100 miles from the farm. Most sales were wholesale, going to processors, millers, and packers, with 7 percent being sold directly to consumers through farm stands, farmer's markets, or community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs.
Read on to find out how to find sustainable farms in your area.
WHAT IT MEANS: The demand for organic, sustainably farmed food is big, although many of the farms that bring this food to us are not. But last Friday, Brian Snyder, executive director of PASA, addressed the conference by saying small farms are not on the agenda of many in Washington. "I'll tell you one thing, there is nothing small about what any member of PASA is doing with respect to our food system," he told the largest-ever conference crowd of about 2,200 farmers, ranchers, farmer's market managers, CSA growers, safe-food activists, and gardeners from 30 states and five countries. "People like to hear about lots of acres, or large numbers of animals and bushels of corn per acre measured in hundreds," he said. But models of farming that can gross $50,000 to $100,000 on a single acre, or of community-supported agriculture programs that, in some cases and on relatively small acreage, are able to count their customers in the thousands and bank $1 million or more in the spring before even planting a seed, are anything but small." And what's more, it's these small and midsize farmers, not the chemically dependent agribusiness models, that are best equipped to deal with major changes that threaten farming, according to Lisa M. Hamilton, author of Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness How can you support the efforts of America's organic farmers—and get healthy, tasty food in return? Talk to your local supermarket and ask them to stock more USDA-certified organic food. Visit LocalHarvest.org to find out where you can buy directly from organic farmers, or to locate retailers that sell local, sustainable meat and produce. Join a CSA program. And consider starting an organic garden of your own this spring, even if you live in the city. Who knows? If it takes off, we may see you at next year's PASA conference.