RODALE NEWS, STATE COLLEGE, PA—Referring to people who question industrial-scale, modern chemical agriculture as "extremists," the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBA) last month delivered a charged speech at the group's annual conference in Seattle, effectively declaring war on the organic, sustainable food movement. "A line must be drawn between our polite and respectful engagement with consumers, and how we must aggressively respond to extremists who want to drag agriculture back to the day of 40 acres and a mule," said Bob Stallman, president of AFBA. "The time has come to face our opponents with a new attitude. The days of their elitist power grabs are over."
THE DETAILS: Stallman is also fired up about climate change, taking aim against policy that would pay farmers to sequester carbon by planting more trees. "At the very time we need to increase our food production, climate-change legislation threatens to slash our ability to do so," he said. "The world will continue to depend on food from the United States. To throttle back our ability to produce food—at a time when the United Nations projects billions of more mouths to feed—is a moral failure."
But while industrial-farming spokespersons often hide the unpleasant side of their farming practices behind the battle cry, "Feed the World," research is finding that using organic methods is actually more beneficial, producing higher yields and livable income for farmers. In fact, a 2008 United Nations report concluded that organic farming can feed Africa and bring higher incomes to the poor, rural farmers there. Food production rose, and sometimes even doubled, when farmers there traded in chemical methods for more sustainable, organic ones. And while Stallman criticized proponents of sustainability as ignoring the importance of economic concerns, last week the United States Department of Agriculture released statistics that seem to undercut Stallman's argument. In the agency's first major look at certified-organic farmers and ranchers, the survey revealed that organic farmers who don't buy into the use of agrichemicals get a much higher return on investment than chemical farmers do.
"The real moral failure is that the American Farm Bureau is, for their own financial gain, forcing chemical dependency on farmers," says Maria Rodale, CEO of Rodale Inc, and author of the upcoming book, Organic Manifesto, available in March 2010.
WHAT IT MEANS: Could the Farm Bureau's vitriol mean that big agribusiness is afraid of what organic farming has to offer to an increasingly savvy public? Industrial agriculture is propped up by hormones, pesticides that weeds have developed resistance to, and the routine overuse of antibiotics in livestock (70 percent of antibiotics used in the U.S. are on animals in confined animal-feeding operations, or CAFOs) that has contributed to the rise of disease-causing germs that are resistant to treatment with antibiotics.
Ironically, it is large-scale, chemical-based agriculture, which claims to feed the world, that is making people sick, destroying soil quality, and being a major driver of climate chaos that will devastate farmers and our food supply.
On the flip side, sustainable farmers advocate soil health, which leads to less runoff, erosion, and flooding of neighbors downstream; better water quality; and the trapping of carbon in healthy soil instead of its release into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas.
Here's how you can support real food.
• Recognize the greenwashers. Greenwashing is making something appear ecofriendly when, really, it is not. Stallman did make one valid point in his speech: the word "sustainability" is overused. But not by local, organic food advocates, rather by the food and agriculture industries. Take Monsanto, for instance. The company produces genetically engineered seeds designed to withstand heavy doses of Roundup, a weed killer that's even more toxic than originally believed, and that is also manufactured by Monsanto. At the same time, the company's marketing materials are full of phrases like "growing sustainably."
• Eat organic. In a new study published in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development comparing research on chemically and organically raised crops, organic plants were found to contain more minerals and disease-fighting antioxidant micronutrients. Organically raised animals also contained more heart-healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids. Ninety-four to 100 percent of organic food did not show traces of pesticide residues, either. That's important because pesticides have been linked to certain cancers, miscarriages, low birth weight, developmental problems, and diabetes, among other health concerns. Find local, organic farmers in your area by searching LocalHarvest.org, and understand how to read food labels so you can see past the hype and get the healthy food you want.