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Modern Organic Farming

Knowing Organic Products

Modern agriculture and farming methods involve the use of chemicals to increase productivity of food products. Such methods of food production have been criticized for the negative impact they leave on the environment as well as on the food products themselves. What we have now is a growing eco-friendly trend known as organic farming, and this is what brings us organic food products.

Organic food products are grown without any chemicals that could include pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. Food products that are grown using regular methods of farming and agriculture are referred to as “conventional products.” Most times you may not be aware of the differences between conventional and organic food products. As a consumer you may see no difference at all. However, it helps to be aware and understand the benefits of including organic products in your diet as well as lifestyle.

Organic food items include dairy products, meat, vegetables, fruits, and others. Organic farming helps the soil to maintain its natural balance and also reduces pollution. Organic farmers don’t make use of chemicals to maintain their crops or prevent diseases. This type of farming makes use of natural fertilizers and advanced crop rotation to handle weeds. Instead of using antibiotics and growth hormones, organic farming resorts to other alternate eco-friendly solutions such as providing clean, hygienic surroundings and balanced diet for animals.

Organic products need not only be related to food. You could lead an organic lifestyle by using organic beauty and skin care products, wearing organic clothing and beautifying your home with numerous organic lifestyle products. It is indeed becoming a popular trend to live an eco-friendly life and support the environment in every small and possible way.

Women all over the world are more than happy to use organic beauty products that are good to their skin and make them look naturally beautifully. Over the years the harmful effects of chemical based make up products have been much highlighted with more and more women turning to eco-friendly options. Make up products that use chemical synthetics are harmful for the skin and some of these are even known to contain lead that could cause serious health problems. If you are looking at beautifying your skin and hair, choosing organic beauty products is the best way to go.

Similar to organic food and organic beauty products, organic clothing too is gaining increasing popularity with eco-conscious people around the world. Moreover, such clothing is ideal for a hot summer day. Imagine yourself strolling out into the sun with a natural, organic cotton shirt. Organic products are rightly produced to make your life more comfortable and prevent pollution and environmental decay.

Organic products need to follow stringent government rules and regulation before they can be made available to consumers. These products need to meet a specific standard as stated by the government to maintain optimal quality. As a smart consumer, you can read the label that comes with every organic product. Depending on the quantity of organic ingredients used, these products would be classified as either being 100, 95 or 70 per cent organic.

What kind of work would you do today being a modern-day, high end farmer?

I’ve been doing some research about a career in farming. (i’m in high school) It seems like the best way to go would be to own a small farm with only a few workers that produced “organic” foods, since that’s pretty hot these days. Am I right?

While I am not personally a farmer (in that I own my fields), I work for an organic seed production farm, so it is almost like having my own. In the past (undergrad and grad school days) my research projects were all in conventional agricultural settings that were geared toward a commercial scale.

Having seen all sides of the spectrum, I highly recommend organics. The demand is always increasing and with this the options for products in organics, you just cannot go wrong!

If you plan to go large scale, a good option is to sell to restaurants. If you are going to be near an urban area, often times trendy gourmet places will have organic produce because it has the taste and quality that cannot be found from non-organic produce.

If you want to be on the smaller scale, you could have a farm market or pick your own. However, it was me, I would say have your own CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

CSA generally is the practice of focusing on the production of high quality foods using ecological, organic or biodynamic farming methods. This kind of farming operates with a much greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders—resulting in a stronger than usual consumer-producer relationship. The core design includes developing a cohesive consumer group that is willing to fund a whole season’s budget in order to get quality foods. The system has many variations on how the farm budget is supported by the consumers and how the producers then deliver the foods. By CSA theory, the more a farm embraces whole-farm, whole-budget support, the more it can focus on quality and reduce the risk of food waste or financial loss.

In its most formal and structured European and North American form, CSAs focus on having:

–a transparent, whole season budget for producing a specified wide array of products for a set number of weeks a year;
–a common-pricing system where producers and consumers discuss and democratically agree to pricing based on the acceptance of the budget; and
–a ‘shared risk and reward’ agreement, i.e. that the consumers eat what the farmers grow even with the vagaries of seasonal growing.

Thus, individuals, families or groups do not pay for x pounds or kilograms of produce, but rather support the budget of the whole farm and receive weekly what is seasonally ripe. This approach eliminates the marketing risks and costs for the producer and an enormous amount of time, often manpower too, and allows producers to focus on quality care of soils, crops, animals, co-workers—and on serving the customers. There is little to no loss (i.e. waste) in this system, since the producers know in advance who they are growing for and how much to grow, etc.

Some families have enrolled in subscription CSAs in which a family pays a fixed price for each delivery, and can start or stop the service as they wish. This kind of arrangement is also referred to as crop-sharing or box schemes. In such cases, the farmer may supplement each box with produce brought in from neighboring farms for a better variety. Thus there is a distinction between the farmers selling pre-paid shares in the upcoming season’s harvest or a weekly subscription that represents that week’s harvest. In all cases participants purchase a portion of the farm’s harvest either by the season or by the week in return for what the farm is able to successfully grow and harvest.

Some farms are dedicated entirely to CSA, while others also sell through on-farm stands, farmers’ markets, and other channels. Most CSAs are owned by the farmers, while some offer shares in the farm as well as the harvest. Consumers have organized their own CSA projects, going as far as renting land and hiring farmers. Many CSAs have a core group of members that assists with CSA administration. Some require or offer the option of members providing labor as part of the share price.

Some CSA’s have evolved into social enterprises employing a number of local staff, improving the lot of local farmers and educating the local community about organic/ecologically responsible farming. Australia’s Food Connect is a unique social enterprise that is now competing with the major supermarkets.

Typically, CSA farms are small, independent, labor-intensive, family farms. By providing a guaranteed market through prepaid annual sales, consumers essentially help finance farming operations. This allows farmers to not only focus on quality growing, it can also somewhat level the playing field in a food market that favors usually large-scale, industrialized agriculture over local food. Vegetables and fruit are the most common CSA crops. Many CSAs practice ecological, organic or biodynamic agriculture, avoiding pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. The cost of a share is usually competitively priced when compared to the same amount of vegetables conventionally-grown, partly because the cost of distribution is lowered.

Method of distribution is a distinctive feature in CSA. In the U.S. and Canada, shares are usually provided weekly, with pick-ups on a designated day and time. CSA subscribers often live in towns and cities – local drop-off locations, convenient to a number of members, are organized, often at the homes of members. Shares are also usually available on-farm.

An advantage of the close consumer-producer relationship is increased freshness of the produce, because it does not have to be shipped long distances. The close proximity of the farm to the members also helps the environment by reducing pollution caused by transporting the produce. CSA’s often include recipes and farm news in each box. Tours of the farm and work days are announced. Over a period of time, consumers get to know who is producing their food, and what production methods are used.

Share prices can vary dramatically depending on location. Variables also include length of share season, and average quantity and selection of food per share. As a rough average, in North America, a basic share may be $350-500 for a season, for 18-20 weeks (June to October), with enough of each included crop for at least two people (perhaps 8-12 common garden vegetables). Seasonal eating is implied, as shares are usually based on the outdoor growing season, which means a smaller selection at the beginning and perhaps the end of the period, as well as a changing variety as the season progresses. Some CSA programs offer different share sizes, also, a choice of share periods (eg. full-season and peak season).

Hope that helps you out! If you stick with your plan to go into farming, you can’t go wrong!

Oh, and I agree, there is nothing wrong with being a redneck. It’s the rednecks that feed this country, so all those little prisses that look down on rednecks aught to be glad for us when they eat their next salad in their gucchi loafers!

bining corpin modern organic farming

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