Why I don't (necessarily) buy organic

This is my first soapbox post. Part of starting this blog was to learn about and educate others about clean eating and other food issues.

I will start by saying that I am completely biased on this particular topic. My dad sells pesticides and insecticides for a living. If everyone went organic, he would be out of a job. On the other hand, I think growing up with him in this business, and being educated on the different pests that can plague a crop, I know enough to repudiate the notion of immediately reaching for "organic" fruits and vegetables. Here are my reasons.

1. Organic doesn't mean local. In fact, unless you live in California or Florida, it probably isn't. Most environments cannot sustain produce 365 days a year. In order to give you the variety of produce you want, and to give you the choicest looking produce, organic produce can only be grown in certain areas of the country, at least for part of the year, and is then trucked to you across the country. In addition to not supporting local farms, the trucking process isn't doing anything for the environment. Not to mention that if it is being shipped all over the country, it probably isn't being picked at its peak, but being picked underripe.

2. Organic methods of controlling pests are about as appetizing as eating chemicals. Dead fish, sulfur, oil, copper, clay, tobacco, soap, dead bug carcasses, onion, salt, garlic, and hot peppers are all acceptable treatments for produce labeled organic. While some, like salt, onion, peppers, etc., don't particularly gross me out, they can definitely affect the taste of the produce.

3. Many local farms use IPM systems. IPM means Integrated Pest Management systems. This just means that farmers are actually analyzing their pest problems before dumping on a bunch of chemicals. So this might mean analyzing the number of "bad" insects vs. "good" insects, or watching humidity trends to watch for possible fungal growth. If the lady bugs can't keep up with the aphids, for example, then a farmer might determine that a pesticide is necessary. A true IPM farmer would use the least harmful and least amount of pesticides for their purpose, including pheromones and biopesticides. Most farmers, particularly small farmers, are using IPM to some extent, just because chemicals are too expensive to just dump them on haphazardly, and they can damage the crop. Unfortunately, right now there is no standard for labeling produce IPM-grown, which means there is really no way to know. Some industries, especially those that are difficult to grow 100% organically like potatoes and strawberries, are trying to set standards for an IPM label, so keep an eye out for that. But for now the only thing you can do is know where the food is coming from. Go to your local orchards and farmer's markets, or join a CSA and ask about their pesticide management systems.

I love buying local because it protects my local farm land, my neighbors profit from the sales, and it is the freshest produce I can buy. But I know first hand that there are no ideal growing conditions, especially not in this area. Myriad factors relating to weather, moisture, pest patterns, etc., can affect what is grown here.

We had zucchini for dinner tonight. Would I rather eat a zucchini that is locally grown, picked at its peak, and may need to have a small, moderated amount of chemicals on it, or a zucchini that has been trucked across the country, benefits no one in my area, and tastes bad because it wasn't picked at it's peak and was grown in sulfur and dead fish? I pick choice number one.