Organic Farming
What is Organic?
Organic refers to an "earth friendly" method of farming and
processing foods. Weeds and pests are controlled using environmentally
sound practices which sustain the health of our planet, and ultimately,
our own health.
Organic farmers do not use chemicals (pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers)
in an environmentally harmful manner. They utilize a blend of old and
new technologies and scientific research to balance the Earths natural
ecosystem. Examples of organic farming methods include:
* Rotating crops between fields. This helps keep pests from building
up and improves soil fertility.
* Planting select bushes and flowers to attract beneficial insects which
ward off unwanted pests.
Organic farming produces nutrient-rich, fertile soil which nourishes
the plants. Keeping chemicals off the land also protects water quality
and wild life.
What About Animals?
In raising organic animals, such as dairy cows, hormones and antibiotics
may not be used and the cows are fed only organic feed.
What is Certified Organic?
A certified organic product means that food has been inspected by a
third-party agency to verify organic authenticity to the consumer. Several
certification agencies exsist across the country. Look for the certification
seal or name of the certification agency on the label. When you see
this claim, it means:
* No harmful chemicals have been applied for at least 3 years.
* The farmer and processor have annual certification inspections.
* They have kept detailed records of their practices.
* They use ecologically-friendly methods and substances to improve the
soil and control pests.
About Certified Organic
Convience for Today
One of the fastest growing trends in the food industry, organic
food choices expand every day. Now you can find bread, milk, pasta,
frozen dinners, chips and salsa too. Virtually any food category offers
an organic choice!
The Choice is Yours!
Every purchase you make is really a vote for the way that product was
grown and processed. Why not vote in favor of protecting the health
of our environment?
Agricultural chemicals -- petroleum-based fertilizers, herbicides and
pesticides -- are a World War II legacy that helped reduce farm labor
while increasing yields. However, consumers in the US and overseas are
demanding more foods grown without the use of these agrichemicals. US
sales of organic foods are growing at a clip of more than 20 percent
a year (Natural Foods Merchandiser, June 1996).
The fact is, people today want to know more about their food. Witness
the new, more informative, nutrition labels and the recent consumer
outcry to provide labeling about rBGH on milk cartons.
This backgrounder provides basic information about certified organic
food and agriculture: what they are and are not.
About Certified Organic Foods
Produced without residual toxic chemicals. Certified organic growers
and processors do not use chemicals in an environmentally harmful manner
at any stage of production: growing, shipping, handling, storage or
processing.
Regulated. All certified organic foods must meet strict organic standards.
Farmers and processors must be inspected annually by independent certification
organizations. For example, growers cannot use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers,
or most petroleum-based pesticides. Dairy cattle cannot be generally
or routinely treated with antibiotics or hormones. Processed foods must
also meet all federal, state and local health requirements. The USDA
is now proposing national standards for the production of organic products
Convenient. Organic foods are becoming available in an ever-increasing
variety of convenience foods, such as: pasta, prepared sauces, frozen
juices and vegetables, milk, half and half, ice cream, yogurt, pot pies,
cereals, breads, dried and canned soups, and other products.
Certified organic food is not
Pesticide free. Although grown and processed without the use of harmful
chemicals, organic crops are exposed to the agricultural chemicals that
are now detected in nearly all rain and groundwater due to their overuse
during the last 50 years nationwide.
About Organic Farming
Manage their farms as whole systems that must be ecologically planned
and balanced to improve the soil and protect the groundwater. They focus
on improving soil health and use farming methods that prevent problems,
For example, organic growers:
- rotate crops from field to field in order to manage pests and weeds
and to improve soil health and fertility. In fields that are planted
year after year with the same crop, pests and weeds build up, and fertility
drops.
- plow animal manures and vegetative matter into the soil as fertilizers
monitor their fields regularly to help determine when pest or weed control
with their tractors should be done
- recycle and compost organic wastes to create on-farm fertilizers
- combine older and newer technologies to operate their farms, for example:
plant select bushes, trees and flowers to encourage populations of beneficial
insects which will combat insect pests
- adapt equipment. For example, devices to steam or flame weeds are
attached to tractors.
- operate farms of varying sizes: from 1-acre vegetable market-gardens
in Massachusetts or California, to 3,000-acre grain and bean farms in
North Dakota.
- work to integrate animals into their operations to supply manure for
fertilizers.
Organic growers do not:
- Simply substitute naturally-grown substances for harmful synthetic
chemicals
- Neglect their fields or let them run wild in an effort to avoid the
use of synthetic agricultural chemicals
- Operate only small farms with hand implements
- Plant single crops (monocrops) across their entire farms year after
year.
- Monocropping depletes the soil of nutrients and encourages infestations
of weeds and pests.
About Certification:
Certification is a process farmers and processors use to verify organic
authenticity. Certification organizations or states currently set the
standards, or guidelines, growers and processors must meet in order
to qualify for certification. For example, to become certified, growers
cannot use prohibited materials on their land or crops for at least
three years, and they must use only approved materials and methods.
Certified Organic growers and processors:
Document that their operations follow strict standards to qualify for
certification
Have their crops and operations examined annually by independent inspectors
Use ecologically-friendly substances to improve their soil and to manage
pests, disease and weeds. These substances can include synthetic materials
evaluated and deemed "allowable" by certification organizations
The USDA is currently working with the National Organic Standards Board
to finalize nationally-recognized standards and a national list of "allowed
synthetics and prohibited natural substances" that can and cannot
be used in growing and processing certified organic products. Currently,
most organic standards categorize substances and practices as: permitted,
regulated and prohibited.
Permitted substances and practices generally qualify as acceptable management
strategies because they have no negative impact on the land and they
help regenerate the environment. These include:
Crop rotations, flame or electrical weeding, mowing and grazing to
manage weeds
Dolomite lime, ground oyster shells, kelp meal and rock powders for
their micronutrients
Green manures, composted materials, and nitrogen fixing organisms as
sources of nitrogen. Refrigeration, freezing and sealed containers to
prevent pest infestations in processed foods such as flour
Plant growth promoters such as microbial inoculants, dry or liquid seaweed
Non-toxic seed treatments -- hot water, legume inoculants or pellitization
(without fungicides)
Repellent crops, water jets, insecticidal soaps, microbial diseases
such as Bacillus Thuringiensis, and natural predators for pest control
Regulated substances must be used with caution and only under carefully
described circumstances because care must be taken to maintain healthy
soil balance. These substances, and the methods in which they are used
are regulated. Examples include:
Nitrogen sources such as fish emulsion, blood meals and sodium nitrate
Acid treated trace minerals (zinc, boron, copper, iron, manganese, etc.)
Seeds and seedlings produced without the use of synthetic fungicides
and pesticides but fertilized non-organically
Plastic mulches and recycled newspapers to smother weeds
Botanical and other "natural" insecticides such as pyreth
rum, rotenone, sabadilla, etc., with special attention to those used
in conjunction with petroleum distillates.
Prohibited substances include a number which have been identified by
the Environmental Protection Agency as harmful because of their potential
carcinogenic, toxic, or mutagenic properties. For example, of the 25
most heavily used pesticides in conventional agriculture(1), 11 have
been classified by the EPA as cancer causing(2). The EPA or Department
of Health and Human Services also categorize five of these pesticides
as toxic to the nervous system, 18 are skin, eye or lung irritants(3),
17 cause genetic damage and 10 cause reproductive problems(4).
The list of prohibited substances includes:
Fertilizers such as potassium or calcium nitrate, urea, anhydrous ammonia
Any micronutrient used as a herbicide
Synthetic growth promoters or genetically-engineered organisms
Petroleum distillate herbicides
Most synthetically compounded insecticides, nematicides, rodenticides
or traps containing these types of substances
Most synthetic fumigants, sprouting inhibitors, ripeners, growth regulators,
insecticides, preservatives or coloring agents in stored products
Growth hormones for livestock
Planned or periodic use of antibiotics in livestock
Information provided by the Organic Alliance www.organic.org
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Oregon's Tricounty Farm Information Area
We have farms that serve organic and organic products to the following cities within Washington County, Multnomah
County and Clackamas County area:
- Portland, Oregon - organic
- Beaverton, Oregon - organic
- Hillsboro, Oregon - organic
- Clackamas, Oregon - organic
- Canby, Oregon - organic
- Oregon City, Oregon - organic
- Sauvie Island, Oregon - organic
- Oregon City, Oregon - organic
- Aurora, Oregon - organic
- Forest Grove, Oregon - organic
- Eagle Creek, Oregon - organic
- Banks, Oregon - organic
- Newberg, Oregon - organic
- Wilsonville, Oregon - organic
- Tigard, Oregon - organic
- Cornelius, Oregon - organic
- North Plains, Oregon - organic
- Milwaukie, Oregon - organic
- Corbett, Oregon - organic
- Tualatin, Oregon - organic
- Sherwood, Oregon - organic
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