Organic farming is the oldest from of agriculture worldwide.
It was not until after World War II that farming changed. The end of the war, and the end of tools needed to make war, left a need for Petroleum to be consumed for profit. Prompting inventions and technological advances in agriculture. Petroleum based chemicals became available offering promises of increased harvests and to make farming easier. These advances took farming from the small family farm to big business. Fertilizing and pest control did become easier, at big expense to our environment. The pesticides killed all bugs good and bad. Both product lines began polluting water and were building up in the soil.
In 1942, J.I. Rodale began the "organic movement" with his
Organic Farming and Gardening magazine, published by
Rodale Inc., then called The Rodale Press. Much is owed to Rodale as a founding father to conservation. In 1947, J.I. Rodale founded The U.S. Soil Association, known now as
The Rodale Institute, a nonprofit research group. Conducted by The Rodale Institute,
The Farming Systems Trial has discovered that "organic farming is the most significant way we can stop global warming through the combined elimination of highly polluting chemicals and the carbon sequestering capabilities of organic soil."
Aside from chemical inputs, "organic" was open to interpretation until research and regulations began in the 70's. In 1980 the USDA recognized, with help from The Rodale Institute, the detrimental effects of what is coined "Conventional Farming". It took another 10 years of conservation and welfare groups lobbying before the 1990 Farm Bill, in which Congress passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA). The National Organic Program (NOP) was established under this bill to set the national standards of production, handling, labeling and processing of organic foods. "The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people” (NOP). These standards cover farm to retailer practices. These regulations finally became effective in 2002.
Today, many farms are completely organic or in transition. The transition requires three year organic productions, prior to being certified organic. The "
USDA Organic" Seal let's you know a farm is inspected yearly and meets all criteria set forth in the NOP. The Rodale Institute estimates 7% of todays fossil fuel use goes toward current conventional farming practices, and believes 3.5% (1/2) of that could be reduced by organic farming practices.
You can follow organic principles in your garden. Crop rotations, organic fertilizers, composting, and several pest control methods are very easy for the home garden. I recommend
Organic Gardening magazine by Rodale Inc., it will keep you up to date on new methods, ideas and trends. Books by Rodale Inc. include:
Best Ideas for Organic Vegetable Growing,
How to grow Vegetables and Fruit by the Organic Method, and
The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.
Don't forget your favorite farmers market! Eat & shop local!
Comments
I grew up helping with my grandfather's compost pile. He was an avid reader of Rodale's "Organic Gardening" magazine back in the early 1960s. I have friends of more than 30 years who were pioneers in the Organic movement. I've spent about half of my career working on the sort of pest control methods that would work in Organic. But as I look at the challenge we have ahead of us by 2050 to feed 3 billion more people under the added stress of climate change, I know that Organic isn't going to get the job done. Its a nice concept, but because it isn't actually based on science it can't actually do what is safest for us and best for the environment. It is locked into an emotional/philosophical straight-jacket that can't adopt change, even really good, safe change. I think that if my grandfather were here today he would understand that. He got into gardening during WW2 with a victory garden. He was about feeding people, not about technophobia.
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