Here’s a link to two articles from today’s Baltimore Sun that provide a nice summary of food label terms part 1 and part 2 . Labels and what they mean continue to be one of the most confusing issues to consumers who are conscious of what they are buying and eating. Wary consumers often read more into a label term than is defined by the rules regulating its use.
I recently read a thought-provoking article in the Boston Globe entitled “The New Organic“. The article points out that genetically engineered crops are not necessarily anathema to organic farming. The first example cited was how Bt cotton in Northern China reduced the use of chemical spray by 156 million pounds (almost as much as is used in California each year), and reduced insecticide related illnesses among farmers by 75%.
Biotech (genetically engineered) crops support many of the same objectives as organic farming methods. Used in concert with organic methods, some biotech crops can make organic farming easier, more profitable and more productive (three reasons why organic farming methods are not used more widely).
If you buy organic, think about the reasons you do so: Less use of chemicals? Healthier (or less dangerous) food? Better flavor? There are biotech crops that have been developed for these reasons, too; plants that need less nitrogen fertilizer, plants that are insect resistant, plants with better nutritional profiles, less likely to spoil or with better flavor, plants that can grow in salty soils.
On our own farm, one of the reasons we are not organic is that we aim for production practices that have the lowest overall impact on the environment while still producing enough to enable us to survive. For example, we are using a low level of chemical weed control in our hay field to knock the weeds back enough to let the grass compete successfully. If we didn’t, we’d be making multiple passes with a tractor to ‘naturally’ get rid of aggressive weeds whose presence in our hay would compromise its yield, quality and safety for our animals. We feel that the small amount of chemical weedkiller uses less petrochemicals than the much greater number of tractor hours needed for mechanical control. Similarly, a biotech variety may be part of the lowest environmental impact production system.
Technology alone is not the answer. We need good science and good farming practices to produce sufficient quantities of affordable food in a sustainable manner. It is my opinion that all those involved in agriculture, be they in producing or consuming, must set aside the animosity that so often exists between traditional and alternative production systems. Only in this way can we optimally evaluate and choose among our options.
