What does Organic mean?
I’ve been confronted with this question many times throughout my journey with the intersection of food, wellness, ecology and the future we leave for the next generation. This question also came up in a few conversations I had with other farmers this week, so it has been on my mind.
The beauty of language is that we can shape meaning by how we use words. This is particularly true when large marketing budgets are involved. Organic defines a large and growing industry and in my opinion, takes many shapes depending on the use.
Definition
The Oxford English Dictionary defines organic as “relating to or derived from living matter.”
History
Sir Albert Howard was a British agricultural scientist and botanist, who is often credited with coining the term organic agriculture. He traveled to India at the turn of the 20th century with the intention of instructing Indian farmers on the ways of modern agriculture. What he found was that he had more to learn from them. In a time when the industrial revolution was driving agriculture, Howard found insights and wisdom in the traditional farming practices of India, which he noted placed significant importance on the soil.
In studying soil health and the general health of the village, Howard noticed a strong connection between the two and famously stated: “the health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible.”
Howard’s work as well as the teachings of Rudolf Steiner and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were influential during a period of significant agricultural change after the second world war, when chemical plants used for war time weapons turned to producing agricultural products, and the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers became more and more widespread.
Gaining momentum in the 1960s and 1970s in the UK, Europe and later in the US, “organic farming” was used to describe farming practices that did not use these chemicals because some believed they were harmful to the farmers and their land and ecosystems. History has shown the wisdom in this belief.
Legal Use
In 1990 the US passed the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) establishing some of the first definitions around the word Organic as it relates to food and farming.
2002 brought about the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) finalizing the organic standards and established the National Organic Certification program. This is the program that regulates and defines what is “Organic” or not.
Resources and references:
USDA summary of Organic Standards
Federal Regulations Code for National Organic Program (excellent bedtime reading:)
Personal Meaning
There is a buddhist foundation to the word organic for me. Something like “a way of being that follows the flow of health of life.” For me and our farm this is an ongoing journey and is at the heart of what we do.
I’ve been stewing on this question because of a few conversations I’ve had this week. As I mentioned a few weeks ago we are short on some piglets and I’ve been calling around to see what I can find. Calling and talking to other farmers is one of my favorite things.
Inevitably the conversation turns from the what to the why. Perhaps this is because I am calling farmers who are pasture based, and I think there is a mission component to the vocation of farming. I have noticed a pattern in talking to other pasture based farmers:
We all agree on how to treat our animals, they are raised outside, on pasture, with frequent moves to fresh grass. We never use hormones or antibiotics and we believe the health of the animal is in the care we give them, not the shots they get.
And then we get to the topic of feed.
“What do you feed your chickens/pigs?”
The answer is non-GMO grain.
“Have you considered feeding organic grain?”
The answer is it is too expensive.
Each time I’m left with nothing to say.
There are always two sides to any observation: organic grain is expensive therefore non-GMO grain is inexpensive. I wonder: what is the cost of cheap grain?
When a farmer says something is “too expensive” this means they cannot charge a high enough price to still make a profit. So is it a question of consumer demand? And therefore education?
For our farm it is the logical next step: our animals are on pasture for their health and the health of our soil, we don’t inject them with chemicals, and we feed them grain that is treated the same way. And yet that last step is so often not taken for that confounding and recurring reason: cost.
We are proud to offer what we can in the way of pasture raised pork: the pigs get organic grain as soon as they arrive on our farm. This does mean that we cannot certify the pigs or call them organic. For now we are happy to have the vast majority of the grain they eat in their lives be organic grain.
I am also tentatively excited to have made some connections with other pastured pork producers who breed and sell piglets. One producer in particular is interested in potentially raising organic piglets for us. To have our mission begin to extend beyond the boundaries of our farm is so exciting.
I have been dreaming this week about setting aside time to travel and visit some of the farms we collaborate and purchase from, including organic grain farms and where we get our piglets. Let me know if you would be interested in learning more about how organic grain is grown or how pigs are born on pasture! For us at Reber Rock Farm it is not just about what goes on here on our farm, but also the other farms and businesses that help make our farm run.
Update on the barn/freezer project
We made the final cut and removed the siding to make room for the freezer door that will open into our barn area. Tully and I have been joking about our “gentle demolition” as we try to cut and pry out this section of the wall. Is there such a thing as gentle demolition?
Unfortunately this week I also discovered that the elevation of the gravel pad we so diligently prepared early this spring so it could settle…is too high! The goal all along has been to have the floor of the freezer be level with the floor of the barn so we can roll easily right into the freezer. I measured this week only to find that we would need a ramp that rises 9 inches! That’s too much.
We’ll have to get an excavator in this week to dig up the gravel and redo the pad. Is there a bad pun about a “gravel mistake”…
Reber Rock Farm Blog 