Organic Certified?

This is something I have been struggling with since I started learning about ecological agriculture. The struggle for me is between supporting the government for creating and monitoring the rules and regulations of what organic is. I have met the people that work for the government and they are good people but it is, and I am sorry to say, the politicians that make the rules that I have a problem with. I feel like the government got their hands into organic as a way to make money and have control over the rules.

I think my biggest problem is that the initial spirit of the word organic has been homogenized, branded and labeled and put into agribusiness use. The intent of organic was to have farms grow in accordance to a farm ecosystem, companion planting, using one of natures means to ward off another and not have acres upon acres of a mono crop which is what is being done today. We have lost the real meaning of the word to agribusiness companies.

Yet at the same time I can see why this is a good thing because someone has to maintain an eye on this or it would just be another word like "natural" which has no regulations on it and is totally misused by companies that are not using the word in accordance of the spirit for intention in which it is used.

So, as a new, young farmer struggling with the concept of the word organic and in trying to find the money to become certified; because last year I made a little less then $6,000 from farming, and still be able to pay my bills, mortgage, insurance and buy the few food items I didn't grow. But then during the low point of the season is when the organic certifiers want me to cough up more money, that I don't really so I can use the word "organic." I personally would rather invest that money into something on the farm and grow my food in accordance to the regulations and help make my farm be a better place then spend it on a word controlled by the government.

At this point as I go into my third season as a farmer I am going to pass on getting my certification of being organic. I will continue to work in accordance with organic regulations and work towards surpassing their guidelines. All you can do is trust me on this or come on out and see the farm, talk to me, question me and my methods and I will be happy to show and explain them to you.

2010 and the internal debate rages on about Organic Certification.

I talked to a friend at the WSDA and he sent me all the forms I need to get certified. I started filling them out but as I did it just made me question more about why I was filling this information out. I want to get certified because I want to be able to use the word "Organic" on my produce as I know I am well within the regulations and guide lines of being certified.

I want to use the word Orgnaic because I want to be more competative at the Shelton Farmers Market. So that I can actually display the word and people will understand why my costs are that much more then some other peoples. This is also how I make a living where there are some people who come to market and grow food because they have retired or they have extras from their personal garden, I am fine with them being there but at least sell your produce at a fair rate and don't undercut other people.

This year I will be displaying the word "Eco-Friendly" on my produce tags and signs. So what does this word mean and why am I using it?

Eco-friendly to me, Claude, means that what I am doing on the land is trying to use nature as a model yet apply reason, knowledge, and observation to the land where I grow food and still works with the surrounding ecological system that nature has in place.

I feel as though what I am doing is going beyond what governmental organic standards call for, yet I use those as a starting point on how to grow food and as a way to make sure the products I do use are natural and healthy to the world at large. But I know from studying and observation that there is more to growing food then just following their guide lines. I have watched plants in accordance with the rythems of nature, I have observed how plants work with cycle of the moon, how it effects the plants and where they put their energy. I know the moon effects plants just like it effects the tides and fishing.

A farm is it's own eco-system and now that I live at the farm I am able to bring animals into the picture as what eco-system doesn't have animals in nature? So this year I have been able to incorperate chickens, ducks and lambs into the ecosystem of the farm.

I also want to grow food much like our anscestors did but with a modern day understanding applied. Science has helped us understand how plants can grow to produce more, why manure is so important to the soil and plant health, how weeds effect the plants we are cultivating to how plants can cross polinate and what effects that might have. There is no reason wouldn't use this knowledge and understanding but we must do it with the surrounding eco-system in mind and how what we are doing will affect it.

I DO NOT in any shape or form use herbicides or pesticides, not even organic certified. Instead I do companion planting, which will increase beneficial insects to an area while also ward off other insects or help disguise smells. If aphids come (as they always seem to do) I use my hand to squash them and if I catch ladybugs I bring them over to those plants that have aphids and give them a feast to remember. I feed the soil with animal manure and grow cover crops to improve organic material for the next crop. I have a plant rotation plan where I break the fields down into 8 sections (corn, greens, peas, tomatoes, beans, roots, squash, potatoes) I also have garlic but it is not part of the 8 plant cycle because of how it grows.

To mean putting all that into practice is what makes this farm eco-friendly. If you would like to see the farm please contact me so we can arrange a time for you to see the farm for yourself.