Down here in RI, we are working with the word "sustainable" to imply both organic and non-corporate farming, transport and retailing practices. It's not just avoiding pesticide residue any more: environmental justice issues, childhood obesity, global warming: they're all tied into the current mainstream food production and distribution systems. (Read Walmart.)

La la la. My morning rant. Rock on, small farms.

Small farm neighbor using occasional pesticide to organic farm- Welcome to my world!

Hopefully, this development leads to small farms of any stripe realizing they have more in common than the organic community has sometimes believed. Choosing to use limited pesticides on crops or modern veterinary procedures to protect herd health doesn't mean you don't understand the value of local, sustainable or community-based.

How does the concept "fair trade" fit into this discussion?

Perhaps this is obvious, but the "movement" needs to develop a trademark and/or a certification mark and protect it. That way, corporate america cannot hijack it once it becomes marketable (like what seems to be happening with "organic.".

I am very cautious about the organic label. For sometime I have felt the word is being diluted. Thanks for this post.

Ignorant questions from non-farm guy:

Food is cheap and plentiful (in the US) now and with education I can figure out how to eat without becoming obese. I live in an urban area of about 9MM folks.

1. Can local farmers produce enough food to supply this area?

2. If the answer is yes, can local farmers provide that food in a way that is affordable to all?

You know, Maryellen and I never know which posts will generate comments. I guess this is one such post.

Mike raises some good questions. Questions that are beyond my ability to answer authoritatively. But I know there are people who would argue that cities can be fed with more local ag, and that organic can be affordable. People I have read who argue these points persuasively are the folks who compiled the book Fatal Harvest, and Micheal Pollan in his book Botany of Desire.

I will say this, however -- I think a big reason non-organic food is cheaper at the store is because our government keeps the costs artificially low with literally billions of dollars in subsidies every year to huge argibusiness farms, which literally use tons and tons of pesticides and herbicides. These are both direct subsidies to farmers, and subsidies to the whole network of food and science R&D institutions. I think organic stuff would be cheaper if our government took the billions of dollars it spends every year to subsidize conventional farming, and spent even some significant fraction of that on organic farms.

though I love good deals and cheap prices - I too think it would be great if we were more in touch with paying the real costs of things (another good example is gas) dang 8 posts and counting!

My son Adam poses the question this way: Is local the new organic?

Yes, in many ways, local is the new organic. A study from England last year revealed that buying local produce saves more resources than buying produce farmed organically. In New England, there is the advantage that local farmers are generally small-scale and are often organic or transitional.

Again, in New England, this means that you get 4-6 weeks of tomatoes per year, and eat a lot of squash and parsnips all winter, which can be tough sledding for all of raised on grocery stores importing goods from all over the world.

Until a true alternative food distribution system comes online, the best consumer choices come from using one's head. When possible, perhaps, select local products over imported; try bulk buying for staples like rice; go to farmer's markets and farmstands; use critical thinking about food choices.