When Organic Isn’t Sustainable
My family has a weekly share at Newton Community Farm, the last working farm in Newton. Each week I look forward to my trip to the farm, wondering what I will find in the bins. This year we have had amazing greens. Lettuce, chard, kale, bok choy–these are crops that thrive in the cool, wet conditions we have had this summer in New England. On the other hand, heat loving crops have not fared so well. The rain has been especially bad for one of my favorite summer veggies: tomatoes.
In his latest communication to the farm community, Greg Maslowe, The Farm Manager, delivered the disappointing news that NCF’s tomato crop had fallen prey to late blight (like the tomato crops at many other MA farms). Oh well, I thought. At least the greens have been amazing. At least there’s still the Cold Spring Farmer’s market, which I visit every week to get fruit. I could get tomatoes there.
But, wait a second, because Greg’s letter went on to deliver a second–and to me even more devastating–blow:
“So is there anything that could be done about late blight? Conventional farmers have an arsenal (literally) of systemic fungicides at their disposal that can effectively control late blight. Organic farmers are not allowed to use them. (Hum, I wonder why?) What organic farmers can use is copper…. [B]ut copper is, well, toxic. When spraying you need to wear boots and socks, long pants, a long-sleeve shirt, goggles, and a respirator. And while tomatoes thus sprayed can be sold within 24 hours of spraying (!), UMass recommends that harvesting crews also wear long pants, long sleeves, and rubber gloves until the fruit is washed. Sound like something you want sprayed on your vegetables every five days or more often?”
Needless to say, NCF destroyed its tomato crop. But I was floored: I knew that practitioners of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) spray their crops if and when they face serious threats (to learn more about IPM, click here). But that organic farms (whether they are certified or not) may be spraying something toxic as well–albeit a “natural” rather than a synthetic substance–this I did not know. I thought I knew which questions to ask local growers to make sure that the food I’m buying is good for me and the planet. But I didn’t know about copper. What else don’t I know?
It was Michael Pollan who first introduced me to the fact that “organic” can be at odds with “sustainable” especially when “organic” is practiced on an industrial scale. He made me aware that organic milk could come from cows who are confined to a feedlot; that the techniques used to protect organic monocultures from weeds destroy soil health in the same measure that chemical herbicides destroy soil health in conventional monocultures; that most of the organic produce grown in California comes from two mega farms.
What I learned from Greg Maslowe’s letter is that there may be versions of the disjunction between organic and sustainable on the local scale as well, and that a label is no substitute for detailed knowledge of the farming techniques of the growers I buy from. The problem is that I don’t know all the questions to ask.
But is there is a solution to this problem other than continuing conversations with and education by local growers? I don’t think so. Indeed, I am convinced that no matter how many certifications and regulations we adopt, we will never close all the loopholes. And that even if we could, someone would find a way to create new ones.
A part of me feels pessimistic about the obstacles that stand in the way of sustainable consumption: who has the time and the motivation to have all those conversations and do all that research? But another part of me feels optimistic. For, when I’m at my farmer’s market I see these conversations happening all the time; I see people who are trying to make informed and principled buying decisions. And this inspires me to renew my own efforts to educate myself and align my buying habits with my values.
Is there any other option? Not that I can see, or that I could live with.
