Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Color your summer vegetables green

For most of us, summer brings many wonderful thoughts, and flavors, to mind.

We look forward to enjoying delicious corn on the cob; homemade potato salad; cold, fresh lemonade; and green, leafy tobacco.

Tobacco? Unfortunately, yes. In the U.S. ten percent of all money spent on food goes into the coffers of tobacco giant Phillip Morris (now Altria), according to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. The name of the game for corporations involved in large agribusiness is increasing production and profits - at the expense of family farmers, the environment and, with its heavy use of pesticides, your health.

With industrial farms controlling 61 percent of the food sales in the U.S., agribusiness has the economic power to pressure small farmers to bow to its methods or get off the land. Small family farmers have been hit the hardest by corporate agribusiness practices. Studies show that the average income for an independent farmer has decreased 32 percent since the 1950s.

However, small farmers, organic producers, and consumers from around the world are fighting back. These groups are at the movement for a healthier food system that puts people over profits; emphasizes local, organic food, and supports small farmers.

Consumers can contribute to a healthier food system by purchasing organic, locally-grown food. Current U.S. national organic standards prohibit the use of all synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, antibiotics, genetic engineering, irradiation, sewage sludge, artificial ingredients, and other practices. Some of these chemicals and practices have been linked to cancer, immune system suppression, nervous system disorders, reproductive damage, and hormone disruption.

Organic food is not only better for people, it is also better for the environment. Each year fertilizers from farms in 31 states and Canada drain into the Mississippi River creating nutrients and algae, which die and decompose, sucking oxygen out of the water. The dead algae kills bottom-dwelling organisms and drives away fish. In contrast, studies have shown that runoff from farms using organic practices contain much lower chemical levels than conventional farm runoff.

When purchasing organic, look for the logo. In December of 2000, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued standards and created a logo to be used on products containing organic ingredients. Products that contain 95 to 100 percent organic ingredients can use the "USDA Organic" logo. Products made with 70-95 percent organic content can be labeled "made with organic ingredients" but may not use the "USDA Organic" logo.

In addition to organically grown and produced food, locally grown products have many benefits. Going to your local farmer's markets guarantees you will be helping the people of your community and not industry giants. Purchasing food locally also reduces the transportation costs and impacts on the environment. This also translates into less waste due to packaging, processing, and refrigeration. For example, fresh peas require only 40 percent of the energy expended for a frozen carton of peas, and only 25 percent of an aluminum can of peas, according to Helena Norberg Hodge, Todd Merrifield, and Steven Gorelick, authors of Bringing the Food Economy Home.

Supporting local farms doesn't just help your local economy - a decentralized, diversified food system can be a major impediment to terrorist attacks on our food supply. "A large number of smaller farms, diversified by size and type of production and scattered generously throughout all regions of the U.S., stands as a prudent bulwark against a catastrophic assault on our nation's food supply," wrote Mark Winnie, executive director of the Hartford Food System Network in Connecticut in a recent essay.

The game plan is straightforward - for your health, for the family farmers, for the environment - choose organic or locally grown food whenever you can.

Best of all, go for locally grown organic food - and enjoy every bite of summer's delicious fresh fruit and veggies.

(Amanda Johnson is the Public Education and Media Coordinator at Co-op America, a nonprofit consumer education organization for environmentally-wise purchasing and investing. She can be reached at ajohnson@coopamerica.org. To learn more about social and environmentally-wise purchasing and investing, go to www.coopamerica.org.)

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