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"The sale of organic food has been increasing by 20 percent per year for the past 10 years. It has
been the fastest growing segment of the food industry. Last year, the food industry sold $11
billion worth of organic products. While this still is only a fraction of the overall food industry, it
is big enough to make the commercial giants take notice and begin investing in it. In the short run,
this investment means that more organic food will reach more people because of the large-scale
distribution networks of big businesses. In the long run however, it may also mean that small-scale
farms and small distributors lose their share of the marketplace."
It is the last sentence of the above quotation that makes me nervous. While I am pleased that organic production and distribution is on the rise, I am unhappy about the fact that it is the large-scale producers that are benefiting. We are doing the right thing, the wrong way. If we are to develop a safe and secure food system, we do need organic produce, but we need small organic and locally owned production. Size does matter and in this instance small is better. Small farms do not rely on a single crop. They are diverse in their nature. The most successful small farms become an ecosystem where each part feeds another part until all are full. In the city, the urban farmer is looking to emulate the small farm and develop as diverse a crop as possible. The Urban Farm requires this same diversity if it is to meet the goals of providing food for the family while maintaining a thriving ecosystem of which it is a part. As I stated two weeks ago "If your food is to be truly secure and safe, you need to grow it yourself, organically, or purchase it directly from a local organic grower. Now this direct purchase may happen through a buyer's cooperative, which we will explore in a future article, or at a farmers' market or farm gate or a community shared agriculture project." Next week we will look at buyer-producer cooperatives. Resources: Go To Page: 1 |
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