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: Organic farming is the roots of farming

Published: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 07:02 AM

By STEPHANY JONES

News Sports Writer

JOHNSTOWN - An auditorium of established and aspiring organic farmers received

words of encouragement for their choice of lifestyle and employment Saturday

evening at the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association annual conference, hosted

by Northridge High School. Keynote speaker Eliot made it clear to the

crowd of young and old that the idea of organic farming is not a new-wave,

radical, out-there approach. On the contrary, he said, it is the very roots of

farming, and is the route to successful, sustainable and healthy agriculture.

With over 30 years of experience in organic farming, a stint on a natural

gardening TV series and the authorship of three books, including Four Season

Harvest, a book developed from his experience specializing in year-round

production on his own farm in Harborside, Maine, is not a newcomer to

the field.

In touch with farming since 1965, when organic farming associations were

nonexistent in the country, has been able to observe and be a part of

the changes in American agriculture. The move sees and suggests toward

organic farming is growing steadily in interest and consumer demand, and is

marked by the organic farming organizations that now exist in 44 states.

The growth however, is not without obstacles. Even in 1965, as

explained, organic farming techniques were viewed as unconventional and

unreliable.

" The fearless organic farmer, " said , referring to the " renegades "

attempting to go against the grain of factory and chemical farming, " were viewed

as fools. "

The proponents of the biological-based organic farming techniques in that day

were from two very different generations, said. They were either the

idealistic young newcomers or older farmers who had never crossed over to using

expensive machines and chemical fertilizers.

These two demographics were up against the powerhouses of the United States

Department of Agriculture, schools of agriculture, the ag-chemistry industry and

food processing plants, all of which were very influential on society, both

financially and through marketing propaganda.

" The myth that organic farming wouldn't work, " explained , " was accepted

as if it was a religion ... though not many had even investigated it in person. "

Although studies had been conducted which found a group of Midwest farmers just

as successful as conventional farmers, such findings received little, if any,

press coverage, said. It wasn't until the early 1970s that similar

studies were publicized, and not until 1980 that the USDA printed its first

positive report on organic farming.

As emphasized throughout his discussion, the idea of organic farming is

nothing new, despite chemical farming becoming known as the " conventional " way

of agriculture. The true beginnings of farming are organic and earth-friendly,

with texts on the subject written as early as Roman Farming, which depicts

farming methods now termed organic as the way it was over 2,000 years ago.

Why then, are the organic farmers the ones stepping out and being forced to

defend themselves, asked. If organic farming is viable, requires less

energy and does not produce an aftermath of side-effects for the soils and

consumers, why aren't the chemical farmers the ones in need of defense?

According to , the power-sway of money has kept the leaders in

conventional farming, in particular the producers of chemical fertilizers and

the food processing companies, sending out a constant message that farming would

not be possible any other way.

Advocates of organic farming, however, find the victory of production comes at a

staggering cost, eventually leading to the ruin of health and society through

disease, depleted soils and foods void of much of the nutrition they are

designed to possess.

In 's words, these are farmers who envision, " a bounty of food gained by

working in harmony with the earth, a practice which would prove scientists and

merchandisers dispensable. "

In support of his theories, brought up evidence of the superior body

structure of hunter-gatherers, who ate completely natural diets, found in a

study of their skeletal remains.

said that such superior living is possible today if changes are made to

restore the earth through techniques such as soil aeration and the addition of

good compost and trace elements, as well as proper farming methods.

" We have it in our power, " said , " to make our food as nutritious as the

foods of old. "

Foods containing what nature designed them to contain, however, means more than

an absence of negative additives, but also the presence of positive nutrients

and minerals.

" The question to ask, " said , " is not 'is it organic?', but, 'is it

nutritious?' Food should be real, not just fresh. "

As finished his lecture, he revealed his dream and desire to open a

store that sold only real, whole foods. He envisioned isles of fresh breads

baked daily and grains ground into flour right in the store. There would be raw

milk and butter, free range meat and local produce, with juices squeezed on

request. The only processed foods would be the traditional ones, such as cheeses

and pickles, and the only sweeteners sold would be honey and pure maple syrup.

" I am convinced, " said , " that it is in the best interest of consumers to

eat only real foods and make the processors redundant. "

He said the redundancy and dispensability of processing plants and chemical

fertilizers, leading to the return to the true roots of farming, is only

possible through modern farmers and consumers taking charge of the body's

nourishment, an endeavor requiring knowledge and commitment.

The result, however, is what views as the perfect world. A world full of

healthy, happy children and adults, properly nourished, " making all of those

drug companies redundant, also. "