TITANIC ORGANICS! They're friendly, they're healthy, they're sustainable!

Hey, folkies! First off, let me say OH NOES and then make a little sad-face :-( because my last post was almost three weeks ago. Ooopies. I've getting ready to go to Central America (for three weeks!), which involves a lot of working-working-saving and then a lot of planning-organizing-errands, which left me little energy or will to attend to my beloved blog. But! Never fear... it's friday, I've got a day off, all of my errands (do they still make little travel toothpastes? I need to buy socks that don't belong to my boyfriend! Wait... I need travel insurance??) are done, it's the first gorgeously warm day of the year, and here I am on my balcony with my laptop. Ahh. Actually, with the trip still in mind, let me say that between April 24th all the way to... May 12th or something like that, there'll be a grand Green Daisy shut-down, to be resumed, of course, as soon as I get back. Woot!

Carrying on!

I was shopping for fruits n' veggies at my favorite local snack-haunt (cough cough, Herb n' Spice) today, and picking out some marvelous organic Canadian tomaters, when I started thinking about the farmer's markets that I heart, packed with organic produce, that'll soon be popping up here and there, supplying neighbourhoods with lovely local foods. That got me thinkin' that it's high time that I did a mini-post on ... ORGANICS! Namely: what qualifies food, namely produce, as organic? And why is it that I should pay an extra fifty cents on that basket of organic peppers?
The general idea, is that the term 'organic', when applied to food, means that

* No pesticides or chemical fertilizers were used when growing it
* Ditto for growth hormones
* The produce, or produce involved in a product, was not genetically modified in any way

The no-chemical rule also applies to all agriculture involved, the harvesting, and all transportation and distribution. Basically, from seed to food to harvest to market, the produce was farmed and treated in a traditional manner.. only compost/manure fertilizers can be used, natural pesticides only (such as introducing one bug species that enjoys preying on other bugs that eat the plants, for example) and no tampering with the DNA of the food source (to brighten colour, to enlarge fruit, to make more attractive, etc).
Doesn't sound like a bad idea! And organic agriculture means more than just an assurance that carcinogenic chemical pesticides don't end up on your plate...
* Supporting organically grown foods means limiting pesticide run-off into our lakes, rivers, and water-sources. Gallons and gallons of chemical pesticides can be used on a single crop! There's no place for pesticides in our drinking water.
* Organic farming promotes excellent soil health. Let's not forget.. as inert as it may look, soil is living too. A what a living thing it is!! Millions and millions of microscopic living things live in even small amounts of healthy soil. They're at the bottom of the food chain, essential for more.. well, visible things, further up. Healthy, uncontaminated soil contains minerals, nutrients, vitamins and tiny critters that are essential for the growth of healthy plants and crops. When we use harsh pesticides and chemical fertilizers, we nuke all these great things.. what's found in the soil ends up in our food.. would we rather have poisons or nutrients? Organic food is actually better for you.
* Organic farming methods also promote other things that are lovely for our planet, such as diversity of living things in the area of the harvest, (more species allowed to thrive means a stronger eco-system) and healthier soil also results in less erosion and destruction of these natural systems. Let's take a moment to think of our insect, plant, and animal life that can be affected by irresponsible pesticide use.. egad.
* Healthier soil means a better crop NEXT year! And a better one after that! Compost is truly a miracle-worker, and thriving soil means a higher yield. Good for the farmer and for market prices.
* Not in every case, but quite often, organic farming is associated with family-run productions and smaller farms, which not only is fantastic for small communities, but means less pollution caused by transportation of gigantic yields going long distances. WOOT!
* Put simply, less energy is used, meaning less pollution, less waste, less destruction.
* And finally, the big tomato: put all of these things together, and what do we get? SUSTAINABILITY!!! Something that in this wasteful, use-it-all-up-until-there's-nothing-left world, that we desperately need.

There's a lot of good news in organics right now. Demand for organic produce and food products is going up up up, with all the hoot and holler about cancer rates and the environment lately. High demand for something means more work for organic farmers and lower prices for everyone.. organic fruit and veggies may be somewhat pricier than the standard stuff at Loeb these days, but buying what you can goes a long way in terms of support. I mean, even since I moved to Ottawa about five years ago, prices have gone down significantly, and selection improving. I notice my grocery bill looking better and better as the months go by! We have more people doing what they can to support organics to thank for that.
The organic movement sprung up across the planet in the early 20th century.. virtually at the same time people started, for the first time, growing food UNorganically!! There's always been a backlash.. something about chemicalized food and earth has never rung true for some people, even when there wasn't yet the scientific evidence to prove it. Good sense and simplicity will never go out of style.

For more info on organics and other related topics, visit :

Canadian Organic Growers - www.cog.com
Organic.org - www.organic.org
And here's a neat one... An introduction to organic farming by the government of Ontario!
www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/06-103.htm

I'm going to try and squeeze in another post before I leave next week for some Mayan ruins... hey, that gives me an idea. Eco-travel? What a great post that would make! Alright, calm down, brain. Hearts, and happy Spring weathering!!!!