Fair, Local, and Organic Food vs. Industrialized Food

Casey Davis and Laura Stephenson

First, a brief history review…

Humans began as hunter-gatherers

Switched to agriculture for a few reasons– Able to feed many more people– Easier than moving around everyday– Easy to grow as a population

Women more fertile

Jared Diamond“The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race”

“From the progressivist perspective on which I was broughtup to ask

"Why did almost all our hunter-gatherer ancestors adoptagriculture?" is silly.

Of course they adopted it because agriculture is an efficient way to get more food for less work.

Planted crops yield far more tons per acre than roots and berries. Just imagine a band of savages, exhausted from searching for nuts or chasing wild animals, suddenly gazing for the first time at a fruit-laden orchard or a pasture full of sheep. How many milliseconds do you think it would take them to appreciate the advantages of agriculture?”

Pros and Cons to Agriculture

Pros: Feed many people Allow women to have more

children (not constantly moving)

Settle in one place Easier life

Cons: Concentrates people in one

area– Spread of disease (public

health implications) Not as varied of a diet

– Monoculture=“putting all your eggs in one basket”

– Wheat, rice, corn are all lacking in the essential aa’s

Agriculture today…Fair, Local, and Organic Food and Industrialized

Fair: Transparency

Worker’s Rights

Fair Trade

– “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair Trade Organizations, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. Fair Trade products are produced and traded in accordance with these principles — wherever possible verified by credible, independent assurance systems.”

-According to FINE, an informal group of 4 international fair trade networks

   

Smithfield Foods

The largest hog producer in the USA Profits of $11.4 billion in 2006 “Smithfield has been fined as much as $12.6 million for violating Clean

Water Act provisions by improperly dumping waste in waterways.” –coopamerica.com

Workers union just recently recognized– “Monday (October 27, 2008) they settled a lawsuit related to the union's

10-year campaign to organize workers at Smithfield's Tar Heel, North Carolina, pork plant.”-Reuters.com

– Voices go unheard In February 2005, Human Rights Watch released a report saying “…

workers at the plants are frequently injured, then refused medical care or fired. The report also alleges that repetitive motion injuries are universal in the industry, unsanitary conditions sometimes leave employees covered in animal wastes, and that worker attempts to unionize are sometimes violently quashed. -- Human Rights Watch, 02/18/2005

Smithfield continued…

“The drugs Smithfield administers to its pigs, of course, exit its hog houses in pig shit. Industrial pig waste also contains a host of other toxic substances: ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, cyanide, phosphorous, nitrates and heavy metals. In addition, the waste nurses more than 100 microbial pathogens that can cause illness in humans, including salmonella, cryptosporidium, streptocolli and girardia. Each gram of hog shit can contain as much as 100 million fecal coliform bacteria.”

–Rolling Stone Magazine “Pork’s Dirty Secret” by Jeff Tietz

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12840743/porks_dirty_secret_the_nations_top_hog_producer_is_also_one_of_americas_worst_polluters

And guess what?

“According to the EPA, Smithfield's largest farm-slaughterhouse operation -- in Tar Heel, North Carolina -- dumps more toxic waste into the nation's water each year than all but three other industrial facilities in America.”

– Rolling Stone Magazine “Pork’s Dirty Secret” by Jeff Tietz UNC contracts dining services to Campus Dining

Services (CDS)– CDS buys all of its meat from Smithfield– According to 2000 census, 70 people lived in Tar Heel

But enough of this, what’s “organic”?

Depends on who defines it…– Originally: – “…to imply that nature rather than the machine

should supply the proper model for agriculture.” –J. I. Rodale, editor of Organic Gardening and

Farming

– USDA: Industrial Organic established as a result of the Farm Bill of 1990

USDA defines organic

USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) definition, April 1995

– “Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.

– “Organic agriculture practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residues; however, methods are used to minimize pollution from air, soil and water.

– “Organic food handlers, processors and retailers adhere to standards that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural products. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.”

– *This entire page is located on the USDA website

USDA

USDA Consumer Brochure: Organic Food Standards and Labels: The Facts

“What is organic food? Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.  Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.  Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.  Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” Consumer Brochure, USDA National Organic Program, http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html

Example of Original Organic FarmPolyface Farms

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

Located in Swoope, Va Operated by Joal Salatin and family 550 acres Pastoral Perennial Species Polyculture/diversified produce Solar Energy Local fertility methods NOT certified USDA organic…

Fair and Organic, what next?

While “Fair” and “Organic” foods are two large parts of the solution, in order to be sustainable, food must also be “Local”

Along with Fair, the local aspect re-connects humans with humans.– Building relationships with those that produce our

food

Other Local benefits

Supports local community– Farmer’s Markets in Carrboro, Raleigh, Durham

Supports local economy– Local jobs- not out-sourcing

– Example: NC, an extremely agriculturally viable state!

Local=transparency

Understanding where your food comes from Knowing who grows your food If factories had glass walls…

FLO Foods helps decrease dependence on oil

Why? Less transportation of food

Less reliance on fertilizers– A focus on organic farming principles, which use

natural fertilizers

Fair, Local, and Organic Food today

Obstacles Price

– Food stamps

Industry Big Oil

– Corn->High Fructose Corn Syrup

– Fertilizers

Strengths Appealing to everyone who

eats Sustainable farming

practices benefits environment, public health

…Before the Green Revolution there was the Haber-Bosch Process

1910: German chemists Fritz Haber & Carl Bosch Nitrogen fixation reaction of N2 & H2 under an iron

catalyst to produce ammonia– Ammonia is responsible for sustaining 1/3 of

world’s population Process is essential for harnessing N2 because of

its strong triple bond. Haber won Nobel Prize in 1918 & Bosch shared

Nobel Prize in 1931

The Green Revolution

In the mid-20th century, agricultural transformation utilizing scientific research created high-yield, disease-resistant strains of crops

HYVs Has allowed food production to keep pace

with worldwide population growth, fighting world hunger and famine.

Norman Borlaug: Father of the Green Revolution

Borlaug took up research project in Mexico to develop other strains of wheat and increase production.

Result: high-yielding, disease-resistant, semi-dwarf wheat strain

By 1963, 95% of Mexico’s wheat crops used the “magic” strain. That year’s harvest was 6 times larger than in 1944.

Green Revolution Spreads to other Nations

1961 India was on brink of mass famine Developed a semi-dwarf rice strain

– Yielded 10 times more rice than traditional strain– “Miracle Rice”

India now major exporter of rice, and famine has not occurred since Green Revolution

Successful strains in Philippines and Pakistan as well in 1960s

Green Revolution in US

1943: US imported half of its wheat 1956: US became self-sufficient in wheat

production 1964: US exported half a million tons of

wheat

Criticism: What does Borlaug have to say about all of this?

Awarded 1970 Nobel Peace Prize– For his contributions to world peace through increasing food

supply; credited for saving over a billion people from starvation

Of his work…"a change in the right direction, but it has not transformed the world into a Utopia”

Of environmental critics… “some of the environmental lobbyists of the Western nations are the salt of the earth, but many of them are elitists. They've never experienced the physical sensation of hunger. They do their lobbying from comfortable office suites in Washington or Brussels. If they lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for fifty years, they'd be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals

and be outraged that fashionable elitists back home were trying to deny them these things”

The Borlaug Hypothesis

Increasing crop yields can curb deforestation– Using the best farmland to increase

productivity helps control deforestation by reducing the need for new farmland

Besides increasing food supply, Borlaug encourages taking steps to decrease the rate of population growth to help prevent food shortages and famine

Local Food-not necessarily more environmentally friendly

Transportation is only one component of the total environmental impact of food production and consumption

Study by Lincoln University in New Zealand– Result: less energy to produce food in NZ and to

transport to UK than to buy locally in the UK

Local Foods

The New York Times: sometimes eating locally can increase carbon footprint rather than decrease– Lamb raised in NZ and shipped to Britain (11,000

miles by boat) produced 1,520 pounds of CO2 emissions per ton

– British lamb produced 6,280 pounds of CO2

– 4 times more energy efficient to for Londoners to buy lamb imported halfway around the world

Other Cons for Local

Cost to consumer is more expensive Cannot provide as great a variety of food due

to seasonal circumstances as well as climate limitations

The effect on exporting countries– Damages 3rd world economies

Organic Market

$11 billion industry- the fastest growing sector of the food economy

Organic market: less of a movement and more of a big business

– Local organic farming philosophies are invisible– Earthbound Farm & Grimmway Farms: 2 organic markets that

dominate organic produce (Earthbound grows 80% of the organic lettuce sold in the US)

Michael Pollan found several ingredients in organic food are “synthetic additives permitted under federal organic rules”

Organic Corruption

USDA implemented National Organic Program in 1990 Organic labeling fraud is increasing

– Commondreams.org Newscenter: USDA reports August 5th 2008 that “15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers they recently inspected failed the USDA audit and will have 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation with the NOP”

January of 2007: The Cornucopia Institute conducted checks of Wal Mart stores in 5 different states and found labeling violations in all of the stores visited

Local does NOT equal Organic

FLO is hard to find Products rarely have all 3

qualities– Tomatoes may be local, but

not organic– Coffee may be organic, but

not fair trade

Like organic labeling, Fair Trade labeling is also susceptible to fraud.

Conclusion

Without Industrialized Agriculture, would not have been able to support population today

Local & Organic Agriculture also has disadvantages like Industrialized Agriculture and will not be able to support population today

Questions

Can we (as America) feasibly switch from industrialized to fair, local, and organic farming practices?

In your opinion, were the negative effects of the Green Revolution worth the overall outcome of fighting world hunger?

How does fair, local, and organic food relate to public health?

– Adverse effects?– Benefits?

Sources

Cummins, Ronnie. “USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud is Increasing.” News Center: Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. August 8, 2008. <http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/08/10887.>

Pollan, Michael. “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.” The Penguin Press. New York, 2006.

McWilliams, James. "Food That Travels Well.” The New York Times. August 6 2007.

Wong, Grace. “Wal Mart Accused of ‘Organic Fraud.” CNN Money. January 17, 2007. <http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/17/news/companies/walmart_organic/index.htm>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_food#Environmental_impact