Organic vs. local

farmers' market image via treehugger.com

The organic versus local dichotomy. An ongoing challenge, especially for parents of young children. Organic practices and certification mean avoiding pesticides that may be especially harmful to growing endocrine, immune, and neurological systems. Some environmental groups argue that some foods, such as apples, strawberries, potatoes, and spinach, are conventionally so pesticide-laden that they should always be bought organic. (See Environmental Working Group’s guide to “The Dirty Dozen” and “The Clean 15.”)

Ideally, all foods would be local and organic. But as this article at Change.org points out, there’s a disconnect between organic certification and sustainable practices. Many small farmers may actually use organic, sustainable practices, but not be able to afford the organic certification process, which seems to favor big farms, aka agribusiness. (The article claims that 92% certified organic foods are sold in big chain supermarkets.) This may be why most produce found at local farmers’ markets is typically not certified organic. But you can always talk to the farmers or farm representatives at your farmers’ market to find out how their foods are produced.

The last line of the article is biting: “If you truly want to support farmers that are producing food in environmentally sustainable ways, it’s important to support your local farmers. Buying organic spinach at Whole Foods is not an acceptable alternative.” I think that should be contextualized a bit. If there is a locally-grown option available at your farmers’ market or through your CSA, then by all means, go that route. But sometimes that’s not an option, as is the case for spinach in Austin in the heat of the summer. Of course, there’s a good argument to be made for only eating local and seasonal veggies, fruits, and meats. But sustaining a family on a 100 mile diet is challenging and takes a lot of work. Sometimes, the organic produce at Whole Foods is a lesser evil. Yet still preferable to the conventional produce at conventional big chain store. Of course, the bigger question is how do we move our relationships with food away from lesser evils and towards truly sustainable choices– sustainable not just for the environment and for working families?