Knowing the people that grow your food is the polar opposite from the grocery store chain experience. When you buy produce in a supermarket, you don’t know what country it was grown in, much less what’s been sprayed on it, or who harvested the food.

The Farmers Pledge can accompany organic certification or be an alternative to it. It’s based in part on the idea of “getting to know your farmer” and building trust.

You can get to know farmers through talking to the vendors at a local farmers market or by participating in a CSA (community supported agriculture) program. If a farmer sells through your local natural foods store, talking to the store buyers is another way, once removed, to get to know them.

Farmers Pledge Program (NOFA-NY)

The Farmer’s PledgeTM is a commitment to a broad set of principles that go far beyond the National Organic Program by addressing labor issues, community values and marketing. It is a commitment that either certified organic farmers or uncertified organic farmers can make to their customers and neighbors. — NOFA NY

Read The Farmers Pledge »

Some organic food products you may have been purchasing for years have changed ownership without changing their labels. If you want to know who processes the canned organic tomatoes you buy, or your organic milk or the cereal you pour it on, take a look at the research of Dr. Philip Howard.

In 2002, the USDA organic standard was implemented. That same year Dr. Howard, an Assistant Professor at Michigan State, created the first chart of Organic Processing Industry Structure: Acquisitions by the Top 30 Food Processors in North America. The latest version of the chart was updated in 2009 and can be downloaded here.

Other charts with information on organic food brands, including those that remain independent, can be viewed on his website.

Organic Industry: The Movie

Only 18 seconds long, this Organic Industry animation shows the industry as it consolidates from 1995 to 2007 into ownership by fewer — and bigger — brands.

Organic brands, investment firms and multinational food processors all play roles in this animated information graphic. It shows an original 81 independent organic brands, some of which were purchased by these investment firms before being sold to multinational food brands.

Watch it if you want to see how the consolidation of organic food brands is shaping up.

Maybe the most popular argument against organic farming is that crop yields can’t compete with conventional agriculture that uses nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and often, genetically modified seeds. The usual argument is that these chemical-intensive farming practices are needed in order for us to feed the world.

There is science out there that says this isn’t so. In 2007, at least one report and one research study were published showing that yields from organic farming could compete, and in some cases, outdo conventional agriculture.

In May 2007, at an International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security the FAO — the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — presented a paper, “Organic Agriculture and Food Security”

The report states that “By managing biodiversity in time (rotations) and space (mixed cropping), organic farmers use their labour and environmental services to intensify production in a sustainable way.”

The paper also quotes models of a global food supply grown organically which indicate that organic agriculture could produce enough food on a global per capita basis for the current world population.

• Read the press release
• Read an overview of the Report
• Download the Conference Reports

In July 2007, a University of Michigan study of crop yields came up with a similar conclusion:

“Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food on individual farms in developing countries, as low-intensive methods on the same land—according to new findings which refute the long-standing claim that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population.”

• Read the article with a synopsis of the Michigan study
• Read an in-depth description of the science

These reports were published in 2007, a year when organics hit the U.S. retail mainstream. Too bad the conclusions in them aren’t mainstream too.

• about the relationship between food system and fossil fuels
• the history of US Ag policy
• the impact of the US Farm Bill on national heath
• the impact of US food system on rest of the world
• what is meant by “food security”
• what is meant by “sun food”

If you do want to know about these things, a good place to start is Michael Pollan’s Open Letter to our new Farmer in Chief

“The good news is that the twinned crises in food and energy are creating a political environment in which real reform of the food system may actually be possible for the first time in a generation. The American people are paying more attention to food today than they have in decades, worrying not only about its price but about its safety, its provenance and its healthfulness. There is a gathering sense among the public that the industrial-food system is broken. Markets for alternative kinds of food — organic, local, pasture-based, humane — are thriving as never before.” —Michael Pollan, October 9, 2008 in The New York Times

Whether it’s food, personal hygiene products, household cleaners or paper products, what do all those labels mean? You know the ones: small logos placed in a row along the back of a package of herbal tea, or the now ubiquitous green and white circle with the words “USDA Organic.”

A great place to find this information is the Consumers Union Guide to Environmental Labels.

You can search by logo, browse an index of labels or suggest a label to add to the database. A stated goal of their web site is “to provide information to consumers regarding eco-labels, products that carry eco-labels, the organizations that produce eco-labels, and government and private standards for “green” products.”

Each label includes a brief report card that assigns a rating to how meaningful the label is considered to be, along with an evaluation of consistency, whether or not information about the standards are publicly available, whether there is conflict of interest, and if the standards the label represents were developed with broad public and industry input.

The in-depth description includes a detailed table of label standards and criteria, a summary description of the organization, contact information and a list of the board of directors. The site was developed by Consumers Union.