Organic Farming

A 21-year Swiss study of organic and conventional farming systems is providing new evidence that large-scale organic farming is economically viable and environmentally sustainable over the long haul, although crop yields still fall short of conventional methods. The study, published in today's issue of Science, reported that organic farming methods used 50% less energy, 97% less pesticide and as much as 51% less fertilizer than conventional methods.

Re "To Feed World's People, Modern Practices Must Supplant Organic Fads," Commentary, June 4: Jim Wells' touting of modern farming practices as a fix for world hunger conveniently excludes two critical issues: 1) the potential consequences that will eventually result from giant agribusinesses' introduction of hundreds of millions of acres of untested, voluntarily regulated, mutant transgenic organisms (often falsely referred to as "genetically engineered food") into our already fragile ecosystem; and 2)

The Agriculture Department, whose move to consider loosening the standards by which meat can be labeled organic sparked public outcry, said Monday that it would not make any changes to the new rules and that they will be implemented in October as planned. "We are fully implementing it as it is written," said USDA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison.

Shoppers who want to buy organic foods can be bewildered by the labels' often fuzzy claims, and may even suspect that the edibles they're paying a premium for aren't truly pesticide- or hormone-free. After all, terms such as "organically produced," "pesticide free," "100% natural," or even "certified organic" aren't guarantees of purity. But new government-approved labels, which will debut in two weeks, should eliminate some of that guesswork. Under the guidelines, foods must meet strict U.S.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's new labels are designed to help consumers figure out--at a glance--the exact organic content of the foods they buy. Only products in the first two categories, in which 95% or more of the ingredients are organic, can bear the USDA organic certification seal. This includes products made domestically and imported from abroad.

The food labels that you will begin to see today in supermarkets across the nation, signifying a new national standard for organic foods, could mark the beginning of an era in which organic foods migrate from the fringe to the mainstream. Dedicated consumers and enterprising farmers have propelled the growth of organic farming in the United States. At a time when every other sector of the food industry is stagnant, organic sales are growing at more than 20% each year.

Dole Foods Co., the world's largest producer of fresh fruit and vegetables, said it will begin selling organic bananas under the Dole name, tapping into the $6-billion organic products market. The bananas will be grown in Ecuador and Honduras on farms that have been certified as organic by U.S.-based agencies, Dole said. The company will begin selling organic bananas Feb. 1. Rival Chiquita Brands International Inc. has no current plans to sell organic bananas under its label, a spokeswoman said.

For the first time since he began raising cattle in an ecological idyll, Karl-Heinz Manzke looks set to turn a profit. Suddenly, after a decade of mounting personal debt and public indifference toward foods raised in harmony with Mother Nature, the beef and veal Manzke raises in the rolling countryside along the Polish border are in demand by more than just the politically correct and environmentally trendy.

Although Southern California abounds in little-known nooks, few are as remote and mysterious as the Cuyama Valley, 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The drive north from Ojai passes stunning gorges, 8,000-foot peaks and a condor sanctuary before descending into Cuyama (population 264), which has no bank, post office or fire department, but does grow fabulously tasty apples.

As part of an effort to create the nation's first official definition of "organic," the Clinton administration has decided to propose a ban on genetically engineered grains in any food labeled organic, according to people who have been briefed on the rules.