THE SELLING OF THE O WORD

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It's hard to keep up with grower demand too. CCOF fields 100 calls a day from farmers wanting to go organic on at least part of their land. Rodale's New Farm magazine set up a telephone hot line for farmers who wanted to grow with fewer chemicals, and the company received so many phone calls (500 in the first 48 hours) that it couldn't afford to continue the service.

But the biggest challenge of all is to hang onto the broader implications of the organic ideal itself. Most growers are not striving just for a specialty product-that is, residuefree food-but for sustainable, environmentally sound farming practices as well. Right now, agriculture is a seriously destructive force to the earth's health. Each year, 22.3 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizers and 850 million pounds of pesticides are dumped on American farm soil. Almost half of our counties are experiencing agricultural pollution (77 different farm chemicals have been detected in well water in 39 states). Erosion is so bad that in some rural areas country bridges have been buried under washeddown dirt, and interstates covered with windborne soil. As environmentalist Barry Commoner notes, "If organic agriculture expands, it can become a banner to lead all of us to a sensible way to use resources and clean up the environment." Through the dedicated efforts of the established certification groups and those pioneers who stuck to their ideals through all those lean "movement" days, organic's marriage of healthy food and healthy environment is currently intact. In Texas, you can hear Jim Hightower proclaim, "We have adopted soil and water as two of our constituencies in the. Texas Department of Agriculture." In the farm state Iowa, the government now taxes pesticides and nitrogen fertilizers to fund a research center for sustainable agriculture. In California, Paul Buxman—his son stricken by leukemia, probably induced by farm chemicals organizes the California Clean Growers Association to help his neighbors reduce their pesticide usage. But there are ominous overtones coming from larger agricultural interests. The produce industry's bible, The Packer, has urged organic advocates to dump the "excess baggage" of purist dogma. "The future looks bright for organics. It will be even brighter if the movement is replaced [italics added] by a vibrant new industry." Farm journal recently blasted the very concept of sustainable agriculture. After saying the phrase "makes my teeth hurt," Editor Earl Ainsworth proclaimed that "the only sustainable agriculture is profitable agriculture. Short and sweet." United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, a major food trade group, has formed a task force on organic legislation—but hasn't included anyone currently involved in certification.

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