I've been really wanting to eliminate all my produce buying from health food stores. I don't trust a lot of the large organic corporations that have seemingly taken over the entire organic section. Has anyone had experience buying organic produce directly from farmers? I am not talking about the farmer's markets with all local produce-- but fruits and vegetables that are tropical or not always in season locally (i.e. oranges, cucumbers, bananas, etc.) How do I get in touch with farmers who are not local and will they be willing to ship to individual people in bulk?



[minou-minou.blogspot.com]
myspace.com/summer33ny

Consumer purchasing direct from the farmer is expensive and time-consuming for the farmer (unless the farmer is local), so most farmers won't do it.

A better option would be to form a coop with just a few other people, and get your organic produce from an organic distributor. It's also a good way to get other products like home cleaning products less expensively, in bulk.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2007 10:52PM by suncloud.

Why don't you trust the large organic corporations?

cloud,

I am part of a co-op, so that is why I thought it would be nice to contact farmers directly to buy from in bulk.

Rrraw--Because a corporation is a corporation (their bottom line is always profit and not consumer health or health of the environment, etc.). And "organics" have become the new hot thing, so large corporations are beginning to stamp out small-scale local organic farmers (who have had these farms in their families for decades and who really have a deep appreciation for the land and the soil and what they do--whereas corporations don't) and are growing "organic" produce on a large-scale with questionable practices.

Have you heard about Chiquita? Apparently workers who have formed unions are being killed. And we should trust that their bananas labeled "organic" are really organically grown?

There's also the issue of USDA certified organic. When it comes to large and powerful corporations, the government tends to turn a blind eye when money is being put in their pockets. It is generally better to buy organic produce from those certified by agencies other than the USDA, as their standards are often more stringent.



[minou-minou.blogspot.com]
myspace.com/summer33ny

One good thing here: The government doesn't certify any farms. Only the agencies certify the farms. The USDA certifies all the agencies, and they use the same criteria for all the agencies. If the USDA were to certify any agency that didn't comply with the organic rules, the other agencies would jump on that immediately and not allow that to happen.

The reason why some farmers use the USDA label and some farmers use an agency label is just a matter of the farmer's choice. When a farm earns their certification from an agency, they are then allowed to have the USDA label. Some farmers prefer to use the agency label instead, or in addition to the USDA label.

I don't like the organic fad either. Organic is the new Atkins. Common sense to never buy "health food" at Walmart. And I used to "trust" Whole Foods until I started seeing organic frosted flakes, organic Ben&Jerry's and organic Cola on the shelves. They sell organic Red Delicious apples from New Zealand which are..gross. So I've actually been buying more non-organic but LOCAL fruit. I got into the "brix testing" and found "locally grown" to have a higher brix than some of the "organics". Eh..I just peel the apples.

So before you go do anything expensive, you might want to look into Brix testing to make sure the product is actually worth it besides the "organic" label slapped on it.
[www.living-foods.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2007 07:38PM by LikeItOrNot.

What's a bigger picture here? I did a period of radical anti-corporate activism in my past and I agree that the bottom line is shareholder profit, but the reality of that is they do know something about efficiency in running their businesses. Sometimes that means making decisions that have a negative impact, but not always. In this case the corporate organic producers/ distributors have the infrastructure to grow and move the food long distances at competitive prices, which means that those of us who live in the northern latitudes can buy tropical fruits, cheap lettuce, and everything else that is not in season where we live. Aren't you grateful for that?

Right now I'm eating satsumas that were grown about 100 miles due east of me in the Sacramento Valley, lettuce, celery and greens from central coastal CA, oranges from S. CA, dates from the southern CA desert, peppers and cukes from Mexico, local persimmons, bananas from Central or S. America and for my solstice celebration yesterday a durian from Thailand.

What about finding the balance in our reality? For me that looks like this: I choose a raw food diet and I live at the 40 degree northern latitude. I eat mostly fruit. To do that and live where I do I must buy imported produce when it isn't growing here. I can grow some things in my roommates greenhouse in winter and could grow more if I wanted to build and maintain a bigger greenhouse and use fossil fuels to heat it when the sun doesn't shine here. I can also grow a few hardy greens outdoors here in winter like spinach and kale.

So I accept responsibility for my choice to be raw and set my priorities in this order: Grow what I can. Buy organic produce locally in season. Choose non-government, non-corporate certifiers like California's CCOF when possible. Belong to a buying group that is able to buy bi-weekly produce orders from an organic distributor. Buy fair trade bananas and tropicals. Mail order from organic growers certain items like dates, dried items and nuts. Buy organic produce at my local health food store and grocery store. Forage or do exchange for produce (got lots of persimmons and almonds doing this recently). Buy non-organic items from growers or stores if I really want a particular item (can't get a durian otherwise).

If you want to get fresher and cheaper produce find out the name of the organic produce distributor your local market uses. Find out what their minimum order amount is for making a delivery. Get together with friends and family and work out a system for ordering and distributing. In my group's case the distributor who delivers to the local stores is about 200 miles away in the San Francisco Bay area and my group is large enough (10 people on average) to meet their dollar minimum order to deliver to one of our members who lives in town. We place an order 1 to 2 days before delivery and several of us meet the truck to do the breakdown for our individual orders. I just drank a quart of fresh squeezed valencia orange juice from oranges bought at 50 cents a pound. Believe me, I have a sweet feeling of satisfaction when I cruise the produce isle at the store and see oranges in the bin selling for between 1 and 2 dollars a pound. (Lucky guy, that David Zane Mason, who can take a walk and forage for his oranges!

Beware of making absolutes about anything, they will come back to limit your freedom. Or as a friend of mine often reminds me: "Which do you want to be, RIGHT or HAPPY?"

Also have you checked this website?

[www.localharvest.org]

I'm a small (27 acres) semi-retired farmer of tropical organic fruits. I was certified organic for eight years.

I'm really into it, not as a political ideal, but as an environmental ideal. I was and am still very happy that some of the larger corporations are going organic. As long as there are large corporations, isn't it better that their huge land holdings are farmed organically? I'm sure none of us would prefer that they continue to poison these huge land holdings with chemicals.

The fact that these huge corporations are going organic is an indication of the success of organics.

I'd like to see everyone on the planet give up chemical farming and go organic.

If you'd prefer that the local farmers who sell you their produce would stop using chemicals and be certified organic, you might let them know. The more the merrier!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2007 09:41PM by suncloud.