More and more farmers buy into organic growing

November 25, 2004

By Amyjo Brown

The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

HERMISTON - While steering a pickup into one of Bob Walchli's fields near Loop Road in Hermiston, Dean Moody and Doug Dickey jumped out of the cab and began devouring fruit.

They tasted brilliantly red, ripe tomatoes and hot bell peppers, sweet cantaloupes and watermelons. In between mouthfuls, they explained their philosophy on how to grow such juicy produce, a speech and practice changing the way Hermiston melons are grown, and a concept making more believers out of growers in Eastern Oregon.

The idea of sustainable agriculture is catching on. It has many different levels in practice, but essentially seeks to reduce the amount of chemicals and pesticides used on crops. As demand for organic crops increases, farmers are embracing chemical-free growing methods and finding ways to certify that they have done so.

Organic food production is the most popularly known sustainable agriculture practice. The idea is more prevalent among growers in Western Oregon - about 28,000 acres are certified organic with Oregon Tilth, the dominant such certification program in the state. So far just about 6,100 acres in all of Eastern Oregon are devoted to organic food production.

Organic food sales, for instance, grew from approximately $1 billion in 1990 to $10.38 billion in 2003 - the latest data available from the national Organic Trade Association.

"We've been farming the traditional way for 50 years and we've been doing it the same old way, sprays and herbicides, everything you've gotta do to provide a crop. That was how we worked," said Walchli, a dominant Hermiston grower for the area's fresh market produce.

"The traditional way may not be the right way," he said.

Walchli, along with his father, and Pollock & Sons, another melon grower in Hermiston, subscribed this past season to a new agriculture certification program offered by Moody, vice president of TechCo, Inc., a sustainable agriculture company, and Dickey, one of the company's sales managers.

The goal of the new certification program, called HealthyClean, is to meet consumers' demand for "healthier" produce by reducing pesticide use in the fields, but still meet growers' needs by allowing commercial fertilizers to feed the soil, Moody said.

HealthyClean is just one of many third-party certification programs cropping up around the country trying to fill a niche in the sustainable agriculture market.

Yet, surprisingly, considering the demand, the trend toward sustainable agriculture is driven more by perception than science.

"Really there's nothing you can put on melons that isn't safe regardless of HealthyClean or not," said Sam Pollock, co-owner of Pollock & Sons, echoing other growers' concerns about sending the wrong message to consumers: That the conventional way of growing crops is unsafe.

"But when you've got another option, that's always nice," said Pollock, one of the farmers who chose to go the HealthClean way. "I like the fact that we're cutting down on some of the chemicals. It's a good way of growing a crop."

The organic market, originally a fringe movement of the 1960s, has grown between 17 percent and 21 percent every year since 1997, according to statistics provided by the Oregon Trade Association and used by the United States Department of Agriculture. The $10.38 billion in consumer sales of organic foods in 2003 represented 1.9 percent of total U.S. food sales.

Fruits and vegetables accounted for the largest portion of organic food sales, at 40 percent. Dairy, breads and grains, as well as beverages, grew at noticeably lower rates, according to a 2004 survey of food manufacturers conducted by Oregon Trade Association.

A forecast derived from the manufacturers' responses anticipates an annual average growth rate of 18 percent for organic foods between 2004 and 2008. Meat, fish and poultry are expected to have the highest growth rates. Despite the level of demand, however, little science exists to confirm the perception that organic, or any produce touted as pesticide-free, is actually healthier than those grown with the help of chemicals and pesticides.

Claims that organic food is more nutritious, for example, are largely unfounded.

"Money into research - or lack of - has been a big stumbling block," according to Barbara Haumann, spokesperson for Oregon Trade Association. "No one's invested in trying to find out. Hopefully the work can begin more seriously on collecting valid data to show if there are any differences."

When it comes to choosing between organic or conventional foods, Jeff Jenkins, a professor and extension specialist at Oregon State University who researches environmental and molecular toxicology, said the choice rests largely on perceived value.

The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental organization based in Washington D.C., has published a list of the produce items that retain the most pesticide residue and the least contaminated items.

Topping the list for produce consistently found with pesticide residue are apples, bell peppers and celery. The group's data is generally good, Jenkins said. But he cautioned that the claims of "contaminated" items are relative.

Food grown conventionally is strictly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and is safe, he said.

"EPA is under the gun to be conservative, and there is quite a large margin of safety built into the EPA's tolerances," Jenkins said.

It's the precautionary principal at work, Jenkins said. "That says we don't really know enough to decide what levels of pesticides are OK in our food and what aren't," he said.

"The government is making a judgment call, and there is quite a growing body of folks out there that think we're not being precautionary enough."

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