“
With all the
forces working against
agriculture...we cannot
afford to have this internal
fight between organic and
conventional farmers.
There is room for both
ways of production.”
are healthy and happy. And the meat we
produce is healthy and nutritious, despite not
carrying an organic label.
I hate to see farming be criticized by
anyone; but it really upsets me when
people within the farming industry criticize
their counterparts. For example, the
organic vs. conventional farmer wars with
each side insisting that the food they grow
is better than the other. While I certainly
don’t agree that organically or naturally
grown food is any more healthy or
nutritious than conventionally grown food,
I am not going to criticize a farmer who
decides that organic is the way he or she
wants to grow food. With all the forces
working against agriculture (EPA, HSUS,
PETA, federal taxes, etc), we cannot
afford to have this internal fight between
organic and conventional farmers. There
is room for both ways of production.
We are incredibly blessed to have the
food choices that we do, and there is a
huge demand for organically grown food.
However, it is impossible to feed our world
using just organic methods. Conventional
agriculture, including the use of genetically
modified seeds, is critical to be able to
produce enough food for our increasing
world population. We should not – and
cannot – be competing against one another.
While I may not buy organic and my
family has no plans of raising organic beef, I
support the farmers who grow food bearing
that label. We are all farmers. We all grow
food. We are all contributing to this industry
that we love. We all have to come together.
Have a blessed summer and when you sit
down to a picnic feast, give thanks for the
plentiful food that is on your plate. Whether
organically grown or conventionally grown, a
farmer grew it.
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 23