Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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people are willing to pay more for organically grown food. Estimates of
these price variations are commonly in the range of 10-30 percent over
vegetables grown with pesticides (Sok and Glaser 2001). Consumers are
demanding more organic foods, and there is an increasing acceptance of
organic agriculture in the United States.
The 2002 U.S. Census of Agriculture asked questions, for the first time,
about organic acreage. This is good news, as it points to a minimal ac-
knowledgment of organic farming within our government. The questions
are: “Of the total acres reported [above], how many acres were used to raise
certified organically produced crops?” and “What was the value of certified
organically produced commodities sold from 'THIS OPERATION'in2002?”
(USDA-NASS 2002, 3, 16). The fact that it has taken so many years to begin
collecting data on this important segment of American agriculture is a sign
of the USDA's overwhelming support of industrial agriculture, often at the
expense of organic farming methods and foods. Until these data are pub-
lished, we must continue to rely on estimates of organic acreage gathered
through various state and private agricultural groups.
One government report draws from these diverse sources of information
to estimate that 0.28 percent of total U.S. cropland is devoted to certified
organic methods, but this amount doubled between 1992 and 1997 (Greene
2001) and continues to increase. In 2001, certified organic cropland totaled
2.34 million acres (Greene and Kremen 2003). There are wide variations by
crop type, with approximately 2 percent of the major fruit and vegetable
crops, apples, carrots, lettuce, and grapes, and 1 percent of all tomatoes,
grown by certified organic methods (Greene 2001). For grains, these fig-
ures are much lower: only 0.1 percent of corn, soybeans, and wheat are
organically grown. But substantial amounts of specialty grains are certified
organic: spelt (37 percent) and buckwheat (30 percent) (Greene 2001). Ge-
ographic variation is seen among the states, as California, North Dakota,
Minnesota,Wisconsin, Iowa, andMontana have the largest certified organic
acreage (influenced by large areas of pasture and rangeland), and California,
Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York,
Vermont, and Maine have the largest numbers of certified organic farmers
(Greene and Kremen 2003).
With these dual positive aspects of regulations pushing and consumers
pulling farmers toward organic production, why have we only witnessed
modest shifts toward organic farming in the United States? The answer
is complex, involving historical and economic factors ingrained in U.S.
society.
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