The Wake

The extent of my farming experience consisted of occasionally seeing my friend tend to the potted plants he was growing in his dorm room closet so I had to sit down with a few experts before I could talk about producing food. What’s great is that there’s probably no better place to talk about food than the U. Our research facilities and faculty are intimidating and among the best of the nation. Not only that, we hold the legacy of Norman Borlaug, a superhero and an easy contender for the greatest person alive. Borlaug, who has a building named after him on the St. Paul campus, graduated from the U in the forties and has spent his life developing crops with greater yields throughout the third world. He won the Nobel prize in 1970 and has been credited with saving a billion people from starvation. The “b” is not a typo.

In the states, where we find ourselves taking for granted pretty much everything, we don’t need to rely on supermen like Borlaug to fill our tummies, and one new method of agriculture which becomes more popular all the time is organic farming. What does it mean for something to be organic? Helene Murray, executive director of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, enlightened me on the subject. Since 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture has maintained a set of standards that any farm must comply with to be considered “organic.” For starters, produce cannot contain any genetic modifications or synthetic pesticides. Regarding meat, poultry, eggs and milk, no antibiotics or growth hormones can be used. All of these foods must be inspected by a government appointed official, like Jim Riddle, the U’s organic agriculture coordinator. Riddle spent years working as an organic farmer, an organic farm inspector and as the chair for the USDA’s national organic standards program. Riddle promotes the fact that, because of organic food’s growing standards, the process of developing these crops create no pollution, which is nice. The last time I checked, the environment was still on death row, so I’ll take what I can get.

Therein resides two problems. For one, for a product to be legitimately organic, it needs the USDA seal of approval. So when Chipotle, or as I like to call it, McTaco, tells you they have “free range chicken” with some clever bullshit about it being “free love, hippy friendly,” it isn’t exactly what we’re looking for. Sure, we could rely on someone else to prosecute them for false advertising or simply trust them and their greasy connection with McDonald’s, but until I see that label, I’m sticking with Burrito Loco.

The other problem lies in cost. Organic food costs more to produce because of the strict regulations which must be maintained. Try a neighborhood co-op or a farmer’s market. Hopefully, it won’t be much more than Rainbow or Cub, but stop by Whole Foods and forget about it. Since the general college student population is already strapped for cash, what with textbooks being printed on gold (the only explanation I can come up with), is this organic food really so necessary? Health wise, is it any different than traditionally grown food? I mean, it has to be, right? What with words like “organic,” “all-natural” and “bioengineering” being thrown around. Biochemical engineering? All I wanted was some Frosted Flakes, now I have think about this? Hormones, antibiotics? That doesn’t sound too hot.

I also spoke with Daniel O’Sullivan, Associate Professor in the Department of Food science and Nutrition and Food Biotechnology and a researcher, to discuss the differences between organic and traditionally grown foods. The organic side of things loves to tout its lack of genetically modified organisms, but is it really something to go crazy over? The truth is that the American government’s Food and Drug Administration is completely reputable. Our foreign policy might be a shit storm, but don’t fret when it comes to the produce section. Genetically modified plants are the most stringently examined product in American history, and to quote Dr. O’Sullivan, “every aspect in regard to their safety and position has been addressed.” Not only that, we’ve been playing with our food for the last hundred or so years. Crossbreeding plants is a perfect example, a process called “plant hybridization.” You take two types of any plant and cross breed them in a lab, a situation that would likely never happen in the wild, and voila! Something completely different and tasty too. Look at yellow corn, for instance. Corn like what we have now would never turn out that way in the wild. In the wild, the kernels would be several different colors and horrible to eat, too. It’s only through science and technology that we can enjoy food like that.

The USDA makes no health claims about organic versus traditionally grown. Is an apple from Dr. O’Sullivan less “natural” than one from an organic grower? Should I hesitate if he offers to make me a sandwich? Of course not. We shouldn’t hesitate. We should celebrate! In the world today, people are really hungry, and people like Dr. O’Sullivan and Norman Borlaug are at work to make things better. Dr. O’Sullivan discussed how all technologies, especially those which move forward very quickly, come under attack. Probably, this is motivated by a “deep, inherent human feeling of being scared of change.” But we shouldn’t be scared. You wouldn’t be scared to take penicillin, which was made and designed by people of science, so why be scared to eat their pineapples?

So, organic versus traditional? Sure, buying organic suggests no pollution, and probably you’re supporting a local mom and pop operation, so if it’s worth the extra money, go for it. Just don’t talk shit about genetic modification and make it seem like these scientists are Dr. Frankenstein It isn’t fair to the poorer people who benefit from their efforts. As for me, as long as I’m riding the bus, stealing toilet paper, and pilfering snacks off my roommates, I’ll stick with Cub.