J.I. Rodale founded the Rodale Institute in Maxatawny Township as a place to study ways to grow food that would be in line with nature. He started with a simple philosophy: healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people. And Mark Smallwood says that remains Rodale's mantra today. Smallwood sat down recently, during the institute's off-season, when the place isn't buzzing with farm activities, to talk about the growth of the organic food industry and to chop down some myths about the benefits of genetically modified crops.
Business Weekly: If J.I. Rodale were here today, what would he say about how far the organization has come and how far agriculture has come?
Mark Smallwood: If he were here today, I think he would be very pleased. When he began to investigate agriculture in the organic realm, he was the first person in North America to use these two words together: "organic agriculture." The industry was at zero. Today, just in the United States, it is a $31 billion industry. There's about 15,000 certified organic farmers recognized by the USDA. So I think he would be jumping for joy for what's been accomplished.
BW: The word "organic" in food labeling has become like a marketing buzzword. What's your thought on how accurately we're labeling food today?
Smallwood: Organic has a seal. It's recognized by the USDA; it is to be trusted, and it is highly regulated. We get inspected every year because we're certified organic. So does every organic farm. That is not necessarily the case for any farmer that grows conventionally. There's no inspector on their farm every year. There is no designation for the word "natural" in the food industry. The USDA does not recognize it, and so I could put the label "natural" on my car, and it would be acceptable.
BW: 100 percent natural?
Smallwood: My car actually is all natural, and so I can say that, too. The other buzzword that has come to light most recently is "local." It doesn't necessarily mean that locally grown food is necessarily safe or more healthy. It would depend upon the farmer's practices, and so we would say organic and local trump everything. So if you can get both of those together, you're in pretty good shape, and the organic label is the one that you can trust.
BW: Is the government too strict? Are there too many rules? Some farmers will say, "I grow naturally, I don't use pesticides, but I don't want to deal with the government to be certified organic."
Smallwood: That's one of the barriers to being certified: the paperwork, the regulations. Farmers tend to be very independent people, and they don't want the government necessarily in their business and in their life. But if you're going to be certified organic, that's part of it.
BW: Let me get your thoughts on genetically modified crops. Have they been a good thing or a bad thing for the food system?
Smallwood: OK, good question. Let me just give you some facts and not opinion. About 75 percent of what you find in the grocery store contains genetically modified ingredients. So you shop tomorrow, look in your cart, and about ¾ of what you purchased, especially the processed foods, have genetically modified ingredients. We have been growing conventional right next to organic for 32 years. We've been looking at things like yields, economic values, energy uses, leaching of pesticides into the groundwater and so on. Five years ago, we switched out our farming systems trial and began to grow genetically modified corn and soy right next to organic, and now we have five years of data coupled with 27 years of data previous to that, and here's what we know 1. After 32 years, the yields are no different. So when Monsanto and the other large ag seed companies say to the farmers, "You're going to increase your yield," it's just not true, and we've proven it. During periods of drought, we have outperformed even the GMO seed that was meant to be marketed as drought resistant. We use 45 percent less energy mainly because we don't use any of the petroleum-based pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. One more fact: You plant genetically modified corn, for example. It does perform, and it works really well in the beginning, and it may outperform organic in the beginning. But what we're finding out is that the yields go down and costs go up because the weeds are becoming resistant, and we saw that in just our third year here. After the third year, we had to spray Roundup plus Atrazine, which is a carcinogen; it's toxic, it's poison. My guys have to get dressed up in suits to go out and spray it.
BW: So genetically modified crops: bad.
Smallwood: Just stating the facts. This is information that we have gathered here at the Rodale Institute on our farm in our trials. That's what we know.
Entire article is here:
The Conversation: Mark Smallwood, Rodale Institute | BUSINESSWEEKLY
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