I always wonder when grocery shopping, where is all this organic food coming from? The stores are trumpeting the number of organic produce items they offer. Consumers are demanding more organic options. Yet the whole industrial-ag system has been oriented to conventional, chemical farming for decades. How can farmers keep up? It takes three years to convert land to certified organic production — and there are uncertainties in the market.

Today’s report Organic Agriculture Expands to Meet Growing Demand from the WorldWatch Institute suggests that farmers are trying and fewer are sitting on the fence.

The global analysis found that the amount of land devoted to organic agriculture more than doubled between 2000 and 2007, which saw 32.3 million hectares in production worldwide (a 118 percent increase). However, that’s still less than 1 percent of agricultural land being actively farmed.

Among the findings:

• Consumers spent $46 billion on organic food and drinks in 2007, with the US and European Union accounting for most of this consumption (of course).
• Asia’s organic food markets grew significantly in both China and India, where concerns about food safety contribute to this development.
• Large companies are buying up organic labels, leading to a trend in processed organic foods and global sourcing and international trading. This has consequences as large companies trade internationally and use global sources to meet consumer demands. (In other words, the carbon footprints can rise, and organic products can undergo processing that may not be a healthy development.)
• The growth of organic farming worldwide can have a positive effect on climate change by reducing greenhouse gases associated with conventional farming and its chemical “inputs” that require more energy and degrade the soil
• Organic farming can better sequester carbon in soil — and thereby do a better job to mitigate climate change — because it enriches the quality of the land with natural composting and pesticide-free maintenance.

The  takeaway for consumers is not simple. Be glad that farmers are going organic. Look for them at your farmer’s market and wherever you shop. Buy locally grown produce locally. Ask where stuff has come from and get it in season. All that…

But also understand that farming is region-specific. Coffee and cocoa, for instance, must be shipped from tropical producer-nations to consumer regions (you guessed it, Europe and the US). In Mexico, the report points out, many small farmers depend on these industrialized markets. So look for organically grown or shade-grown coffee, but don’t expect it to come from Ohio.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

This week the Obama Administration shored up the Endangered Species Act, restoring a rule rescinded by the Bush Administration that requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service when their activities could harm threatened or endangered species.

Obama announced the decision on Tuesday at the Interior Department, noting that “the work of scientists and experts in my administration, including right here in the Interior Department, will be respected.”

It was a statement that many conservationists could embrace as they work to maintain habitats, preserve federal park lands and stabilize animal populations under threat such as the Rocky Mountain gray wolves, the American Pika, polar bears, Atlantic lobsters, salmon and seals, among others.

But the week began with a poignant note about the perils facing wildlife in the United States when an aged jaguar — possibly the very last jaguar living in the wild in the United States — had to be euthanized.

The wild cat, known as Macho B and believed to be 15 to 16 years old had recently been outfitted with a radio collar by Arizona state authorities. When he was later discovered to be suffering from kidney failure, the state game officials had the 118-pound cat euthanized.

It’s not known if the stress of the earlier capture contributed to the jaguar’s death; his demise though is believed to mark the probable extinction of the jaguar in the United States, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Macho B was the only jaguar known to be living in the United States; he had been photographed repeatedly since 1996 in southern Arizona. Three other jaguars, at least one of them thought to have been killed in Mexico, have also been recorded in the United States since 1996, but none are known to be living now,” the center reported in a statement.

“This is a major setback for the jaguar, particularly given that the border wall is making it much harder for jaguars to reoccupy their ancestral homes in the southern United States,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We are deeply saddened.”

Bleak as the situation appears, Robinson believes there is hope for a restored jaguar population because the Center for Biological Diversity has already sued to try to get a federal recovery plan in place. The non-profit is due in federal district court in Tucson on March 23 to discuss its lawsuit against a Bush-era U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refusal to develop a recovery plan and designate “critical habitat” for the jaguar.

Jaguars continue to populate parts of Mexico. They once ranged from the Bay Area of California to the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. Their population was decimated by decades of habitat loss, hunting for pelts and “persecution for fear of livestock losses,” including “systemic killing” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said Robinson.

Because there are still wild jaguars in northern Mexico, a recovery plan for the animal in the United States remains feasible, he said.

“The border wall doesn’t extend across the entire border, as yet. The recovery plan could look at many different options, including reintroduction and removal of all or portions of the wall,” he said.

“A recovery team developing the recovery plan would identify their best remaining habitats. Potential areas include the Sky Islands in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico (where this and other jaguars recently known to be in the U.S. lived) and the Gila National Forest and Mogollon Rim in respectively western NM and eastern AZ. But the team could also look further afield, since jaguars once ranged from east to west coast,” he added.

“Macho’s legacy should be action to develop a science-based recovery plan and protection of the areas they call home to ensure their survival.”

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media