Apr. 29 2000 / Los Angeles Times
In California's fertile San Joaquin Valley and elsewhere, the promise of organic farming still, according to this story, collides with the harsh economic realities of commercial agriculture. But while organics were once dismissed as the province of "health nuts," pesticide-free produce is now gaining adherents among farmers as well as consumers. The story adds that the shift has been small so far but, with more help from state agencies, the trend could ripen into a cash crop for California.
More than a niche but still not a big-ticket item, sales of fruits and vegetables grown without synthetic pesticides are up by 20% or more annually in recent years, according to trade industry figures. Once found only in natural food co-ops or farmers markets, organic produce is now on the shelves of many large grocery chains. The story says this kind of growth has been fueled by health-conscious consumers who will pay a premium to avoid potentially harmful chemicals, as well as shoppers willing to pay more for a tomato that tastes like a tomato or a peach with flavor and juice.
The story also cites a report by the Pesticide Action Network using the state's own data, which found that in 1998 alone, more than 50 million pounds of fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and soil fumigants were applied to California farm fields--3 million pounds more than in 1994.
Strawberries grown along the central and southern coast used 150 pounds per acre of fumigants, fungicides and insecticides in 1998; use of the fungicide captan tripled over five years.
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