Tim's Blog

One example of this is the term ‘conventional' used to describe the alternative to ‘organic'. This is a very commonly used term in the industry, but I try to avoid it when I can.

By what measure is non-organic food ‘conventional'?

Until the late 1800's all food was grown without synthetic fertilisers, and strong (but still naturally occurring) pesticides such as arsenic, lead, mercury and copper only became available in the early 1800's. It was not until the late 1940's that synthetic herbicides and pesticides came into use.

We have had only fifty - hundred years or so of using modern, non-organic methods. While they have sometimes increased yields considerably, they have also proven to cause many other problems and environmental disruption. From this perspective, synthetic chemicals are quite novel, unproven, and hardly ‘conventional'.

Organic on the other hand, has been part of ‘traditional' farming methods for several millennia. In places like Java, tropical polyculture home-gardens have been feeding people for 3,000 years or more. In the process, these complex gardens produce more protein and carbohydrate (i.e. more usable food) per square metre than any other farming system. With that history, we can definitely call ‘organic', ‘conventional'.

Although I sometimes forget and lapse back into common speak, I prefer to use the term, non-organic". It is much more descriptive, closer to the truth, and less open to interpretation.

Calling non-organic farming or food conventional is a minor slip up compared to contrasting organic with ‘commercial' production. I always gasp or wince when I see this in print. It is a juxtaposition that just does not accord with my view of organic, and paints the organic industry in a bad light.

But what consideration are organic farms not ‘commercial'. Are the users of this term harping back to the late 60's, when health food shops did carry a lot of ‘backyard' produce, supplemented with occasional deliveries from very small-scale ‘hobby' farms?

Now ‘hobby farms' is another term that I generally avoid. Generally they are not strictly ‘hobbies', and ‘small-scale' is much more descriptive and accurate.

Just in case anyone doubts it, organic is fully commercial and operates at every scale. The biggest certified organic property owner in the world in based in my home state of South Australia, although the five different properties that make up this landholding stretch way across into Queensland as well. They total over 97,000 hectares. Certainly this property is low-stocking rate pastoral country, but it is vast and across the 5 units produces a lot of beef. The 4 partners in the Floodplain Organic Grain Growers have around 20,000 hectares of cropland, spread across much larger grazing properties. Given a good soaking, they could produce $10million of grain in one season. We could go on, but you get the picture.