Feb
11
2010
Organic Food?
John asked:
Ok so I know organic fruit and vegetables means no pesticides and all natural fertilizer. But if you have a compost pile where you create fertilizer can you throw un-organic waste in there (stuff from the store) and still call the crops organic. Second if you raise chickens or some form of livestock and you use all organic food, etc… is that all you have to do to consider it organic or would actually have to buy an “organic” chick or calf or whatever the animal is, in order for it to be organic. Thanks
Ok so I know organic fruit and vegetables means no pesticides and all natural fertilizer. But if you have a compost pile where you create fertilizer can you throw un-organic waste in there (stuff from the store) and still call the crops organic. Second if you raise chickens or some form of livestock and you use all organic food, etc… is that all you have to do to consider it organic or would actually have to buy an “organic” chick or calf or whatever the animal is, in order for it to be organic. Thanks
By donfletcheryh, February 14, 2010 @ 11:00 pm
compost pile… only material from a certified organic source allowed.
Chickens: You can buy day old chicks from a commercial hatchery.
Calf: can be considered organic if purchased very early, ie before 3 months, and held on an organic farm for at least 1 year. Prefer to buy from a certified organic source.
Inorganic material, like soil, which is part of a certified organic farm, can be used in your compost pile.
Most material usually put into a compost pile can be applied to the soil without composting, we call that green manuring. In tropical areas composting is basically not a great idea, with the preferred strategy to green manure all compostables, because composting for so little as 3 months will cause most of the carbon to be lost to the air, and most of the plant nutrients to move into the soil below the compost pile. We need to place the decomposing material as close as possible to the new crop roots. When we have plant diseases to deal with in tropical areas, we want to use burning rather than composting.
By Lady G-force, February 18, 2010 @ 12:45 am
The basic principles are the same around the world (use organic fertilisers like compost; free-range livestock systems, no routine use of drugs etc.). But the specifics depend on the organic standards that exist in your country. In the EU, yes, non-organic material can be put on the compost pile, like non-organic cattle manure. In fact, an organic farmer can only use non-organic manure on his land IF he has first composted it, or stacked it for four months. This is to ensure it is properly decomposed. Also, the manure cannot come from a farm that has been using GM feed, to ensure no spread of GM DNA on the land.
But there are MANY other things that an organic livestock farmer has to do, as well as using organic feed. For example:
- the livestock must be raised in a free-range system for most of their lives
- for chickens, there are rules on the minimum area of land and house space they must have; for cattle and sheep, there are maximum grazing stocking densities to avoid over-grazing
- there is a maximum flock size for chickens (to reduce stress)
- livestock should be managed in a ‘clean grazing system’, ie. the land rotated, not kept on the same land indefinitely which allows parasites to build up
- no routine use of veterinary drugs, only for treating disease and only if alternative treatments (homeopathy, acupuncture etc.) would not work and then no more than three drugs or else the animal cannot be sold as organic
- for chickens, there are minimum slaughter times, eg. in Europe, this is 81 days, compared to a norm of c. 42 days for non-organic chickens (to ensure they are not made to grow too fast).
etc. etc.
By Ohiorganic, February 18, 2010 @ 11:13 am
Compost you can toss in conventional food along with hay, staw and manure and still call the completed compost organic. though in recent years there has been big problems with using conventional hay and straw-there are a couple of persistent herbicides that do not break down during the composting and have been killing crops when the compost is applied. there are also issues with the drugs they use in conventional animals, especially vermicides (wormers) killing off the some of the creatures that make composting happen.
Chickens do not need to come from an organic source as long as they are bought as day old chicks. Other livestock can also come from non organic sources but must be under 3 months old (weanling) when they arrive at the certified organic farm.
the livestock must also be slaughtered at a certified organic processor or they lose their organicness and cannot be sold as organic.