For many consumers, the sole purpose for eating organic produce is to promote a healthy lifestyle. All certifiably organic produce is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and is handled without chemicals being introduced in the packing process. But many of today's organic consumers also have strong environmental or sustainability concerns. And for many growers, sustainability is also a top priority.

According to Mayra Velazquez de Leon, president of Organics Unlimited, "Sustainability has always been a part of our core beliefs. My family has been growing organic bananas since 1974, and while it is a more difficult process, it provides better long-term health for our growing areas."

For today's conventional growers, there is a great dependence on chemicals to grow marketable produce. It is the easier and less expensive way to grow, in the short term. Laborers can be hired at lower wages, and it uses less man-hours to produce a crop. The growers can sell their crop at a good price, but the question arises as to whether it is harmful to the future of the land.

Velazquez de Leon says, "We need to keep in mind all of the benefits of sustainability in growing. We must take care of the soil and the environment, as well as the plants themselves. And we need to take into consideration the long-term effects of the use of chemicals. For example, when a grower applies chemicals to eliminate a specific disease, that disease may be obliterated. But that does not mean that other diseases are not going to come in to take its place."

When chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are used, once one disease is eliminated, the bacteria, virus or fungus hybridizes and becomes stronger, so that the specific chemicals that are used are ineffective. The grower then has to find other chemicals that will fight this new disease or pest, and the amount of chemicals introduced into the soil and the environment keeps growing. With organic growing, the philosophy is to control disease and pest problems, not fight them. These growers have found that when they fight against the natural process, it comes back stronger than ever. When it is controlled, it stays in control, and new problems are not as apt to erupt.

For Organically Grown Company (OGC) in Portland, OR, sustainability is a part of their mission statement. "We feel that it relates to long term and short term thinking," says OGC's David Amorose. "We all need to prioritize our decisions on a daily basis, and there is now a question as to whether focusing on sustainability is a luxury or a necessity."


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