The Advocate of Westminster and Finksburg (link unavailable)
By Rachel Hare, Advocate Staff Writer Carroll County Times

Tom Reinhardt, of Westminster, stood beside a large rectangle of land, a patchwork of colorful fruit and vegetable plants, all slightly overgrown with any number of tall, spindly weeds.

“This is what an organic farm looks like,” he said, gesturing to the rather haphazard cohabitation of plant and weed.

Reinhardt, operator of Nev-R-Dun Farm, which sits on seven acres in Westminster, was certified as an organic farmer in 2001. Today, he makes a living off of his land, growing fruits, vegetables and herbs, all labeled United States Department of Agriculture “organic.”

“I decided to use my parents’ land to see how hard it would be to grow organic produce,” Reinhardt said.

Organic farming takes a great deal of hand labor, planning, research and bookkeeping, he said.

In order to become certified, a farmer must fill out an application specifying any substances used on the land in the previous three years as well as the type of organic operation planned and the type of products to be grown, according to the USDA.

“My bottom line is healthy produce,” he said. “You can’t be lazy and do this.”

The first step, Reinhardt said, is creating nutrient-rich soil for hearty plants.

“That is my first plan of attack … to make that soil as healthy as possible,” he said. “I don’t use any sprays.”

For nutrients, Reinhardt feeds his ground a mulch of composted leaves.

“You’re basically robbing nature of what it wants,” he said of the struggle to keep his crops safe from pests.

Reinhardt said he tries to provide an inviting environment for predator insects, bats and birds, which all feed on pests.

Without sprays, Reinhardt said, he has to come up with more creative ways of farming, such as frequent crop changes and rotations, so his plants aren’t wiped out by pests.

However, pesticides don’t give the conventional farmer a “get out of jail free” card, said Wayne Horner, co-owner of Deep Run Farm, a traditional farm in Hampstead. “Most of the crops I grow really need to be rotated, even with fungicides and herbicides,” he said. “You need to break the cycle of the weeds and the diseases.”

It is important to rotate crops, Horner said, because diseases that attack the crops can begin to build up a resistance to the chemicals, and most farmers try to use the least amount of chemicals as possible.

“Being a farmer, you have to care about your soil,” he said. “I try to grow the highest quality product.”

Horner has considered going organic but said the switch is a daunting one that he has not yet tried.

“You just have to change your whole way of controlling pests,” he said. “It’s a lot more labor intensive.”

Andy Schneider, a conventional farmer who operates his father’s 235-acre farm in Sykesville, said he has not gone organic because he does not believe that it is better than traditional farming. Even conventional farmers, he said, are judicious about the chemicals they use. Most of his crops get sprayed only once at planting.

Chemical sprays are expensive, Schneider said, and using them too often is not efficient. The key is to find a pesticide that kills the harmful insect but does not stay in the soil, he said.

“You don’t want [a chemical] with a long residual,” Schneider said.

The main thing people fear, he said, is contaminants, such as chemicals, but most people know nothing about what goes into their food.

“The average consumer, they think that organic means that there aren’t any chemicals,” he said. “They can use chemicals. They just can’t use inorganic chemicals.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, organic farmers are barred from using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, but pesticides produced from natural resources are allowed.

Even conventional farmers and the chemicals that they use are closely observed by the USDA and the EPA.

“Any chemical that is used on food products is approved by USDA and FDA,” said Gabe Zepp, Agriculture Development specialist with the Carroll County Department of Economic Development. “I think most farmers look at growing a crop in a sustainable manner.”

The decision whether to buy organic really depends on consumers, Reinhardt said, and what their priorities are.

With conventional farming, there is the possibility that pesticides were used, he said – pesticides that are potentially harmful to people and to the environment.

“We’re adding stuff to the evolution process that our bodies don’t know what to do with,” he said. “If you’re getting organic from the store, you at least know that’s not part of the equation.”

However, the longer produce is separated from the mother plant, the more nutrients it loses, according to Reinhardt, so food that has been shipped a long way often has less nutritional value.

The best way to know exactly what goes into your food is to buy local, Zepp said.

“Buy as much local produce as you can – support your local farmers markets,” he said. “You know where that produce came from; it hasn’t been transported.”

There are many merits to locally grown food, Reinhardt, Horner and Schneider all agree.

“I think it’s great for people to be concerned about where their food is coming from and how it’s raised,” Schneider said. “You’re always better buying local.”

For Reinhardt, the best solution is locally grown organic food.

“There’s just something inside of me that has always been aligned with natural stuff,” Reinhardt said. “We’ve evolved on this planet eating natural plants and animals.”

How much of it is organic?
The organic label can apply to fresh products or processed products containing organic ingredients

  •   “100 percent organic” means the product contains all organically produced ingredients (except water and salt).
  •   “95 percent organic” means the product contains at least 95 percent organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).
  •   “Made with organic ingredients” can be used for processed products containing at least 70 percent organically produced ingredients.
  •   Processed products containing less than 70 percent organically produced ingredients cannot use “organic” on the main display.
  • Labels claiming “no drugs or growth hormones,” “free range,” or “sustainably harvested” are not restricted.

Source: USDA

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