Organic Farming is about Crop Diversity

Do you know where your tomatoes are from?

I am in the grocery store line yesterday and the woman behind me has a basket of little cherry tomatoes.  She tells me that she will eat most of them, but will be planting the seeds for tomato plants from the rest. (I think to myself - It’s almost May - most growers’ tomatoes are 3” high already.)

I have to give her credit and be inspired by her.  She is at least 80 years old.

Then I get to thinking about the seeds…

and organic farming…

Yes, these tomatoes (seeds) she has are organic, but they were grown commercially.  This means that someone selected this particular tomato variety for its ability to grow quickly and efficiently, not necessarily for flavor.

I am glad her tomatoes are organic because supposedly organic tomatoes are not genetically modified.  I begin to think about diversity and how I love and appreciate the varieties of cherry tomatoes that I see in August.

Organic farming is about crop diversity - except perhaps when it comes to the grocery store!

If you go to the grocery store - there is no diversity.  Perhaps in lettuce, maybe in kale.

The grocery store offers one variety of each vegetable or fruit.  We need some variation and color brought to the grocery shelves!

-- although I should be careful here, because I am not interested in heirloom tomatoes from Holland –

Organic farmers grow a diverse selection of varieties for a number of reasons such as:

• taste
• growing season
• heartiness

That’s why I get my tomato plants from my local seed-saving farmer who can smell her seeds and tell me the different varieties.

Nevertheless, I am delighted to have this conversation at the check-out counter at the grocery store!

My partner in the grocery store line finishes our conversation by saying that the apples she is buying are organic, but not her pears.

“I wash both of them off real well with dish soap when I get home,” she tells me.

“Excellent idea,” I replied, “but how do you know what’s in the dish soap?”

We both laugh!  It’s a challenge to eat clean!