1 What Is Organic There is a growing organic food trend sweeping the nation and many grocery stores feature a variety of foods labeled organic In these organic sections you will find carrots onions kale bananas and oranges almost everything found in the rest of the produce department At the butcher counter there’s also organic beef chicken and pork The dairy cooler holds organic milk cheese yogurt and eggs Organic food is available in many areas across the United States and in many other countries around the world Why is it so in demand One reason is that organic foods are not exposed to human-made pesticides and fertilizers But that’s not the whole story Farmers who grow organic products and the people who buy them also want agriculture to be sustainable This means they want to grow food without using large amounts of energy and materials and to allow farmers workers and farm communities to maintain a fair standard of living Avoiding the use of chemicals is just one part of a trend toward sustainable agriculture Have you noticed the organic foods section at your local grocery store 4
Do It Yourself Find Organic Food Near You Is there a farmers market near you Farmers markets are one of the best places to find organic foods Farmers markets are usually open once a week or on weekends since the farmers need to be farming the rest of the week They are often located in a central building or on an outside lot if the weather is nice Farmers bring their vegetables fruits and meats Sometimes they also sell baked goods and prepared foods such as preserves maple syrup or sauces Don’t be discouraged if you live in a large city Even large cities have farmers markets and urban farms farms of varying sizes that are in or near the city Urban farming is a growing trend and a lot of these farms are organic Visit your local farmers market or one of the farms on your own or suggest it as a class trip What Is Sustainable What is the difference between organic and sustainable farming For something to be sustainable it cannot use resources such as soil water and nutrients faster than they are renewed A sustainable farm does its best to use only the sun’s energy and the natural cycles of nutrients and water to grow crops instead of applying human-made pesticides and fertilizers Using these methods farmers can produce food without damaging the soil or the environment and continue producing food forever Sustainable farms also allow the farmers the people who work for them and their economic communities to prosper 6
The Origins of Agriculture For most of history humans fed themselves by hunting animals and gathering plant foods This changed approximately 12,000 years ago with one of the most important inventions ever agriculture It was invented in several parts of the world at the same time including China the Middle East and Africa Agriculture is the practice of breeding planting nurturing and harvesting living organisms for food These organisms include animals plants and fungi Humans soon learned to breed varieties of plants and animals that fit their local climate and taste Another important skill was being able to use This wall painting from Egypt dates back to 1200 BCE It shows an ancient Egyptian using domesticated livestock to pull a plow 7
