Going Organic

One of our common fowl hens, Theresa, and her peeps

Since arriving in Bluefields, I have “gone organic” in a major way. I am studying it, promoting it, writing business plans for it, and eating it when it is available. For the next two years I will be working hard to get more farmers to go organic too. Have I raised any eyebrows yet?

Don’t get me wrong, I am still an equal-opportunity lover of agriculture in all of its forms. I think the mudslinging and misinformation in the organic vs. conventional contest is embarrassing for agriculture and erodes the ability to progress. Similar to other areas of the human existence, I believe research and development in new technologies, be they biotechnological or natural/organic, has the potential to greatly improve the human condition. But like I said, I am an agricultural pragmatist, if you will. I am for matching the food production system to local conditions in a way that achieves environmental, social, and economic sustainability and contributes to the most food security.

That being said, I feel very fortunate to have been placed with the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Specially Authorized Society (WOFSAS); the long name is a product of bureaucracy. Bluefields is a coastal community located along a bay that is rich in history and currently serves as a fish sanctuary. The terrain rises to 2000ft of elevation within a few miles of the shoreline. Most of the farmers work small plots of rocky government-owned ground with little hope of ever holding a deed for the land. Many farmers in Jamaica suffer from illiteracy, which is especially problematic and results in over-application or misuse when they apply chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. This is problematic enough in gently sloping areas; can you imagine the impacts of over-application of agro-chemicals in a steep slope coastal region that is supposed to be serving as protected habitat for marine life? That’s just a small piece of the calculus that makes me confident that organic agriculture is optimal in the paradigm of environmental, social, and economic sustainability for Bluefields, Jamaica.

So there you have it, for the next two years I am all about organic agriculture (but don’t expect me to “take sides”). I really want WOFSAS and local farmers to achieve success in growing and marketing their organic produce to eager customers in the tourism and food industry in our little part of the island. I hope their children will grow to love growing things as much as their families and as much as I do. At the end of the day, it’s all about treating the land, the animals, and people with respect and keeping future generations in mind. And you don’t have to be certified anything to do that.