What's "Organic" without farmers?

My wife, Cheryl (known to many of you in our online community as MsGreene), grew up on a 40 acre farm. Her grandparents farmed, and her great-grandparents farmed.

Cheryl's family grew everything from corn, to cotton, to black-eyed peas, to grapes. At one time they even had a few milk cows. And of course they had a garden. The way she tells it, the tomatoes in their garden were the best in the world. She tells stories about what it was like growing up on a farm. One of my favorites is about their sense of community. One family had a peach tree, another a fig tree, and someone else grew strawberries. When peaches were ripe, they all had fresh ripe peaches. When figs came on, everyone had figs. And strawberries were shared by the crate.

One year Cheryl's father had a back injury during a very busy season. While he was in bed recovering his neighbors took turns coming over to his farm to work the land -- many of them working into the night after having worked all day on their own farms.

Today, Cheryl's brother farms in the same area where she grew up. For most of his life, he farmed the family farm, but soon he will retire.

Last night I spent the evening with about 40 Horizon Organic farmers. From what I can tell, not much has changed in the way they relate to each other. If someone has a need, the others pitch in. They are a community. But something has changed. For many the economics of farming make it increasingly difficult for them to continue farming.

When Cheryl's brother retires the farm will not be passed down to the next generation. His son decided not to go into farming -- it just didn't make economic sense. This is the first generation of that family without any farmers.

I am writing this post from Farm Aid, a concert launched and held together by Willie Nelson's drive to keep the family farm alive. Here in New York City Willie, Neil Young, John Mellenkamp, Dave Matthews, and their friends are helping those of us who depend on the farmer for our food see just how important they are for us all. Along the way, they'll raise money (over the years they've raised over $30 million) to give to farmers in need. That is a wonderful thing, but the thing farmers need the most from is for all of us to buy the food they raise and to pay a fair price.

We need a vital, American farming culture for reliable, fresh, healthy food. Cheaper imported food may be available today, but there is no guarantee imported food will always be available or low cost. Today you may be able to buy food imported from another country for a few cents less per pound than if you bought local food, but when you do that you are taking money away from the farm families right here that desperately need your help to keep farming. Without them, tomorrow's food supply may look very different.

You may not know a farmer. Our whole economy has changed. Now more people don't farm than do. So you may not be able to share the over-flow from your garden with farm neighbors. You may not be able to share in the richness of their community, but by buying what they produce, you are keeping that community alive.

Yes, buy organic, but also buy in a way to keep our farm families going from generation to generation.

Alan Greene, MD, FAAP