RE: Certified Organic: What's Behind the Label? Is It Good for Small Farms or Consumers? (DTube Daily Vlog)
It sounds like the priority should definitely be to get to know farmers and buy directly from them.
My situation has been that I buy from an organic grocery store 10 mins. from my house that has its own parking lot and where I can get small amounts of fresh produce a couple times a week, quick in and quick out. Since everything they have is organic, that's what I get.
But if I was buying larger quantities to feed more people, or had easier access to farmer's markets where I was (meaning not a 2 hour endeavor just to buy produce), it would definitely be worthwhile to invest the time in developing relationships with farmers I could trust without the organic seal. I would definitely prefer farmers not to need to go through all that bureaucracy and expense.
"It sounds like the priority should definitely be to get to know farmers and buy directly from them." - YUP.
what you bring up is a key component I feel to the whole situation. The access to the relationships and markets is lacking in MUCH of the country, and availability of high quality organic produce at affordable prices and fair compensation for the producer is lacking.
What you say about a 2 hour affair highlights one of the major factors for widespared adoption of organic foods in that on the whole they are NOT easy to obtain. We have 1 or 2 items we choose to buy form the local grocer, elsewise we choose to buy bul thorugh co-op or take the 2 hour trip to a larger town to get the goods that we or our commnuity doesn't produce.
It's a complex issue isn't it, thanks for weighing in.