This week's dose of organic headlines, updates, resources, goodies, and recipes courtesy of DSnodgrass...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the 2008 Organic Production Survey. Since this is the initial undertaking of its type at the federal level, there's no solid data for comparison from prior years. Still, the survey has tremendous significance because it establishes a reliable baseline for surveys moving forward.

USDA takes accounting of organic farms  

The survery said there are 14,540 farms that were USDA certified organic or exempt from certification because sales are less than $5,000 -- including 129 in Maryland. The number has doubled at least twice since 1990.  

They farm 4.1 million acres of land in all 50 states, though California is home to 20 percent of the farms. That's up from about 1 million acres in 1990. (It's still only about a percent of all farmed crop and pasture land.)  

In 2008, sales of organic products nationwide totaled $3.16 billion. Some $1.94 billion was spent on crops and $1.22 billion on livestock, poultry and their products.  

Organic farms took in more in sales than conventional farms: An average of $217,675 verses a $134,807 average for all farms. But they also spent more on production: $171,978 on organic farms, compared with an average $109,359 on all farms.  

The headline rocks, and the article’s not bad either. 

Sara Lee's Quasi-Organic Bread: A Half-Assed -- and Likely Doomed -- Bet on Green Shoppers

Sara Lee (SLE) apparently thinks that shoppers want eco-friendly bread, and so it’s just begun making its EarthGrains bread with “Eco-Grain” wheat, which is grown on family farms on smaller plots with less fertilizer. It probably shouldn’t have bothered.  

First, Eco-Grain is at best a quasi-organic product, as it’s still made with pesticides and petroleum-based fertilizers (though less of the latter than usual). And even if that weren’t the case, there’s no reason to think consumers would go for the bread, since most people don’t choose food based on whether it’s good for the environment or not. 

Instead, food research consistently shows that Americans buy food because they think it’s a good value or that it’s healthy for them and their family. That’s what propelled the organic movement beyond the granola and Kochumba crowd and into the mainstream. 

Walmart(WMT) shoppers, for instance, want rGBH-free milk not becauseMonsanto’s (MON) genetically-modified cow hormone is detrimental to cows, but because people get creeped out by the idea of milk having artificial hormones in it. In other words, when it comes to the food we eat, we’re selfish. 

But Sara Lee, the country’s second largest bread maker, is charging ahead with a big environmental marketing program anyway. Its “Plot to Save the Earth, One Field at a Time” includes a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and absurd taglines like, “How your turkey sandwich can help preserve the Earth.” It’s designed to boost sales by making making people feel morally satisfied about eating whole wheat EarthGrains bread — even though there’s still that pesky pesticide and fertilizer problem, unlike real organic bread. 

GMOs - not just for food. 

 Genetically Modified Forest P lanned for U.S. Southeast   

While the practice of splicing foreign DNA into food crops has become common in corn and soy, few companies or researchers have dared to apply genetic engineering to plants that provide an essential strut of the U.S. economy, trees. 

But that will soon change. Two industry giants, International Paper Co. and MeadWestvaco Corp., are planning to transform plantation forests of the southeastern United States by replacing native pine with genetically engineered eucalyptus, a rapidly growing Australian tree that in its conventional strains now dominates the tropical timber industry. 

The companies' push into genetically modified trees, led by their joint biotech venture, ArborGen LLC, looks to overcome several hurdles for the first time. Most prominently, they are banking on a controversial gene splice that restricts trees' ability to reproduce, meant to allay fears of bioengineered eucalyptus turning invasive and overtaking native forests. 

If such a fertility control technology -- which has come under fire in farming for fear seed firms will exploit it -- is proven effective, it could open the door to many varieties of wild plants, including weedy grasses, to be genetically engineered for use in energy applications like biomass and next-generation biofuels without fear of invasiveness. 

As for this technology coming “under fire in farming for fear seed firms will exploit it”, those fears may be well founded based on the CEO of ArborGen’s background, which include “17 years at Monsanto where her responsibilities included Regional Director of the U.S. southern region”. 

Roasted Organic Beet Salad With Aged Goat Cheese  

Use as many organic ingredients you can find for optimum flavor.   

Serves 4-6  

Roasted Beets: 

2 pounds mixed organic red and golden beets
4-6 ounces winter organic mesculin mix or other European organic salad mix
6 ounces of Bucheron or other aged goat cheese, room temperature
2-4 tablespoons of olive oil 

Champagne Vinaigrette: 

2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon of finely chopped organic shallots
1/4 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil  

You have the ingredients, read the article to find what to do with them. 

Related Reading:

International Paper Growing Genetically Engineered "Frankenforests"
FDA's New Guidelines for BPA Safety Fall Short

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