Farmer Training
"Your passion needs to be tempered with what's realistic."
For Kevin Fulton, 2018 was a new beginning: it was the first year of his...
It’s one thing to grow organic fruits and vegetables. Farmers know how. It’s another to get those products into the hands of customers who increasingly want them. That’s where distributors — and all of their magic, planning and logistics — come in.
Farming remained difficult until about 1915, when farmers started to install tiles for subsoil drainage, laying the foundation for Iowa's ascent to its current position as one of the top agricultural states in the U.S. Suddenly, almost anything could be grown in the rich, dark soil.
"We were fixing the same problems over and over again. Why were we fighting this bad ground instead of just putting it into grass?" Grass needs cattle, and looking at the economic side, an organic dairy herd seemed the obvious answer.
Carrots, kale, the first parsnips and pumpkins, vegetables in all shapes, shades and sizes have pride of place on this sunny and mild autumn Saturday. Not just organic vegetables are on sale outside the local church. Here in east London's Stoke Newington, you can also buy apples, fish, dairy, meat, bread and homemade pies.
Organic agriculture has grown steadily; today a third of the world's organically managed farmland is in Europe. But when it comes to prices, supermarkets in particular, expect immaculate organic produce to cost no more than conventionally produced fruit and vegetables.
In Good Tilth magazine reaches more than 9,000 readers in print and 17,000 online nationwide. We tell positive stories about sustainability, innovation and up-and-coming solutions for the complex challenges around food and farming.
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