| A
conventional, supermarket tomato: |
An
organic, locally grown tomato: |
 |
 |
- 2,000 miles
in fuel and highway upkeep to get your tomato to market
(not to mention greenhouse gasses and other related
pollution).
|
- a short trip from farm to table; organic farming
actually fights global
warming by trapping carbon dioxide
in healthy soil.
|
- a tomato bred to sit
on the shelf. Taste is secondary;
choices are few.
|
- hundreds of colorful, flavorful
and culturally important varieties
to choose from.
|
- 500 million pounds of pesticides
each year; $8 billion in environmental and health
costs; 300,000 farmers with pesticide poisoning.
|
- a system that mirrors nature by using beneficial
insects, crop diversity and sound
science to limit pests and diseases.
|
- 40 billion pounds of chemical
fertilizers dumped on U.S. soil annually
for short-term gains with long-term consequences.
|
- a vote for organic farmers, who use compost and
other soil-building methods that protect
our land and water.
|
- measurable pesticide
residues on as much as 73 percent
of your tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables.
|
- the comfort
that you and your family are far less likely to be
consuming pesticides on your produce.
|
- a food system dependent on foreign
oil and vulnerable at each link of
its complex chain.
|
- real food security
in a safe, local food system that supports your community.
|
- higher taxes:
$114 billion spent on farm subsidies from 1995 to
2002.
|
- A grassroots
movement that stands on its own merit and receives
little public funding.
|
- 500,000 U.S. farms
swallowed up since 1974 due to corporate
consolidation.
|
- more organic family
farmers;
your food dollars keep them growing.
|
$1.21/pound
and
astronomical hidden costs. |
$1.89/pound
and priceless
hidden benefits |
| Local,
organic food: a real deal! |
