| 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! |
