Our City Back-To-The-Land Organic Farmer

Our City Back-To-The-Land Organic Farmer

Last month, I received a flyer for summer fruit and vegetable baskets from an organic farmer. My husband and I went for a walk on Friday afternoon, and we discussed whether we would fork out the $390 for a single vegetable basket this summer. Please bear in mind that we just bought a house, and as Simply Red put it, "money's too tight to mention." I told my husband that we should "fork over" the money. I can give all kinds of environmental reasons for my decision, such as limiting my children's exposure to pesticides and fertilizers, supporting local farmers, etc., but what I enjoyed most was people-watching at the Thursday basket drop-off.

The 4:00 to 6:00 pm weekly farmer's drop-off  takes place in a narrow driveway just off the bike path, next to a bank parking lot separated by a tall chain link fence. The farmer's white truck takes up most of the driveway, and the farmer and his wife have a table set up next to the fence to sell any left over produce, jams and jellies to passersby. Now there's a whole lot of sweaty, panting people showing up on their bikes at the same time with no place to go, as we are prohibited from parking our bikes in the otherwise empty bank parking lot. Invariably, at least one newbie tries to lock his bike in the unlawful area, which annoys the farmer, leading to a few choice curse words, usually beginning with hostie,* and a loud admonishment. Then there is the usual speeding cyclist who cannot slow down in time, as he careens from bike path into the lot, using one foot as a brake. People scream and quickly crowd over table-side, as the cyclist hurtles into the garbage bags on the other side of the truck with a thump.


Although he often looks like he doesn't know what he got himself into, our organic farmer is a former city slicker who chose the "back to the land" option. At the beginning of the season, he's the picture of the proud organic farmer with his long thick black hair, standing at the back of his truck emptying baskets of fruit and vegetables into peoples' grocery bags. One woman was particularly taken by the farmer and his long locks, and insisted on giving him des bises* when he knelt down to give her her veg. She was clearly taking advantage of the situation, as des bises are commonplace, but not at the time of a veggie transaction.

Two years ago, we had a particularly wet summer, and it put our farmer's customer service skills to the test. We had ordered a fruit and a vegetable basket that summer, and when he handed me over three giant oranges with California stickers, I politely asked him if there was, um, any more. His eyes flashed and his index finger came up,

"That is $10.00 of organic fruit. There has been too much rain this summer," he said.
"Okay, okay, " I said, shrinking away with my grocery bag.

When I got home, I told my husband the story, as he went through our vegetable bag. He pulled out a very hard misshapen greenish-coloured vegetable.
"What's this?" he asked, tapping it against the counter, making a knocking sound.
"I'm not sure," I said, "and I was afraid to ask. It doesn't look like they're having a great harvest this year."
"Do you think these guys know what they're doing?" he asked, holding the mystery veg in the air. "I mean, this looks like something you find on the sidewalk in apple season."

Unfortunately, the summer only got worse, and a few weeks later, I meekly asked our pallid looking farmer with his now stringy long hair whether it would soon be green pepper season.
"No," he said, his voice cracking, "They're falling off rotten in our hands."
I nodded and quickly shuffled away.

I told my husband the story when I got home.
"What? No peppers!" he said incredulously. "And that jam they gave us last week tasted like poison," he said.
"Honey, it's been cold, rainy summer, and so they don't make jam as good as our mothers. Big deal!" I said.
"Heather, there are bad doctors and bad lawyers, and now, we know there are bad farmers too."
"That's harsh," I said, "Let's give them another chance."

Luckily, the summer improved slightly, as did our farmer's mood. He started smiling and looking good again and chatted more with his customers. And at the last pick-up of the season, the farmer and his wife were absolutely beaming. There were hugs all around, and the farmer had ladies lining up for some bises to tide them over until next summer.

Although it wasn't a great summer for produce, it was a fun experience, and I really enjoyed the cast of characters I met from my neighbourhood. I missed not going last year. And good or bad, we enjoy looking up recipes for produce we have never heard of or seen before.

*hostie: Quebec French equivalent of "fuck."
*des bises: customary kisses on both cheeks, usually exchanged when greeting a friend or saying good-bye.


Related Organic Posts:

For the Vegan in You
Produce Police: Is that Orange Really Organic?
Strawberries: Organic vs. Local
Organic Produce Too Expensive or Unavailable: Meet the Clean 15
The Environmental Working Group Updates its Dirty Dozen
3 Simple Q & As about Children and Pesticides

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Strawberries: Organic vs. Local

Strawberries: Organic vs. Local

There are 11 varieties of strawberries grown in Quebec from the beginning of June to mid-October. This is when I used to have my eye out for locally grown, organic strawberries. However, I have recently learned that strawberries have many natural pests and are susceptible to mildew, making it very difficult to grow them organically.


My husband did the grocery shopping this week and came home with three baskets of locally grown strawberries. He told me that the organic variety was three times the price of the locally grown and unsurprisingly came from California. It came down to the old organic vs. local dilemma.

First and foremost, I want to point out we are not perfect and do not suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. We're just trying to choose the best food available. But like every other working couple with two kids, we have very (berry?) busy lives and cannot spend our days grocery shopping for local, organic produce. It often comes down to choosing between local and organic.

This executive decision is made during the hour we spend grocery shopping. As strawberries are number 6 on the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen, the fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels, I opt for organic. To see the EWG's dirty dozen click here.

My husband is a greater proponent of buying local than I am, as it supports local farmers, reduces green house gas emissions and ensures fresher, tastier (he says) produce. As I have mentioned in a previous post, produce shipped from California is picked and shipped before it ever reaches peak ripeness or contains all its nutrients. It further loses these nutrients on the haul north. In addition, in last year's Green Guide, David Suzuki advocated buying local over organic.

However, because I have read about pesticides, which are carcinogenic and wreak havoc on children's developing neurological and reproductive systems, I tend to buy organic over local. Opting for local produce over organic is fine if you are an adult, but children are at greater risk because they cannot metabolize or inactivate toxins the way adults can. I opt for local if the fruit or veg is on the EWG's clean 15, a list of conventionally grown produce with the lowest pesticide levels.

But as in all couples, compromises have to be made, and in our organic vs. local debate, life eventually takes over. When you walk into a grocery store, you have to come out with something, or else chaos awaits you in the days ahead. I shop weekly for vegetables at a small organic shop, and between the two of us, we eat quite a mix of local and organic produce.

I must admit that this week I was won over by the locally grown strawberries. They were delicious! In addition, their baskets were made from number 1 plastic, which is both safe and recycled in our borough. This was as close as we could get to the perfect strawberry.

Food for thought: a geneticist's perfect strawberry

If you buy conventionally grown fresh strawberries from California throughout the winter, you may want to freeze your own locally grown berries after viewing this short video.Although it is being phased out, methyl bromide is the fumigant used to treat the soil on strawberry factory farms in California. It is a suspected carcinogen and has been responsible for numerous deaths.



NB: I have checked, and this fumigant is used much less in Canada.

After seeing the video, I have a much greater appreciation for the organic farmer.

Related Posts:

Meet the Clean 15 (Produce with lowest pesticide levels)
Evironmental Working Group Updates its Dirty Dozen (12 fruit and veg with the highest pesticide levels)
Buying Local: Vegetables Year Round

3 Simple Q&As about Children and Pesticides

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Produce Police: Is that Orange Really Organic?

Produce Police: Is that Orange Really Organic?

You know those annoying little stickers that you always have to peel off fruit and vegetables? Well, they give some very important consumer information: the name of the fruit or vegetable producer and the Price Look-Up (PLU) code.

This four- or five-digit code not only facilitates the lives of cashiers everywhere, but also helps grocery stores keep better inventory. By entering the PLU into a cash register, the cashier immediately sees the type of produce, the price per weight and whether the produce was conventionally or organically grown.

For instance, the code for a conventionally grown standard yellow banana is 4011. However, the code for an organically grown standard yellow banana is 94011. And if your standard yellow banana has been...(cringe) genetically modified, the code will be 84011.

So who sets these codes?

In 2001, produce associations worldwide banded together to form the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS). Its purpose was to implement a global standard by way of PLUs to improve supply chain efficiency.

The IFPS site claims that PLU codes have been used in supermarkets since 1990, but I can remember using PLUs working as a cashier in the 80s. However, at the time I probably wasn't concerned about whether them apples were organically grown.

Have you ever thought you may be paying organic prices for conventionally grown produce?

With my new found knowledge, I decided to hit some neighbourhood stores. I started at the convenience store where we shop regularly. Sure enough, I found four-digit PLUs on all fruit and veggies sold in bulk. This store rarely, if ever, carries organic produce. (Incidentally, nuts and herbs also have PLUs.)

The second store I visited is where I buy all our weekly organic products. I did some checking around and saw that they all appeared to have five-digit PLU codes starting with a 9. Very good. But then, I seized upon some mangoes without an organic code. I raised the issue with the shopkeeper's son, who looked at me in disbelief, as I explained the PLU coding for organic fruit. The shopkeeper then ran over to rescue his son from the mad produce shopper.

"No. Those are not organic," he said. "Come inside. I show you organic mango."

Now, I asked this same shopkeeper last fall whether everything in his store was organic, and I specifically remember him answering, "Yes." But I guess that depends on the time of year and what is available. I went back to look at the conventionally grown mangoes and was happy to see that they were in the conventional price range.

My green grocer was off the hook. Will yours be?

Related posts on fruit and vegetables:

Meet the Clean 15
Evironmental Working Group Updates its Dirty Dozen
Buying Local: Vegetables Year Round

Read more »