When I was visiting Fergus Falls last week, I had the opportunity to take a trip to Bluebird Gardens -- a 175-acre vegetable farm operated by Mark Boen. Bluebird Gardens is well known in the Fergus Falls area as a great example of sustainable farming.I learned several interesting things from the tour. First, pigs do a great job churning compost so people don't have to do it by hand; Mark keeps them for that purpose. Second, there are a lot of regulations and red-tape that make CSAs difficult and expensive to operate. Third, many people want to buy organic produce in theory, but in practice they often pass over organic produce because it's not in perfect condition.
Actually, I already was aware of this problem with organic produce: sounds great in theory, looks not-so-great in the grocery store. But at Bluebird Gardens, we talked about it more in depth. You see, Mark wants to grow corn organically. However, when he grows corn organically, many ears end up with worms on the inside -- as many as 50%. When he tries to sell the organic corn to consumers, they freak out when they see the worms. It's a Catch-22.
What is a farmer to do? Grow corn organically, which is best for the environment but frequently "repulses" consumers due to the realities of produce grown in harmony with nature and bugs? Or use pesticides, and have nicer-looking produce to sell to a greater number of people?
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