"Truth will spring from the earth;
justice will look down from heaven."
(Ps 85:12)

While GMO is a great added advantage to agriculture, the way it is marketed and used today is not sustainable in the long run. The advance of herbicide resistant weeds and the crop itself becoming a weed due to the leftover seeds at harvest brings about diminishing returns. This is due to the increase use of herbicide which kills soil bacteria needed for the decomposition of dead plant matter. The planting of only one crop over a large area is a disaster waiting to happen. Some insects will take advantage of the plentiful food supply, reproduce in great numbers leading to the destruction of the crop. Pope John Paul II has well observed, "One cannot use with impunity the different categories of beings, whether living or inanimate - animals, plants, the natural elements - simply as one wishes, according to one's own economic needs. On the contrary, one must take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system, which is precisely the cosmos." (Encyclical Pope John Paul II: Sollicitudo rei socialis, #34)

 

Many farmers are now turning to "Organic Farming" meaning that their methods are natural and in harmony with the ecosystem. They do not use chemical fertilizer. They maintain the soil productivity by crop rotation, "green manure" meaning the planting of cover crops which are then plowed under to enrich the soil and the use of compost and animal manure. "In the natural world, composting is what happens as leaves pile up on the forest floor and begin to decay. Eventually, the rotting leaves are returned to the soil, where living roots can finish the recycling process by reclaiming the nutrients from the decomposed leaves." (Eric S. Johnson)

Weeds are controlled by using plastic covers where sidling are planted as you see in photo. Some use straw between rows of tomatoes or use other means to pull out the weeds.

 

(Photo of aphids by Whitney Cransha)

Insects can we controlled in different ways. At St. Joseph Center where I am, I have seen our farmers use a spray of white clay to prevent insect from eating the leaves of young plants. On another occasion the farmer cut the bottom of plastic cups to placed around broccoli seedlings to prevent worms from crawling up the plant at night and eating their leaves.

In larger farms, biological controls may be introduced. For example, in this photo you see aphids feeding on a sunflower plant. The ladybug is their natural enemy so by introducing this insect into the mix will restore a certain balance.

 

Organic vegetables are more expensive because they are usually produced by local small farms and involve more labor, but this is worth the price to pay for fresh healthy food and maintaining the ecological balance.

Many organic farmers sign up people who are willing to pay $450 - $475 yearly for 20 weeks of fresh vegebables. In this photo you see a share that was given out the 18th week at St. Joseph Community Center. The growing season in Middle New York State runs from May to October so shares are given out, vegetable share are distributed between June and October.

 

 

 

10. God's Earth is Man's Home