King Grove Organic Farm

 

Dear David and Mary, One of the farms we have tracked most closely in the last three years has been King Grove Organic Farm in Eustis, Florida. If you are a regular reader, you are familiar with Hugh and Lisa Kent, pilot farmers for the Real Organic Project’s certification program. King Grove was the very first farm to use the Real Organic logo on their farm packaging.

The team picking berries at King Grove.

King Grove's "Know Your Farmer" video

Hugh spoke at our first symposium at Dartmouth. His words swept the audience. He described the devastating invasion of the organic label by the “plastic farms,” as he called them; hydroponic operations invading the organic label after they were recently permitted USDA certification.  The Hydroponic Gold Rush was on. Hugh called them “plastic farms” because such soilless production was impossible before the invention of plastic. The plants sit in plastic pots or bags, which sit for years on plastic ground covers. They are irrigated and fed with a system of plastic tubing that delivers the highly processed liquid feed.  Real Organic? Not at all. These systems violate the law. The rules prohibit leaving plastic mulch on the ground for more than a year, but potted berries will spend years on the same plastic. After three or four years, the whole mess of pots,  plastic, and rootbound plants is hauled to the landfill. According to testimony presented to the NOSB, prohibited substances are sometimes sprayed between crops in hydro greenhouses. Additionally it is prohibited to use calcium nitrate in organic, but the coconut coir "soil" is often treated with calcium nitrate to counter the toxicity of the coconut husk. In its natural state coir is unusable as a substrate. Plus they get a calcium "boost."The treatment of the coir with calcium nitrate is preceded by the water-intensive drenching of the coir to lower the high salt levels. So much for conserving water. And of course, the biggest violation of the law is the total abandonment of soil. There is no effort to “maintain and improve the soil’s fertility” because there is no soil!  Soil in organic? It’s the law. Like gravity. These laws are respected around the world. Except in America. Nowhere else in the world is hydroponic considered organic. OF COURSE you cannot have organic agriculture without soil.  I have even heard hydro-apostles claim that they were “protecting” the soil by covering it with black plastic. Seriously. This is like “protecting” a witness by putting her into solitary confinement with no food.

A certified hydro operation's version of "protecting the soil."   They could just as easily (more easily) do this in a parking lot.  At least that wouldn't destroy farmable land.

The Real Organic reality of healthy soil at King Grove.

Like many farmers, they went through the three-year transition period to be certified organic. Hugh and Lisa took the Great Risk. They believed that organic farming was the right path. They knew that it would cost more to produce organic food, but they made the decision to invest in organic as their livelihood. They believed the USDA had some integrity and would provide a level playing field. They believed that the law would be respected and equally enforced.  Did I say three-year transition? That is the rule that requires a three-year period of growing organically before the land can be certified. But there is no transition time required for hydro in a greenhouse.  They say, "Why should there be?" There is no soil to transition.  There is no interaction with a soil ecosystem.  In the USDA's "Brave New Organic”, there is no place for small-scale soil production of blueberries on store shelves. It is now hard to even get a supermarket chain to talk to you. Berries are the most monopolized crop in organic farming, with milk and eggs close behind. Driscoll’s has proudly claimed that 70% of organic berries in the US come from...Driscoll's. From one company. That is a monopoly.  As Hugh said, when you permit a practice like hydroponics in organic, you actually mandate it.  (After high initial capital costs, It's a much cheaper system.)  The farmer's choice is to adopt the cheaper growing system or go out of business.  Of course, hydroponic systems are cheaper because their actual costs, to all of us, are hidden. The same is true for permitting confinement production of livestock. There are not many “USDA certified organic” eggs on the shelves that don’t come from confinement operations. The more expensive (and valuable) real organic eggs simply can’t compete. They can’t get shelf space. They can’t be distributed. Hugh and Lisa grow the best blueberries I have ever tasted. I had some frozen ones for lunch in my yogurt today. In a letter from Michael Pollan last year, he had this to say about King Grove’s berries:

"The blueberries arrived yesterday in perfect shape, still cold. Dave had prepared me, but not my wife, who was thrilled-- blueberries are by far her favorite fruit (possibly even favorite drug), and she declared they were the best blueberries she's ever eaten. Plump and still hard enough to pop but completely ripe and sweet. Must be the soil!"        - Michael Pollan, after getting a box of King Grove blueberries

So what do we do? How do we find such good food? How do we support the farms that bring so many benefits to our world? How do we build a real organic landscape? I am reminded of an earlier time when we had food coops that met in garages. We would buy organic foods like whole wheat flour, brown rice, cheese, vegetables, and fruits. We gathered the food from the precious farms and suppliers and broke them down into boxes for each family.  So much has changed since then. Many coops turned into stores that turned into bigger stores that got bought by much bigger stores. Bread & Circus got swallowed up by Whole Foods. Whole Foods got taken over by Amazon.  There are excellent CSAs, which hadn’t yet been invented when I was young.  Now Booker T. Whatley’s pick-your-own and CSAs (he called them "food clubs") are common. Farmer’s Markets are thriving. And supermarkets now carry an amazing abundance of “certified organic” food from around the world. This is real progress.  And yet…

The beautiful avocado orchard of Traceland Organics.

The more I learn, I am not always finding the food I want in the stores. I seem to be getting more and more of my food directly from real organic farms. I order avocados from Traceland Organics in California (they NEVER rot and are always delicious). My bread, meat, and eggs are delivered directly to our farm by Trukenbrod, a spectacular local bakery that contracts with farmers for real organic grains grown regionally. I am very fortunate that I can get my yogurt at my local Coop from Butterworks, the rockstar organic farm that has inspired so many others.  My ice cream is from Strafford Creamery. My vegetables come from Root 5 and from Cedar Circle. I grow my own tomatoes! My apples came from Lost Nation Orchard. When we lose a farm or a farmer, we are stunned. We must not take them for granted. My gratitude to all of these farmers who feed me.  And I order my blueberries from King Grove. Hugh and Lisa are selling their berries in select Whole Foods. They are also going to be showing up in Northeast coops, thanks to the involvement of my favorite organic distributor, Annie Meyers. But the easiest way to get their berries is to buy them direct. They only come in a 5 lb box.  That is a lot of blueberries, but as it turns out, they are so fresh, and so carefully packaged, that they last over a month in the refrigerator! We have never thrown out a single berry. It is easy to share a box with a friend. And we have bought many extra boxes to freeze, which is completely easy.

Hugh, Lisa I don’t know you but I got a delivery of your unbelievable blueberries this week and I was completely smitten.  In a way, I sort of feel like I know you well because of the way they tasted. I always tell my cooks you can taste the difference between not only real soil and hydroponics (that’s easy) but between real soil that’s well cared for and everything else.  What I tasted was extraordinary depth and a perfect balance of tartness and acidity. (As you know, too many people judge fruit by sweetness, when really it’s the acidic elements you want most, to balance everything and keep the flavor clean). What’s your secret? And is there any way I could help to promote your work? A million thanks for sharing your extraordinary work. Dan Barber

If you buy these berries, you will be giving yourself a great gift. They are delicious. They are also very nutritious. Blueberries are a superfood. Blueberries every day are good for your brain. I hope so, because I need all the help I can get. But finally, when you support a Real Organic farm like King Grove, you are also doing something good for the world. How can we have an organic movement without having real organic farms? An organic label without organic farms is like a stove without wood. So what a wonderful way to take a stand. Buy some real Organic berries today from King Grove! Or request them at your local store.  Eating is a political act. Dave

You can check out King Grove's mail order here.

PS. I am being interviewed this week by students at the Gund Institute at UVM. We will be talking about how farmers came together to start the Real Organic Project, and how we can bring people together to protect the planet. All are welcome to attend this free session on Wed, April 13 at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.

Click here to attend Dave's interview.

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