Questions and Answers (ContinuiiUrom Pag* 22] labeled “organically grown" is what it claims to be can be difficult. The taste and color of produce, the advisor says, March is The Time To: TOP DRESS SMALL GRAIN • Liquid Nitrogen - Applied by Skilled Custom Applicators TOP DRESS PASTURES • Liquid Nitrogen or • Complete Dry Mixes BROADCAST • Corn Fertilizer for early plowing BROADCAST - P & K for Corn • Where Anhydrous or Liquid Nitrogen is to be used A complete line of products and Services is Available from Organic to give you a Program for TrZ i ORGANIC PLANT * l Anhydrous ammonia J food to. 2313 Norman Rd., Lancaster, Pa. Ph. 397-5152 Ephrata RD2 (Farmersville) PA 17522 is a question of freshness and maturity, not gardening method. A layman cannot tell by looking at an “organically grown” tomato whether that STORAGE TYPE FARM BUILDINGS DESIGNED TO FIT YOUR NEEDS. claim is true. So he may turn to the Government for help. But unless he’s in Oregon at the time, the help just won’t be there. Why Oregon? In the ab sence of Federal guidelines on organic food labeling, it’s up to the States to act, and thus far, Oregon is the only one that has. Oregon’s law, effective since last October, protects the consumer with stipulations that food labeled “organically grown” must have been raised “without synthetic pesticides, fer tilizers, or chemicals; in soil in which the humus content is increased only by the addition of natural matter and in which the mineral content is increased only by the application of natural mineral fertilizers or other natural matter.” The Oregon law also controls labeling of “organically processed food,” which means no ATTENTION DAIRY FARMERS! WE ARE EQUIPPED TO PAINT ALL YOUR BUILDINGS INCLUDING SPECIAL COATING FOR YOUR MILK PARLORS. FREE ESTIMATES GIVEN DAN HERSHEY MILLERSVILLE, PENNA. Phone Office 394-6111 or Home 394-3001 YOU NEEDED A STORAGE BUILDING FOR YEARS. WHY NOT DO IT NOW! DESIGNERS & BUILDERS OF SYSTEMS synthetic additives. On meat and poultry products, a label “produced in an organic environment" implies that there was no unnecessary use of pesticides on the animals or their feed, and no exposure to antibiotics, growth stimulants, or any drug that wasn’t absolutely necessary. No drug can be administered within 30 days of slaughter. Other States that are considering similar legislation include California, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. Organic food farming has been criticized as being inefficient, and that criticism becomes par ticularly serious now that the world is faced with food shortages. But organic growers are arguing that their system done on a larger scale would be cheaper, more efficient, and provide better food. One study completed at Penn- Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8,197&- sylvanla State University last year concluded that it was 40 percent cheaper to pesticlze an apple orchard naturally than with chemicals-and the cost of chemical pesticides is soaring now. The future of health foods in America is thus difficult to forecast. It hinges on several variables. If more States adopt labeling codes, public un certainty about health foods might dissipate-wkich could lead to increased sales. And if real incomes start rising sharply again, consumers may opt for health foods Apply Your Chemicals With STIHI | SGI7 - Easy to handle - Weight 16.5 lbs. stihlsgi? . - Range up to 33 ft. •* ft -.Handles dusts, ; v “„ liquid granulates »■*, - Easy starting even wl while mounted on • ji your back. I „ k A& B Sales sT" 1 , . JRaufter 061V1C6 REPAIR service R.D.I RONKS, PA. Ph ISieJiTS 2 Miles South of th of Route 23 Along 772 thru Monterey UNION GROVE ROAD ■■■■ Phone 717-354-4271 regardless of their price. If organic fanners become more efficient, the price gap between health and regular foods could narrow-and this would certainly enhance the market. Also, if the Nation's food processors were to relax their concern about safety standards, that would open the door to mer chandisers of health foods. But if these factors fail to fall into place, criticisms like those of inefficiency, high costs, and questionable nutritional value could combine to keep the industry small. 23
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