Today I'm headed to the CCOF annual conference. Should be an interesting time. Tim LaSalle is the keynote speaker... he's my uncle. It will be good to see him and hear him talk.
This event will also be interesting for other reasons... I've recently announced I'm not growing organic strawberry plants anymore. I'm the only commercial organic strawberry plant producer in the United States. There are many reasons for me dropping the nursery... one largely is that CCOF and other certifiers simply aren't enforcing the organic rules. If they were, I would have a successful business model. Instead, they let a lot of organic growers plant conventionally grown plants... plants that were grown in fumigated (via Methyl Bromide) conditions. If consumers who chose to buy organic strawberries knew that they still were supporting a production system that included the use of Methyl Bromide, they'd be appalled. I think this is ripe for a huge scandal- I can see the cover of Time Magazine with a big strawberry on the front- "Is this truly organic?"
Think I might just go have to write a book, "Organic, Inc." Heck, being critical of the ag system we have in place worked for M. Pollan, maybe it will work for me!
Prather Ranch Organic Strawberry Nursery
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