CBC Archives

You must sign in to leave a comment on this clip.

Going organic

Broadcast Date: Nov. 22, 1987

No chemical fertilizers, no pesticides and no regrets. According to the CBC's Country Canada, some farmers are embracing the organic approach — and they're sticking with it. By shunning pesticides and using natural methods to replenish the soil's nutrients, the Kitston farm in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley makes a living selling organic vegetables. That's fine for small farms, says John Noland of Agriculture Canada. But he says organic methods cannot produce high yields on larger operations.

Ontario organic farmer Dave Riebling agrees that his yields decreased in the first few years after he began farming without chemicals. But, like a drug addict kicking the habit, the soil rebounded. More intriguingly, the weeds that now grow among Riebling's fava beans attract the bulk of the aphids that would otherwise decimate the crop. By studying Riebling's fields, university professor David Patriquin hopes to prove wrong the assertion that organic farms produce inadequate results.

Going organic

• Organic farming is more complicated than merely eschewing chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• Some organic farming methods have been practised for centuries. Crop rotation is one example. Because different crops deplete the soil of different nutrients, the same crop is never grown in a field two years in a row. It might grow corn one year and beans the next, then remain fallow — or empty — for one season.

• The Canadian General Standards Board, a government agency, sets voluntary guidelines for organic farms. Among other measures, organic farmers must minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution and maintain optimal soil fertility.
• Organic farmers should also maintain biological diversity of plants and wildlife native to their region, recycle materials and resources, and minimize use of plastics.

• To be certified as organic by a qualified organic certification body, a farm must be inspected to ensure that the farm and its products meet the national guidelines. The farm's products may then be labelled as organic.
• There are 46 organic certification bodies in Canada.
• The 2001 Census of Agriculture found that 2,230 Canadian census farms — about one per cent of all farms — produced at least one certified organic product.

• Organic farms use "buffer zones" — strips of land meant to separate organic fields from non-organic fields. The zones help protect organic farms from chemical contamination.
• Dairy farmers who keep organic also adhere to certain practices. Their cattle must eat only organically grown hay and grains and pasture on organic fields. The farmers may not use hormones to boost a cow's breeding potential, and antibiotics must be a last resort when a cow is sick.

• Canadian retailers reported sales of $700 million on organic produce in 1997. The number was projected to climb to over $3 billion in 2005.
• In the year 2000, about 71 per cent of Canadian consumers reported buying organic foods at least once that year. Consumers who considered themselves regular buyers numbered 18 per cent.
• Organic produce is generally more costly than conventional produce.

• One of the farmers in this clip, Dave Riebling, stuck with organic farming. In 1985 he was a founding member of the Organic Trade Association, a North American industry group that lobbies lawmakers and educates the public about organic farming.
• In 2002 the OTA recognized Reibling's contributions to the industry with its Organic Agriculture Award.

Going organic

Medium: Television

Program: Country Canada

Broadcast Date: Nov. 22, 1987

Guest(s): Stan Kitston, Sonja Kitston, John Noland, David Patriquin, Dave Riebling

Host: Sandy Cushon
Reporter: Anne Bromley

Duration: 12:47

Last updated:
June 6, 2008