Plus a $250,000 fine! That’s what a Texas man faces for lying to authorities that his products were organic.

The man, owner of Sel-Cor Bean and Pea in Brownfield, mislead officials by claiming his products were purchased from organic suppliers, but it turns out, they were not certified as organic.

And between 2005 and 2006 his company’s food items were marketed and sold as organic.

The owner also falsified documents in an attempt to trick investigators.

He has pleaded guilty and now faces up to five years in prison, and could be fined $250,000. Was it really worth it?

But this has happened before.

In September, the director of a British food supplier was sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling $820,000 of products “mis-described” as organic.

And the dumb-dumb award goes to…

Via The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Image credit: Now Public

Since people are pinching pennies like never before, you’d assume they’d bail on the organic turkey.

Organic turkeys don’t come cheap! In Wisconsin, a 16 pound organic, free-range bird can cost you around 70 bucks.

Sounds like a lot, considering the kiddie table never finishes their food, Uncle Bob only eats the drumstick, and the rest ends up as cold sandwiches.

So one farmer in Wisconsin figured this year he wouldn’t sell that many organic turkeys, wrong guess.

Turns out, they’re still buying them, and now he has to turn people away. He doesn’t have enough birds to go around.

Farmer Matthew Smith was worried that he’d get stuck with unsold birds, so he didn’t raise as many as he normally does. But he sold out in three weeks.

A local food co-op believes people are being smarter with their organic purchases, instead of buying things like organic cookies and snacks, they are shifting priorities and just buying organic meat, butter, and cheese.

Makes sense, in light of swine flu and E. coli, people probably are more likely to get willies about meat than organic potato chips.

Via The Wisconsin State Journal.

Image credit: WWVB

In Ontario, there was a simple rule. If you are raising a flock of turkeys, numbering 50 or more, they must be kept under a roof.

Why? It protects them from contact with wild birds, and maybe catching avian flu.

But local organic turkey farmers fought the mandate, saying the birds must to be outdoors in order to be considered organic.

And they won.

The Turkey Farmers of Ontario will now exempt organic turkeys from having to be raised under a solid roof.

Farmers argued that the existing rule prevented them from complying with the Organic Council of Ontario that says organic turkeys must have access to the outdoors.

After an 18 month court battle, the legislation was lifted for organic birds, and now only food and water must be covered.

And to safeguard against disease, turkeys will be contained one week before slaughter, and flocks will be subject to random sampling.

Its curious how many laws, rules, and mandates need to be reworked to facilitate the needs of organic farming. It’s almost like the scale if tilted to make it easier for conventional practices. You think?

Via The Toronto Star.

Image credit: Going Local

If you’re dying to crack open a can of pumpkin and whip up some pie, you might have your plans dashed.

Libby’s canned pumpkin, the brand everyone knows, everyone buys, says all the rain in the Midwest this year has made a mess out of the pumpkin fields.

Fields are too soggy to get harvesting equipment going, so lots of pumpkins are rotting with fungus, and soon to be plowed over.

But it isn’t all bad. Organic pumpkin growers in Oregon are filling in the gap Libby’s can’t supply, and raking in the profit.

Some retailers denied adequate shipments of canned pumpkin phoned up Farmers Markets Foods, a major supplier of organic pumpkin, and begged for product.

A spokesperson for the company says they’re shipping out organic canned pumpkin by the truckload.

You never know, maybe this will help shift consumers perception of organics, and they’ll stick with it after Libby’s re-supplies.

Or just use whole organic pumpkins to make pie. I’m an idiot, and I can’t cook, but even I know. Mash it up, add spices, done.

Via The New York Times.

Image credit: SweetSpot.ca

Many reports indicate that the global recession has hurt sales of organic foods, with large retailers cutting back on organic stuff for cheaper conventional fare.

But small farms, supplying local markets, in Asturias, Spain have weathered the recession and insulated themselves from the hard times.   

One farm in Asturias, producing vegetables, cider apples, and lambs, ships 65% of its yield to nearby customers and uses the other 35% to sustain a small hotel farmhouse and restaurant on the property.

The sheep travel the furthest from the farm to buyers 60 miles away, with most of the apple juice and vegetables consumed in Asturias.

Small farms thrive because they are not dependent on mega supermarkets and selling their goodies to local specialty stores has helped small organic shops boom, while large retailers have faltered.

I love it! But the only thing I worry about is safety. If one of these small farms causes an outbreak of something nasty, a whole community could be infected, quickly.

Via BBC News.

Image credit: Asturias Your Guide