First harvest at Pescadero organic farm

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Nov 19, 2007 | by Julia Scott

Consumers certainly demand it. The market for organic products as a whole grew by 21 percent alone in 2006, bringing in $17.7 billion in sales, according to the Organic Trade Association. That's approximately 4 percent of all domestic food consumption.

But the domestic supply has not grown nearly as fast -- a problem that Mark Lipton, policy program director at the Organic Farming Research Foundation, attributes to the "favoritism" with which U.S. government still treats conventional farmers.

The lack of established marketing infrastructure and a streamlined organic production process has left organic farmers to "figure it out for themselves," and has slowed down the pace at which organic farmers can access the marketplace, said Lipton.

"You have to change your production system and your marketing system at the same time -- that's a pretty tough equation to solve."

The supply-and-demand imbalance has necessitated more organic imports, much of it from U.S.-certified produce farms in Mexico: ironically, just the sort of competition the Garibaldis were trying to avoid.

The organic buzz has long since reached California. The CCOF, which certifies three-quarters of all organic farms in the state, says its client load grew 22 percent between 2004 and 2006, for a modest total of 1,500 USDA-certified farms and food processors.

Not everyone makes it. California organic farms still fail 10 percent of the time, said Lipton. In many cases, the economic benefits they hoped for don't pan out.

For their part, the Garibaldis hope people will continue to pay for the vegetables they went to so much trouble to grow.

"It's a learning process for us," said Lisa Garibaldi. "I think people are more aware of what they're eating now, and that's a good thing.

Staff writer Julia Scott can be reached at (650) 348-4340 or at julia.scott@bayareanewsgroup.com.