Organics Are Good News for the Economy and More
by Laura Silver
There’s a lot of good news if you look at worldwide organic food production. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD), organic agriculture is increasing by 25% per year.
Some European countries have as much a 10% of their agricultural land under certified organic management. That means more organic food production, hundreds of tons fewer pesticides and chemical fertilizers in use, a resurgence of healthy soil organisms, safer working conditions for laborers, and a growing change in the meaning of “business as usual”.
Organic farm corporation, Aarstiderne (The Seasons), in Denmark has grown from 200 customers in 1996 to more than 45,000 subscribers across Denmark and Sweden today. Yet they have kept the company relatively small, (120 employees), and extremely transparent.
Their reputation is so good, and trust so high among customers and non-customers alike, that there has not been a single item stolen from the produce boxes delivered to members’ doorsteps.
And in the “things you never thought of as organic” category, witness 4 Copas Tequila, a certified-organic and award-winning tequila that apparently tastes great, (I’ll have to take their word for it), and doesn’t even give you a hangover.
4 Copas, named for the Mexican expression “when you share four cups with someone, you become friends for life”, is produced in Jalisco, Mexico, where the entire venture is intended to assist the community as well as produce a fine spirit.
The field workers’ health has improved in the absence of heavy pesticides, the bottles are hand blown by local artisans and feature artwork from prominent Mexican painters, and they hire only local labor to keep the wages in the Jalisco economy.
The company is also composting their leftover agave fibers and working to develop bio-gas systems to reduce the use of diesel fuel.
Locally the Skyrocket distillery in Temecula is using organically-grown agaves to produce agave-nectar sweeteners,Temequila cocktail mixes, and a distilled spirit named JB Wagoner’s Ultra Premium 100% Blue Agave Spirits (due to a copyright conflict with Mexican Tequila, the spirits cannot be called “temequila”, but the cocktail mixes can).
Bottled in recyclable glass, the drink mixes and agave nectar are available at the Temecula Farmer’s market, The Hollywood Farmer’s market, and online. Bottles can be returned for a discounted refill at the Farmer’s markets. The alcoholic beverage is sold at many California liquor retailers.
The distillery itself is a straw bale building with tours and tasting events available for $50 plus a share of the cost of chauffeured transportation. The web site navigation is awkward, but a moderate amount of fumbling around will get you most of the information you need.
I see great hope in stories like these, because business is fundamental to human survival. We must all make a living no matter where we live, and the way most people make a living is through some kind of business.
A new idea of how business can work is on the rise, and seems to be spreading quite rapidly. It won’t overtake bottom-line thinking tomorrow, but our current economic woes will spread it more quickly than it might have otherwise.
The “quick profit” on someone else’s back is what got us where we are today. That an economy can grow forever is a delusion, and sustainable economies require a focus much deeper than the bottom line.
I think there is good reason to believe we are finally able to learn that lesson.
Aarstiderne: (unless you speak Danish, it’s best to google Aarstiderne and click on the “translate this page” link next to the name.
Temequila/J.B. Wagoners Agave Spirits
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