Spring Break
Green Daze
Emily MurrayIssue date: 9/4/08 Section: News
In order to be certified as USDA organic, products growers must provide a history of the substances applied to the land for three years, descriptions of the organic crops being grown, raised or processed, and an Organic System Plan. This plan explains the substances and practices being used in production. The OSP must also prove that no cross contamination has taken place to taint the organic product.
It's this chemical pesticide-free approach to growing that attracts many people to organic products.
"Lack of pesticides, I mean everything in this world is connected to man-made products and it's nice to have the simplicity of just the basic ingredients," Dahl says. "I think a lot of things use to be organic and then due to commercialism and profiteering off of growing more crops and bigger crops, they are using a lot of things that might affect us 30 years down the road; I mean, who knows?"
But, best of all, according to Dahl, there is another little known secret of organic beer and other alcohol.
"I think once people start trying them you see them definitely start coming back to it because there is one thing they will start noticing," Dahl explains. "If you drink organic beer you'll feel a lot better the next day. And I've tested all the beer in here quite thoroughly and I almost always choose organic."
Why not organic?
For many hobby home brewers like the Valley's own Rob Fullmer, using organic ingredients isn't feasible right now.
"It was less difficult years ago when the price differential between grains and organic grains wasn't that great. But now that we are having grain shortages that are bringing grain prices up and hops shortages that are bringing hops prices way up, you really have to be philosophically committed to brewing organic beer," Fullmer says.
Worldwide demand for grain has been soaring in recent years as China and India demand more. This affects not just dairy farmers and bread makers, it also impacts those who buy in a larger bulk like breweries and home brewers. Organic products are generally anywhere from 20 to 100 percent more than their non-organic competitors. With the general cost of food products soaring, many smaller producers simply can't afford to go organic.
It's this chemical pesticide-free approach to growing that attracts many people to organic products.
"Lack of pesticides, I mean everything in this world is connected to man-made products and it's nice to have the simplicity of just the basic ingredients," Dahl says. "I think a lot of things use to be organic and then due to commercialism and profiteering off of growing more crops and bigger crops, they are using a lot of things that might affect us 30 years down the road; I mean, who knows?"
But, best of all, according to Dahl, there is another little known secret of organic beer and other alcohol.
"I think once people start trying them you see them definitely start coming back to it because there is one thing they will start noticing," Dahl explains. "If you drink organic beer you'll feel a lot better the next day. And I've tested all the beer in here quite thoroughly and I almost always choose organic."
Why not organic?
For many hobby home brewers like the Valley's own Rob Fullmer, using organic ingredients isn't feasible right now.
"It was less difficult years ago when the price differential between grains and organic grains wasn't that great. But now that we are having grain shortages that are bringing grain prices up and hops shortages that are bringing hops prices way up, you really have to be philosophically committed to brewing organic beer," Fullmer says.
Worldwide demand for grain has been soaring in recent years as China and India demand more. This affects not just dairy farmers and bread makers, it also impacts those who buy in a larger bulk like breweries and home brewers. Organic products are generally anywhere from 20 to 100 percent more than their non-organic competitors. With the general cost of food products soaring, many smaller producers simply can't afford to go organic.
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