Todays Guest: LaRhea Pepper of The Organic Exchange
Today's Host: John Bentley
February 2008
Listen to this Show
Publish this Show on Your Website
Show Sponsor www.beckonsorganic.com
LaRhea Pepper of The Organic Exchange.
LaRhea Pepper Transcript Page
LaRhea Pepper Expert PageANNOUNCER: Welcome to the VTalk Radio Business Spotlight. Today's program is sponsored by Beckon's Organic. Beckons Organic, intend, wear, become. We know join host, John Bentley, in the studio with LaRhea Pepper of the Organic Exchange.
JOHN: Today on VTalk Radio's Business Spotlight we have executive director of Organic Exchange out of O'Donnell, Texas, LaRhea Pepper. Welcome to the program, LaRhea.
LARHAE: Thank you. It's great to be with you.
JOHN: Well tell us a little bit about yourself and your organic cotton farming business.
LARHAE: Certainly. Many people ask me why I'm an organic cotton farmer, and so many times the answer is because I don't know any better. My family has been farming cotton in west Texas since the early 20s, and our production methods have always been methods that have been, you know, in harmony with the soil and the land, and in 1991 my husband and I became certified organic producers. And so it's been a part of our heritage and certainly a part of our legacy so farming is one of the things I do, and of course, now I'm the executive director of the exchange so I wear a couple of different hats.
JOHN: Why did you change over to organic farming?
LARHAE: Well it wasn't so much a change for me and my family, but certainly there are producers in our area that have created the change. We became certified organic producers in order to have the market integrity that goes with that. It's one thing for me to be growing organic strawberries for example and you know me, you're my neigher, and I come and sell them on the corner stand or in my local farmer's market, but when you talk about cotton, cotton is grown in different areas all around the world. It's then picked and harvested and sent to spinning mills to be spun into yarn, then it's sent to knitters and weavers to turn into cloth; then it's sent to cut and sew to turn into garments, so there's a lot of steps between the consumer and the farm and so it's important to have that product integrity in place. So certainly becoming certified is the first step for producers to do that. Some of the farmers in our areahave become organic farmers because after many years of using petroleum base, synthectic fertilizers and the synthetic pesticides and chemicals and seeing that there is not long time benefits and if fact there are adverse actions that are happening at the soil and to the environment. So we certainly have new farmers coming into organic because they realize that there's some benefits to producing crops in an organic matter that are more sustainable and that have less impact on the environment.
JOHN: Well, certainly, we understand in this country or at least a lot of people understand how conventional cotton is one of the most chemically processed crops in the world. Why is that and what can you tell us about that?
LARHAE: Well cotton has certainly gained a reputation over the years of being a high chemical crop and a high input crop. Years ago in the Delta in the south, cotton was grown in rotation with other crops; peanuts or soybeans or whatever, and cotton has certainly been a crop that has a cash implication of positive cash flow for a farm and so throughout the past years, many people have tried to put more land into cotton as well as trying to increase yields for cotton and as production costs have gone up for farmers, they need to get more yield from the same piece of land so they started using synthetic fertilizers to boost that yield. They use growth regulators in order to keep the bolls that are on that are on that crop. They use pesticides and herbicides to reduce insect pressure and weed pressure all in order to try to improve the yield. So to some degree what has happened over the years is farmers have been trying to be, you know, better stewards with what they have and end up becoming, you know, to some degree chemically dependent in order to have the yields that we have to have. It's difficult for American farmers especially to compete with cotton that is grown in other geographic regions where they don't have the high labor costs or high production costs that we have here in the U.S. So, and even in those countries, you know, whether it's farmers in Idia or Africa, Austrailia, Brazil. All of them are trying to make the most money with the resources they have and many times that means input in order to try to improve yields. And what has happened over the years as farmers have done that, there's reall implications and impacts on the environment.
JOHN: Well it certainly...I understand that aspect of it. What other parts of conventional cotton would you consider to be bad for our world?
LARHAE: I think so many times it's not about good farmers versus bad farmers, but it's about farmers who are using different production systems that have high impacts on, you know, the land and the soil and the communities. When you look at some of the pros and cons about conventional cotton production, it's not just about the chemicals that are being used in that cotton, but it's also so many times a day about cotton that has genetically modified organisms in it. So you have cotton that has, you know, GMO technology to address insect pressure or maybe herbicide resistance, and in fact, what starts happening is again, there's not long term studies determining what's the long term impacts? Good and bad about having GMO organisims in our food supply so cotton is not just about the clothes we wear, but so much of the weight that I harvest as a farmer is the cotton seed and the seed goes into dairy products, it's cattle feed, and oil pressed that we fry all of our Frito Lay products, chips and things like that in. A lot of our snack foods are fried in oil. So certainly one of the concerns we have in organic production is not just about the chemicals, but it's about the GMO seeds that are impacting the farmers and the food supply as well.
JOHN: Now how is organic cotton actually grown differently?
LARHAE: Organic cotton is grown differently than conventional cotton in four basic respects. First it starts with soil fertility. Organic producers approach this in a holistic matter using green manure crops and residue from the crops in order to put organic matter back into the soil. They also supplement and augment the soil with composting or other green manure crops that they literally plow back into the soil to feed and nuture the soil. So you have a healthy soil that creates its own microrganisms and makes plants, you know, nutrition available to the plants in a very different way than a conventional farmer does. A conventional farmer in most instances will use petroleum based fertilizer that has so many units of nitrogen and so many units of phosphate that is put onto the soil and sometimes, you know, documentation starts to indicate that sometimes the plant isn't able to absorb those materials and in some instances you can actually see that the land to a great degree becomes a drug addict. This year it needs this much fertilizer to produce this yield and next year it needs more. And so the farmer gets on this wicked treadmill, you know, really wanting to take care of the land, but they're approaching it in such a way that it's not only not sustainable from needing more every year, but these fertilizers are petroleum based so there's a real question of, you know, how sustainable that practice is when you're using off-farm input to such a high degree.
JOHN: Now what about insects that would compromise your crops? How would you address that issue?
LARHAE: Certainly. Another area that organic cotton is different than convenitional cotton is how we take care of insect proessures. Of course there's good bugs and there's bad bugs so an organic farmer is going to develop an eco system that includes track crops and insectry crops and does things to create an eco system where there are good bugs flourishing so that when there are bag bugs that are going to create damage to, you know, the cotton crops or any crop for that matter that you have those predator insects that are going to keep the threshold for the damaging insects in check. There's also additional ways that an organic farmer can treat for insect pressures. You can actually purchase these beneficial insects and augment their popilation and there's also approved materials that can be used to control insects; one of those for example is garlic barrier. You can spray that on your crops and while it doesn't kill any insects, what it does is make the cotton unappetizing to those sucking insects that can cause damage, you know, to the cotton. There are others...low threshold like the BTs, bacterial and things like that that can be sprayed on crops as well. There are approved systems that organic producers that are allowed to use that don't have the same kind of impacts that the conventional farmers' chemicals do. Another way that conventional and organic is different is how we handle weeds. So many times weed pressure or, you know, a plant that's out of place can create quality problems for cotton. It also can, you know, take away very valuable water from a cotton plant. So an organic farmer is going to manage his crop in such a way that he's going to have timely cultivation that is working with the rains; he's also in many cases, we have manual laborer that comes into the fields in order to eliminate the weeds. So it's a big deal to take care of the weeds. A conventional cotton farmer many times is going to literally spray one end of this field to the other with an herbicide and so this is one of the key areas where a lot of the conventional farmers, you know, they use a lot of chemicals to control pests, the insects, but they also use a lot of different herbicides to control the weeds. The other place where organic and convenentional is different is at harvest time. Most of the conventional farmers are going to rely on a defoiliant to kill the cotton again. This is something that is sprayed on every acre in most instances of conventional farmland. In order to harvest the cotton, and an organic farmer isn't going to do that. He's going to wa8it on the freeze or have another mechinism like turn off the water in order for the plant to dry down in order to harvest that cotton. So every step along the way whether it is soil preparation, how you manage for soil fertility, how you juggle your land and your insect management and weed control all have different philosophical approaches when you're an organic farmer versus a conventional farmer.
JOHN: That's all very interesting information. Let's talk about the actual clothing itself. I know a lot of people are amazed at the softness of the Beckons Organic cotton clothing. Why is organic cotton softier than traditional cotton?
LARHAE: So many times we get consumers who say, oh this organic cotton is so soft and a lot of people do comment that organic cotton is softer than conventional cotton Some of this certainly could be in the lack of different chemicals that are applied, you know, at the harvest time. The defoiliants I mentioned, but a lot of this is also how it's processed. So instead of using different harsh finishes like fameldihyde or different resins or different ensyme washes that are, you know, may be harsh to use, every step along the way whether it being grown or being handled, you know, organic cotton is segregated and handled differently through the processing. So they're going to be using natural washes, maybe beeswax, you know, different parafins that are going to be friendlier, have less environmental impact, a lot of the dies, you know, are used that are different because they use a low impact die and don't use the sofers and the high metal mordents and so there's a lot of different components and reasons why that organic cotton might feel softer to the consumer and it's certainly fun to see their reaction of oh yeah, it's organic, you can tell the difference.
JOHN: Sure. What are some other ways that organic cotton would be different than conventional cotton?
LARHAE: There's a number of ways that we're seeing that organic products are different than conventional products. One is just about the transparency that the consumer has. Many consumers that are buying organic products either have allergy sensivities and need to buy organic to have higher quality of life issues. The vast majority of the consumers who buy organic are looking for products that they can support philisophically so they're voting with their dollars to support, you know, this type of agriculture. And of course you have the third consumer that we just talked about that loves the products that are softer and have the high quality. So when you look at, you know, using organic cottons, certainly people are paying attention to the quality products that are there. It's exciting to meet the farmers and the producers around the world that are making organic products. They have a lot of passion with what they're doing and want to make it better, and certainly the consumer is benefiting from that attention to detail and integrity, because when they get a product that says organic then it's not just about the quality of the products, but it's how it's been handled. How it's been grown, and in so many instances this is also about the social equity that is involved in the supply chain because you're making a difference at the farm gate level, and in a lot of countries it's a huge difference.
JOHN: We are speaking to LaRhae Pepper. She is the executive director of the Organic Exchange of O'Donnell, Texas, on today's program. Now, LaRhae, another important question I think people would be interested in knowing is, how do you know that the cotton is actually organic?
LARHAE: The good thing about the word organic is there's a lot of product integrity that comes with that word. The word organic actually has a legislative and legal meaning here in the United States. It means that the cotton or the corn or whatever that product is used to produce....when you use the word organic, it means that the production of that crop was done in such a way that it meets certain standards of being grown without harmful synthetic chemicals and pesticides and so you have confidence that when the product has the word organic, it has to be certified, and when it's certified that means that there's a third party. For me that means the Texa Department of Agriculture can come to my field any time, pull a residue test on the crop and on the land to see if there are any prohibited substance on the crop. So you have a lot of confidence when you see that word organic and it's certified organic that there's people that are doing third party verification on the crop and this is a requirement in the United States. When you see the word organic on a product, it has to be certified by a third party.
JOHN: Would you kindly share the Organic Exchange website address for our listening audience today, LaRhae?
LARHAE: Sure you can find a lot more about organic cotton at www.organicexchange.org. There's also links there to a consumer education website called aboutorganiccotton.org, and it answers a lot of your questions that are available there and certainly we would welcome, you know, any inquiries.
JOHN: Now before I let you go, LaRhae, are there any last comments you'd like to share with our listening audience before we go?
LARHAE: Well thank you for having me on the show today, it's really exciting to see the interest continue to grow in organic products. There's definiately a growing consumer awareness about organic food and people are starting to learn about organic fiber products. Many times they don't realize the skin the largest organ on your body. So it's not just about the food you're putting in your body, it's what you put on your body, and most of all it's about changing agriculture and it's about changing agriculture to a system that embraces the value of the land and the value of the people who live on it and the products you have from that.
JOHN: Well with that, we will end our program today. I certainly want to thank you, LaRhae Pepper, of the executive director of Organic Exchange of O'Donnell, Texas, for joining us today on VTalk Radio's Business Spotlight.
LARHAE: Thank you again for having me.
JOHN: You've been listening to VTalk Radio's Spotlight. I'm your host, John Bentley. Thanks for tuning in with us today. Have a great afternoon everyone.
ANNOUNCER: Today's program has been brought to you by Beckon's Organic. You can find them on the web at www.beckonsorganic.com. Beckons Organic, intend, wear, become.
ANNOUNCER: You've been listening to VTalk Radio's Spotlight only on VTalkradio.com radio for the 21st century.
go to top of the page
