Now toxic, persistent pesticides and synthetic fertilizers demand dependence, like a drug. Endless fields of single crops redefine the landscape, and the soil silently languishes, losing its capacity to store carbon, retain water, resist erosion… Habitats vanish, and with them the birds, the bees, the dierent kinds of fish, and dierent types of trees.

Once, food wasn’t filled with artificial colors not proven safe for little brains. The menu wasn’t packed with artificial flavors to replace the flavor lost to disappearing heirlooms, dying soil, and overprocessing. Food wasn’t made to last for endless amounts of time, preserved with a cocktail of chemicals that compel more questions than answers. And no one had ever heard of GMOs.

Once upon a time, milk, butter, and eggs came from happy hens and cows that roamed the range and fed on pasture grasses. Small family farms were what the phrase suggests, not dark, overcrowded barns and cages where a blade of grass or a ray of sunshine are hardly ever seen.

And then… once upon a more recent time, those who were paying attention joined together to stand against the bulldozer of modern food production, whose wheels were turning the soil to dust. They created a standard that would demand better and be more accountable than any other—Certified Organic, a production system that understands the toll of telling nature how she rolls. Is it perfect? No. But what organic ISN’T also tells us what it IS.

When you choose Organic, you choose to nurture the soil; to protect biodiversity and the habitats of birds and bees and fish and trees. You choose to reduce your body’s burden of toxic pesticides and not accept the health risk of artificial additives, synthetic hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. You choose conditions in which animals are humanely raised and small farmers and rural economies thrive. Because at the intersection of our food choices today and the planet’s wellbeing tomorrow, the small seal of Certified Organic carries lessons from the past, hope for the future, and a promise for today.

Happy Organic Month, neighbors!
The Isely Family