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West Virginia is often ranked near the bottom in the kinds of things authors of those reports want us to believe indicate a high quality of life. We've grown used to it -- though that has been accompanied by an unfortunate apathy, rather than a desire to find out whether such reports can teach us anything about doing better for our people.
One recent example comes from Commodity.com, which says the Mountain State is ranked 7th in the U.S. for smallest share of organic farmland. As always, it takes a little digging to get to what such numbers really mean.
"The debate between the nutritional value of organic food and conventional food has gone on for a long time, and to a very large extent, without a lot of data to support it one way or the other," Dr. James Kotcon, associate professor of plant pathology at the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, told WBOY-TV.
Though Kotcon explained there are a few nutrients that seem to occur in higher quantities in organically raised food, "That's not to say that conventional food is generally unsafe."
What we can say is organic farming is more expensive and labor intensive. "For many West Virginia growers, if they're marketing to local farmers markets or roadside stands, etc., the income is not sufficient to justify that cost," Kotcon said. "The larger the grower, the better the return for being certified in organic, and that's when they're marketing wholesale to larger grocery chains and those types of things where that organic certification carries with it a premium price."
On the other hand, just because a farm has not been certified organic does not mean its practices are insufficient to gain the label. That is why WVU experts recommended getting to know your local farmers.
If you're looking for a label, do something to help Mountain State farmers gain it. If you're not worried about a label, help them anyway. Supporting our state's farmers will be better for all of us.