What’s Organic About Organic?

Award-winning film will be shown at the NODPA Field Days on
Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

Added September 6, 2010.

About the film

WHAT’S ORGANIC ABOUT “ORGANIC?” rings the alarm for the need to develop an ecological consciousness. The film illustrates that the organic food debate extends well beyond personal choice and into the realm of social responsibility.

Each of the film’s characters is intimately connected to the organic world; they’re farmers, activists, and scientists. While many folks can easily endorse “organic,” the characters in the film take the discussion beyond just shopping for another eco-label. As we glimpse into each of their lives, we see how organic agriculture has the potential to solve many of our environmental and health problems. The film will explore how organic farming can be used as a soil and air protection system, a healthy solution to toxic pollution, and an innovative means to combat global warming.

WHAT’S ORGANIC ABOUT “ORGANIC?” delves into the debates that arise when a grassroots agricultural movement evolves into a booming international market. As the film moves from farm fields to government meetings to industry trade shows, we see the hidden costs of conventional agriculture. We also see how our health, the health of our planet, and the agricultural needs of our society are all intimately connected. The film compels us to look forward, towards a new vision for our culture and encourages us to ask, “How can we eat with an ecological consciousness?”

Release Schedule

What’s Organic About Organic? debuted on the film festival circuit with a sneak screening at the Camden International Film Festival in October 2009. Official screenings at the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival, the Magnolia Film Festival, and the Florida Film Festival followed in 2010. The film also won the Our Planet Award at the 2010 Going Green Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Why Organic?

Why should we care about organic farming?

Number of pesticides classified as carcinogenic that are presently applied in massive amounts to our major food crops: 53
Number of daily pesticide exposures of the average child in America: 5
Amount of toxic synthetic chemicals used in organic agriculture: 0
Number of tillable acres worldwide: 3.5 billion
Number of acres worldwide currently farmed organically: 76.6 million
Number of Americans who support the labeling of genetically modified foods: 90%
The only federally regulated label that expressly prohibits genetic modification: USDA
Organic Number of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to all food and agriculture: 31%
Amount of carbon dioxide that could be captured if organic farming practices were applied to all the cropland on the globe: 39%
Amount of conventionally produced food products sold in the U.S.: 96.5%
Amount of organically produced food products sold in the U.S.: 3.5%

The benefits for raising our food organically are clear. Support of organic agriculture is critical to the survival of farmers and the healthy stewardship of our land.

Posted: to Industry News on Mon, Sep 6, 2010
Updated: Mon, Sep 6, 2010