Fracking and Organic Agriculture Don’t Mix
Hopefully by now you’ve heard the good news that fracking has been banned in NY, but the fight against fracking isn’t over yet.
Having fracking banned in NY is great victory to be sure, but there are other states still under the threat of fracking. As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, so if you haven’t thanked Governor Cuomo for the NY fracking ban yet, send him a thank you here.
When people think of fracking, there is usually one of two things that comes to mind, depending on which side of the debate they’re on. Some associate fracking with revenue, while others (myself included) associate fracking with environmental harm and polluted waters. But yet another worry to concern oneself with is how fracking affects a person’s local farmers’ markets.
Many farmers at small local markets make their living by touting organically grown produce. However, in areas where fracking had been allowed, things get a little tricky. Because of all the chemicals that might be leaching into fields, many farmers in fracking areas have a hard time labeling their organically grown produce as “organic” simply because fracking chemicals may have found their way into the produce. Such would mean the produce is definitely no longer organic, no matter how organically it was raised.
The same is true of milk and meat production as well. If animals are being raised on pasture that may be contaminated by fracking operations, the meat and milk may no longer actually be organic. People interested in truly organic foods will be uninterested in purchasing produce that may be infused with fracking residue. Such an occurrence would lead to the breakdown of many organic farms in fracking areas.
The biggest problem lies in the fact that the organic farmers have no control over what their neighbors might do. While the farmers themselves may not sell their rights, their neighbors might. If so, it puts the farmers in a “fracking area,” and suddenly their organically grown produce might not like seem like such a healthy option to many people.
Even if a farmer’s own well is spared chemical contamination, they may still face dropping sales as many people visiting farm markets equate fracking with poison. People looking to eat healthy are generally uninterested in purchasing produce from farms in fracking areas, as they understandably don’t want to run the risk that the food might be contaminated with toxic chemicals from frack runoff. So whether fracking operations actually pollute farmers’ wells, or whether people just refuse to buy from farms in fracking areas, any way you look at it, fracking is bad news for agriculture.
Copyright © Amber Reifsteck ~ The Woodland Elf
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