Weeding by hand

It used to be very easy to sit in my air conditioned urban home, after a successful trip to Whole Foods, my buggy full with organic foodstuffs, to pontificate about the obvious reasons why farmers shouldn't use RoundUp or any other herbicides or pesticides on their crops. 

I mean duh. The glaring health advantages alone make it worth any sacrifice.

Seriously, how foolish am I. Nothing else in life is black and white. Why would this be any different.

It's becoming clear that our current farming reality is karma for my ridiculous thinking. For it is now my tukus, and Nathan's, walking the seemingly endless rows of peanuts, pulling weeds by hand until we're ready to pass out. Soon we'll start cultivating with the tractor, and then we'll bring in a hoeing crew to do the rest by hand. We'll continue to repeat this pattern until harvest in September.

When I think about how much we'll spend in labor alone ensuring we make a crop, the world gets a little greyer. Not because we're greedy mizers but simply because this isn't ideological any longer. If we can't cover our costs and make enough to live on, we can't farm organically. My dad has been trying to convince me of this principle for years but I ignored his realism in favor of my own far loftier philosophical holdings.

Again with that darn karma thing.

Today when I buy organic products, I neither bat an eye at the higher prices nor judge those who grow conventionally. I'm just thankful for all the tukus's out there who make healthier eating possible--especially the consumers who will pay more for chemical-free products.