The Truth
 About Organic Farming (2)

Q: What is the meaning of an organic frozen dinner? Is it a sign that organic is growing up, or that organic is being co-opted?
A: It's a sign that organic is a business like anything else. It's about what we eat. That's an artificial antithesis: an idealized view of consumption-where all we eat is fresh fruit right off the farm-versus a supermarket economy. But that's not paying attention to what people really do consume.

Q: Will we see the creation in the next decade of an infrastructure that can support an industry 10 times the size organic is now-say, 20 percent of the U.S. food supply?
A: I think those things are happening. We'll make sure this gets done right and done in a way that is really sustainable. That enables farmers to have a reasonable return on their investment. That maintains the kind of high level of standards and consumer and environmental benefit that goes along with organic farming.
The conversation isn't really about "going organic"-it should be about how we change the world for the better, how we deal with the world as we currently see it. The point is not to overuse chemicals. That's a key problem with conventional agriculture. Nobody benefits from the overuse, except the chemical suppliers. Farmers in general use agrochemicals because they don't have viable alternatives, or viable markets, that would allow them to avoid them. Organic is part of the solution, but it can't be the solution. Everyone has a role in improving our environmental performance, and an obligation to improve it. And that's what's critical: the improvement. Whether we get to 100 percent organic is not the issue. It's whether we become a sustainable society.

Vocabulary Focus
antithesis (n)--- the exact opposite
viable (adj)--- able to work as intended or able to succeed

Specialized Terms
sustainable (adj)--- 持续性的；能维持的 able to continue over a period of time
agrochemical (n)--- 农用化学品
 a chemical used in agricultural production, such as a fertilizer or pesticide

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