When carrots are hotter than Coach

I am clueless as to what the title refers to. Does that make me officially L7?;) if anyone can splain it to me I'd be grateful.It's great that WA is giving $600k for organic research, but considering the impact and the potential of organic agriculture it's truly a measly pittance. Much like the Federal Farm Bill, we *must* get our selves out of the present rut of the industialised mono cropped, centralised, genetically engineered we've plowed ourselves into.It's way past time to start getting serious about sustainable agriculture.
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original-sattletimes
Kate Riley / Times staff columnist

When carrots are hotter than Coach


PULLMAN — Julie Sullivan steals bites of a big orange carrot as she assists community members coming to collect their purchased share of the harvest at the Washington State University organic teaching farm.

The pigtailed former city girl is the first graduate with the university's new organic agriculture major — itself a first in the nation. Now assistant manager of the farm, she waxes enthusiastic about organic food, which she began eating as an Olympia teenager.

"Local, organic food is one of the most important things," Sullivan says.

She represents the newest iteration of the land-grant university's 117-year-old tradition of partnering with the agricultural industry to improve practices and increase competitiveness. With the organic major, part of a new agriculture-and-food-systems degree, the university is continuing efforts, begun in the mid-'80s, to help industry meet growing consumer demand for affordable, plentiful, high-quality organic products. Though organic groceries comprise only about 3 percent of all U.S. grocery sales, the Organic Trade Association says annual organic sales growth is approaching 20 percent.

Organic is hot.

In the South Lake Union neighborhood where I work, the most fashionable accessory arguably isn't a Coach purse but a handsome green canvas bag bearing the Whole Foods logo. The $2.99 grocery bags replace disposable bags for shoppers at the nation's oldest organic-grocery chain's store on Westlake Avenue.

But even in many conventional supermarkets, organic products are moving out of their segregated aisles to take their place on shelves next to non-organics. I did a double take when I saw "organic" and "Oreos" sharing the same box on one recent shopping trip at my local Fred Meyer. My eyes did not deceive me. The Nabisco box claimed the contents were made with organic flour and sugar.

Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer and QFC, recently announced its own organic-food line under the Private Selection label. With the buying power of such chains as Kroger and Wal-Mart, which are increasing their organic-products selection, prices for organic products are likely to become more affordable.

Which brings us to Washington State University. There, scientists are applying to organic agriculture the same crackerjack research that has helped make Washington's agricultural products sought after the world over. Think soft white wheat, apples and wine.

The state Legislature is helping, giving WSU about $600,000 a year for research to support biologically intensive and organic agriculture.

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complete article here

"Coach purse but a handsome green canvas bag bearing the Whole Foods logo"

I guess my headache and other insanity going on about the house today has impaired my reading comprehension skills more than I realised... Ha!

While they come and go in popularity for the young crowd (classic styles never go out of favor, I guess with older consumers)... I guess they must be back in style.


I peeked in a store recently and was appalled at how expensive they have become... Thus, the status symbol value, I guess.


Reassuring though is this article's suggestion that many college students find the reuseable green Whole Foods bag to be a more desirable "status symbol" than the costly Coach (or perhaps Kate Spade) handbag.

http://studentfarm.ucdavis.edu/SAMajor/Default.htm

Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Major

Overview: UC Davis faculty and students are currently working to create an innovative major in sustainable agriculture that integrates learning across broad disciplines to give students the knowledge, skills and experience they need to enhance their career opportunities and become leaders in sustainable agriculture. In developing the curriculum, a survey of was done to get input on what knowledge, experiences and skills would be important to include in the major (see The Delphi Study, below). The highly interdisciplinary major will draw from both traditional and nontraditional teaching concepts and methods and place a strong emphasis on experiential learning. Students will choose to focus on a natural science track or a social science track, but all students will take courses in both of these broad areas. Faculty will be drawn from a correspondingly broad range of disciplines and departments. For more information contact Mark Van Horn (mxvanhorn@ucdavis.edu).