The Orbis

Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: Issues

Unfortunately pesticide use is only one of many harmful practices of industrial farming. By working on a small scale, local farms can eliminate the use of pesticides and unnatural chemicals more easily than big companies.

Unlike the local agriculture movement, however, the organic movement has a distinct ability to infiltrate industrial agriculture. Small farms can supply their patrons with all the food they need to live a healthy, sustainable life, but as local institutions they have little power to interact with national industries. National organic agriculture provides a more pervasive solution to the practices of industrial agriculture than its local counterpart. In order to slow the negative impact of industrial agriculture practices, new policies must go into force as soon as possible. If consumers completely withdraw from industrial agriculture for a local diet, they also withdraw their support from big industrial companies with good organic policies.

Vanderbilt already supports organic companies by stocking both Nectar and Common Grounds with almost exclusively organic products. As a well-funded institution with a good reputation, Vanderbilt could stand to do more. If Vanderbilt moves toward an entirely organic food supply, it can lead other institutions to organic policies and support the rise of national organic companies.

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