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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Kerr Center for
Sustainable Agriculture, Inc. [mailto:mailbox@kerrcenter.com] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, May 17, 2010 11:12 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'Maura McDermott Kerr Center'; Louise Garvin<br>
<b>Cc:</b> 'Wylie Harris'; mzoeller@kerrcenter.com<br>
<b>Subject:</b> ATTENTION: AGRICULTURE or BUSINESS EDITOR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Report Looks at Past and Future of Organic Farming<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<h2><b>PRESS RELEASE May 17, 2010<o:p></o:p></b></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal>Kerr Center, PO Box 588, Poteau, OK 74953 918.647.9123 <a
href="mailto:mailbox@kerrcenter.com">mailbox@kerrcenter.com</a> Press releases
are online at <a href="http://www.kerrcenter.com/">www.kerrcenter.com</a>
<i>Kerr Center is a non-profit educational foundation. </i>Contact: Maura
McDermott, 918.231.0328 or <a href="mailto:maura@oklatel.net"> mauramcdermot.kerrcenter@ecewb.com</a>
<b>ATTENTION: AGRICULTURE or BUSINESS EDITOR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USE
UNTIL JUNE 31<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<h1>Report Looks at Past and Future of Organic Farming <span style='font-weight:
normal'><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal>Organic food sales are booming, even through the recent
recession. But the meaning and origin of the USDA-certified organic label
remain a mystery to many Americans. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>A new, free online publication, “A Brief Overview of
the History and Philosophy of Organic Agriculture,” from an Oklahoma
non-profit foundation can help fill that knowledge gap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The report offers valuable background for anyone seeking to
understand the past – or potential future – of organic food,
farming, and regulation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> “To better understand today’s organic
phenomenon, it helps to know the origins of organic agriculture and its
evolution to the present,” says George Kuepper of the Kerr Center for
Sustainable Agriculture. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Kuepper specializes in organic farming research at the
center’s farm and ranch near Poteau.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Early organic farmers, he writes, attempted “to
reverse the perennial problems of agriculture – erosion, soil depletion,
decline of crop varieties, low quality food and livestock feed, and rural
poverty.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>These organic pioneers believed that a nation’s health
depends on the long-term vitality of its soil, he says.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The report traces some of the practices associated with
today’s organic farming back for thousands of years. Some have
appeared under different names, like “convertible husbandry” and
“humus farming,” with the term “organic” only coming
into use around 1940.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The report addresses common questions about the relationships
between organic food and farming, health, pests, and genetic engineering.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>It reviews the scientific research that gradually built
organic farming’s credibility with academia and government, aiding the
development of today’s federal organic standards.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The report is available free from the Kerr Center website, <a
href="http://www.kerrcenter.com/">www.kerrcenter.com</a>, along with a wide
selection of other resources on organic farming and sustainable agriculture.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Printed copies are available free by calling the center at
918.647.9123.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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