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The Organic First Thanksgiving and What's in Our Foods Today
Allen Garcia, Owner, Garcia Living Farms
November 21, 2000

Was the first Thanksgiving organic? (Of course it was because there weren't any pesticides then.) Should we all be switching to organic produce? Isn't conventiional produce clean enough? Why is the organic food industry one of California's fastest growing industries? Find out in this chat with Allen Garcia, owner of Garcia Living Farms and a certified organic rice farmer.

Allen Garcia works closely with the California Certified Organic Farmers organization which helped plant the seeds that grew the organic movement into an industry. Founded in 1973, CCOF was the first organization to certify organic farms in North America. It set uniform guidelines and worked to legally define "organic." In 1990 the California Organic Foods Act was modeled after CCOF's own standards. In his public education work, Allen Garcia promotes demand for certified organic products and to expand public support for organic agriculture.

Check out these websites: www.ccof.org, www.caff.org (Community Alliance with Family Farmers).