It's not easy being green

Kermit the Frog's cute lament about being green was used to introduce a story in the Vacaville Reporter recently on the movement to eat "green" by purchasing organic food.

Organic producers say their products are more nutritious, safer, tastier and better for the environment because herbicides and pesticides are not used, wrote freelance reporter Elizabeth Long.

Critics, however, say organic agriculture requires more land to produce the same amount of food, land that should be conserved for wildlife.

For the story, Long spoke with Tom Tomich, director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute housed at UC Davis. According to the article, he noted that organic production makes sense in the highly productive Sacramento Valley.

The risk of lower crop yields could be balanced by the benefit of fewer pesticides in the air and water, the article said. Selling to local metropolitan areas, such as Sacramento and San Francisco, could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

In other parts of the world, being green won't be so easy. Africa and Asia may have to look to other methods to grow food as their populations increase and the cost of importing foreign crops rises with fuel prices, according to Long's story.

Kermit couldn't be more right.

Read more