Our farm has always been concerned with improving the soil and environment. Environmental programs alone do not guarantee the sustainability of farming. Without equal attention to economic and social concerns, all the environmental attention could be in vain due to poor public relations or bankruptcy. There is no question that nonfarm interests such as urban development can compete with agricultural. Without considering the social needs such as sharing limited water and air resources and providing good jobs, our neighbors may rather see us go out of business.
Many organic farms succeed in environmental and social factors, but fail economically.
Our farm relies on customers who support our farming methods and our quality products. Environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable agriculture are critical to our farm. Rice varieties may be identical, but it is in the milling that brown rice is processed to white rice. Milling removes the outer hull, bran, germ, and endosperm from the rice grain. While milling increases the cooking convenience of rice making it a 20 minute process rather than 40, the trade-off for this convenience is a dramatic drop in nutrients.