By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

PEORIA, Ill. — Kathy Corso of Peoria recognizes the value of eating fresh, organic foods.

“You want to be able to say there are no chemicals in the food you put on your table, and you want to be able to say your food is safe for kids to eat,” said Corso, who, along with family members, tends a several-acre organic vegetable plot at Crow Creek Farm, located near Washburn in rural Marshall County.

Corso and family represent the new face of organic vegetable gardening. ”We’re part of a growing movement of small, independent farmers who want better choices in the food we consume,” she said, while hand-watering a row of tomatoes with a plastic water jug.

The Corsos sell their vegetables to the public at two farmers’ markets in Peoria, as well as to area caterers and chefs. Though they grow their crops organically, because of USDA’s strict definition of what qualifies as organic the Corsos do not use the term for their business – which suits Corso just fine.

“Organics has become a government-controlled term,” she said. “Not using chemicals and fertilizers is only one aspect of organic farming or gardening. Second and third levels of organic growing include replenishing the soil, rotating crops and companion planting.”

This is the Corsos’ second year of farming at Crow Creek, where on weekends and whenever they find time, the family works side by side under the summer skies tilling, planting, watering, weeding and, finally, harvesting their crops. Around 300 plants – including a dozen types of tomatoes with names like Amish Paste, Yellow Giant Belgian and Anna Russian – are put into the ground each spring for the ultimate purpose of local consumption.

Other vegetables grown by the Corsos include potatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, cilantro, onions and beets. To irrigate their crops, the Corsos haul a large water tank 30 miles from their Peoria home to Crow Creek Farm each time they tend their massive garden.

Corso, whose daughters, Angela and Kristina, spent time in Italy working on an organic farm before returning to help found Crow Creek, sees the business as providing a needed service for local, health-conscious consumers.

“People are more into eating locally-produced food,” she said, “and it’s getting easier to find than it was just a few years ago.”
Pete Fandel, an educator for the University of Illinois extension, points to freshness and quality as the main benefits of eating organically-grown foods. Eating organic foods can reduce the amount of pesticides and chemicals consumed and reduces consumers’ exposure to antibiotics, genetically-modified crops, hormones and irradiated foods.

“Usually the cost for organic foods purchased directly from growers is higher than at the supermarket,” said Fandel. “But consumers are willing to pay for a fresher, often better-tasting, product that has a known origin.”

Across the United States, the word is spreading about consumers’ desire for fresh, locally-grown organic food. Grocery and retail leaders Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and SafeWay have all committed to carrying organic labels when available, finally catching up with the message consumers have been sending for years: Americans want safer and healthier food choices.

This farm news was published in the July 25, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.