Is organic farming still "organic"?

     American demand for year-round organic fruits and vegetables has incited a farming boom in the arid deserts of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. This produce from Mexico often ends up as part of an energy-intensive global distribution chain that takes it as far as New York and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, producing significant emissions that contribute to global warming. 
      Clamshell containers on supermarket shelves in the U.S. may depict verdant fields, tangles of vines and ruby red tomatoes. But at this time of year, the tomatoes, peppers and basil certified as organic by the Agriculture Department often hail from the Mexican desert, and are nurtured with intensive irrigation.
     But even as more Americans buy foods with the organic label, the products are less and less fulfilling the traditional organic ideal: produce that is not only free of chemicals and pesticides but also grown locally on small farms in a way that protects the environment.       

     But even as more Americans buy foods with the organic label, the products are less and less fulfilling the traditional organic ideal: produce that is free of chemicals and pesticides and is grown locally on small farms in a way that protects the environment. 
      The explosive growth in the commercial cultivation of organic tomatoes in Mexico, is putting stress on the water table. In some areas, wells have running dry, meaning that small subsistence farmers cannot grow crops. 
     Some large farms that have qualified as organic employed environmentally damaging practices, like planting only one crop, which is bad for soil health, or overtaxes local freshwater supplies. 
     Experts agree that in general organic farms tend to be less damaging to the environment than conventional farms. In the past, however, "organic agriculture used to be sustainable agriculture, but now that is not always the case," said Michael Bomford, a scientist at Kentucky State University who specializes in sustainable agriculture. He added that intense organic agriculture had also put stress on aquifers in California. 
      Some organic standard setters are beginning to refine their criteria so that organic products better match their natural ideals. Krav, a major Swedish organic certification program, allows produce grown in greenhouses to carry its "organic" label only if the buildings use at least 80% renewable fuel, for example. And last year the Agriculture Department's National Organic Standards Board revised its rules to require that for an "organic milk" label, cows had to be at least partly fed by grazing in open pastures rather than standing full time in feedlots. 
       But each decision to narrow the definition of "organic" involves an inevitable tug-of-war among farmers, food producers, supermarkets and environmentalists. While the U.S.' regulations for organic certification require that growers use practices that protect water resources, it is hard to define a specific sustainable level of water use for a single farm "because aquifer depletion is the result of many farmers' overutilizing the resource," said Miles McEvoy, head of the National Organic Program at the Agriculture Department. 
       While the original organic ideal was to eat only local, seasonal produce, shoppers who buy their organics at supermarkets, from Whole Foods to Walmart, expect to find tomatoes in December and are very sensitive to price. Both factors stoke the demand for imports. Few areas in the U.S. can farm organic produce in the winter without resorting to energy-guzzling hothouses. In addition, American labor costs are high. 
       Manuel Verdugo, began organic tomato farming on desert land in San José del Cabo five years ago and now owns 30 acres in several locations. Each week he sends two and a half tons of cherry, plum and beefsteak tomatoes to the U.S. under the brand name Tiky Cabo. 
       He has invested in irrigation systems that drip water directly onto plants' roots rather than channeling it through open canals. He is building large shade houses that cover his crops to keep out pests and minimize evaporation. Even so, he cannot farm ten acres in the nearby hamlet of La Cuenca because the wells there are dry. 
       At another five-year-old organic farm, Rosario Castillo says he can cultivate only 19 acres of the 100 he has earmarked for organic production, although he dug a well seven months ago to gain better access to the aquifer. The authorities ration pumping and have not granted him permission to clear native cactuses. "We have very little water here, and you have to go through a lot of bureaucracy to get it," Mr. Castillo said. 
       The logistics of getting water and transporting large volumes of perishable produce favors bigger producers. Some of the largest are American-owned, like Sueño Tropical, a vast farm with rows of shade houses lined up in the desert that caters exclusively to the American market. 
       While traditional organic farmers saw a blemish or odd shape simply as nature's variations, workers at Sueño Tropical are instructed to cull tomatoes that do not meet the uniform shape, size and cosmetic requirement of clients like Whole Foods. Those "seconds" are sold locally. 

       Yet the connection to the U.S. has brought other kinds of benefits. Del Cabo Cooperative, which serves as a broker for hundreds of local farmers, provides seeds for its Mexican growers and hires roving agronomists and entomologists to assist them in tending their crops without chemicals. As the American market expands, said John Graham, a coordinator of operations at Del Cabo, he is always looking to bring new growers into his network - especially those whose farms draw on distant aquifers where water is still abundant.