Ryan ChartrandThe organic food industry has soared in popularity in recent years as shown by the grocery stores entirely devoted to health food products.
And one Cal Poly student is leading the way for organic food processing to become the norm.
“Organic has started to become a big thing,” said agriculture business sophomore Colton Brodt.
Brodt, who is minoring in dairy science, was one of four nationwide recipients of the Horizon Organic Producer Education (HOPE) Scholarship for 2008.
Horizon Organic is one of the nation’s largest producers of organic milk and was the first certified organic brand in the U.S. The certification states that they make all of their dairy products including milk, cheese and yogurt to meet the strict organic standards set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The company uses small organic farms around the country to produce its high-grade products.
“Today we rely on more than 475 family farms, over 400 of which have herds of fewer than 100 cows to produce our products,” Vice President of Industry Relations and Organic Stewardship of Horizon Organic Kelly Shea said.
Horizon Organic created the HOPE scholarship in order to reward members of those small family-run dairies who are pursuing higher education. Brodt, who is the grandson of Horizon Organic producer partners Jimmy and Bonnie Walker, also won the scholarship in 2007.
“We were always a conventional dairy,” Brodt recalls of the family pasture in Ferndale, Calif. “It has been in the family since before I was born. But the transition to organic was an easy one.”
Horizon Organic is hoping that the transition is one that more families are willing to take when pasteurizing milk.
“We want to ensure that smaller family farms continue to thrive and supply the best milk possible,” Shea said of the reasoning behind the $2,500 scholarship award. “We want to do everything possible to help farmers along the way.”
Brodt speculated that the healthier lifestyle aspect has caused the organic food movement to take off.
“People think it is healthier – a better health choice so it has become more popular over the years,” Brodt said.
While he is glad that organic farming promotes a healthier lifestyle, it has other positive effects on the environment.
“Our company’s farming efforts have kept more than 17 million pounds of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer out of the environment,” Shea said.
Still, in rough economic times, a more measurable reason exists for future organic dairy farmers like Brodt.
“The transition makes it really easy for you get more money for your milk,” Brodt said.