I have been following with great interest the recent series of articles covering the new Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) as it relates to the Lake Champlain cleanup effort. I am disappointed that none of the articles thus far have made any mention of the important role that organic agriculture has to play in this critical situation.
EPA Director of Ecosystem Protection Stephen Perkins failed to highlight organic agriculture as an important piece of the solution and, when discussing the root causes of the lake pollution problem, he pointed a finger at “agriculture” as a whole without specifying “conventional agriculture.”
It seems that he and others reporting on this issue have missed an important opportunity to educate readers about this critical distinction between the two farming methods and failed to point out that we can all be a part of the solution by choosing to support local organic farms.
Emily Millard
Middlebury