Where is organic cotton
grown in the United States?
U.S.
organic cotton is produced primarily in seven states: Texas, followed by
Arizona, California, New Mexico, Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee, annually
producing a total of approximately 7,500 bales of cotton. (Internationally,
Turkey and the United States are the leading producers of organic cotton,
followed by India, Peru, Uganda, Egypt, Senegal and Tanzania.)
Our catalog features the best handcrafted organic wool bedding, from sheep raised organically in the Pacific Northwest and Canada.
Unfortunately, agricultural lands are vanishing rapidly due to
relentless and unregulated real estate speculation, and land grabs in the
Southwestern U.S. especially. While real estate developers get richer, Americans
become more vulnerable to reliance on foreign sources of fibers and other life
sustaining crops formerly grown in the States.
Why is so much organic cotton imported?
It's about availability of consumer preferred, soft, long staple organic
cotton, and the conditions required to grow it. The United States typically
produces short staple cottons, which are not as soft and durable as, say, world
famous Egyptian long staple cottons. At this time, more and more fine organic cotton is being grown in the U.S.
Many organic farms
in the U.S., especially in Texas, used to be maintained by generations of the
same family, providing a direct link to the natural, common sense farming
methods that supported early Americans, and once thriving rural communities.
Organic farmers are demonstrating we can have wonderful and functional
cottons in our lives while minimizing harm to people, animals, and the
environment we must live in. They do this by operating in a humane and
environmentally sensitive manner, in stark contrast to massive factory farms and
corporate agribusiness that dominate the global marketplace. By farming with a
combination of savvy and hard manual labor, organic cotton growers are helping
to preserve and sustain our air, water, soil, and the natural biodiversity of
the planet.
You can help organic farming grow and prosper in the United
States:
- Buy organic cotton whenever possible, but also look for USA made 100% cotton
products, even if it's not organic.
- Ask for organic cotton where you shop.
- Tell you friends about it, and where they can find it.
- Learn about organics and organic lifestyle choices.
- Buy locally grown organic foods.
The cottons we love are woven
through our lives; even the cottonseed oil in food! How that cotton is raised
and processed can have a direct impact on health and safety. Organic cotton
provides all the comfort, quality and texture you've come to expect from cotton
products, without chemicals.