Christian family embraces organic farming in U.S

By Ed Stoddard and Jessica Rinaldi

COMMERCE, Texas (Reuters) - The Hale family has embraced organic farming because it is healthy, good for the environment and less cruel to animals. But do not mistake them for nature-worshiping New Agers or back-to-basics hippies.

They are part of a small movement of conservative Christians who believe the Bible demands an organic or natural approach to agriculture.

The Hales support the Republican Party and back conservative former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the next U.S. president, and they take their faith seriously.

The eight children, aged nine to 24, were schooled at home, in part to shield them from corrosive secular influences. The four girls and mother Connie dress modestly in long skirts.

And yet, like the Amish and Mennonites before them, they have chosen a lifestyle that other conservative Christians in the United States might dismiss as counter-culture.

"Humanistic thinking is we want to have control over everything. We want to just come in and poison these bugs," patriarch Mike Hale said of the more usual approach to food and farming.

"But because we're organic we can't poison bugs and we're dependent on the Lord," he said, as chickens clucked nearby and a rooster crowed. "There's an aspect that we trust the Lord to take care of things."

Organic agriculture emphasizes crop rotation, composting and the use of animal manures, avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides that organic farmers say contaminate food, wildlife and the environment.