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market-farming - Re: Organic industry vs. organic movement

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Rick Williams" <mrfarm AT frontiernet.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Organic industry vs. organic movement
  • Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2002 14:36:49 -0500


Lawrence London wrote:
> Let's get the facts straight. For starters I'd suggest you
> re-read Marcie's
> recent post on whether a farm should seek organic certification
> under the current regulations.

From what I can tell, it is very difficult to be able to afford it for the
smallholders. That was the gist that I got from her post. Cost is not just
in terms of out of pocket expenses, but primarily the allocation of time
that is required to meet the many recordkeeping requirements. They seem
incredibly overdone. I am not familiar with what was required by the typical
certifiers in the past but it was surely less record keeping? So something
had to change?

> multinational corporate agricultural industry

Do you put Organic Valley (CROPP) in that category? Otherwise, how many big
corporate interests are there now in organic? You seem to be opposed to any
large entitites. You would think that people would be thrilled that they
take the market seriously and are lending validity to it.

> well meaning indeed, intent to glean as many profits as possible
> with no regard for fair play

Fair play is where everyone follows the same rules in my book. Where is the
fair play being made different for different players. Certainly, we all want
to maximize profits within the constraints of what is doable. The first rule
of sustainability is "can the farm return an adequate level of income for
the inputs used."

> how many of the organic stakeholders have put anything back?
> grants or donations to
> help smaller farmers producing extremely high quality products,
> not able to afford organic certification?
> after all it was the old guard organic gardeners and farmers who
> made it all possible, and continue to
> it was a noble sacrifice on their part for the greater good of
> the public and the nation's economy

You have to understand that while I am supportive of some of the concepts of
organic, I don't consider all of them to be a good thing. The early
promoters and adopters of a concept or new idea often do not get the credit
or necessarily reap the reward in the end. The main reward is in seeing
their beliefs accepted by others.

> organic certification will be a net gain for the US and countries
> importing US organic products

> growers seeking alternative certification and using alternative
> non-certified labelling
> will get stronger and survive to carve out an increasingly larger
> and more stable market niche

These all seem to me to be win-win for those involved. I guess I don't see
much of a downside.

Sincerely,

Rick Williams
Misty Ridge Farm
Dairy heifers and dairy beef graziers
Viroqua, WI

www.mistyridgefarm.com





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