Homestead mailing list

[sjc <indexer AT fairpoint.net>]

On 4/3/2010 1:55 PM, EarthNSky wrote:
> Can you get certification on raised beds that are over and not separated
> from pesticide and herbicide laden lawn soils?
>    
I suppose they are using the USDA "organic" standards, which I lost 
track of a long time ago, since they are not based on any sort of 
reality and up here we are already using (for almost 30 years now) 
MOFGA's certification process, which is and has been from the 
beginning.  To the south of us is NOFA, and last I knew, their cert 
process was fairly complete, too, but haven't looked at it in years.

Much lobbying was done from here (MOFGA reps, NOFA reps, and 
individuals) about the USDA proposed new standards, and I participated 
in that but we soon found that we were mostly far-away sounds in the 
wind.  There were very few others singing the same song; it was a simple 
matter, I'm sure, to ignore us.  I admit to not having looked at the 
final standards, but even before they were 'loosened up' they didn't 
come anywhere near "organic" as we know it:  you can't have 10% of 
something 'contaminated' by chemicals and still consider the whole 
organic anything, it's like pregancy: yes or no, no halfway.

And the sorts of times they settled on were as wonky as their 
definitions.....not based on any kind of decent research, even.  I'm 
convinced they just asked Monsanto outright.....then smiled and said 
"Yes, sir!".

I lost my certification on my whole 10+ acres when my house burned 
down.  Next year (that will be 10 years) I will be eligible to retest 
and reapply (and pay$$$) but there's no guarantee it'll pass.  And 
that's after we took 4 dump loads of dirt off around the house (spray 
stuff they use on fires, contamination by things blowing up and out 
through the walls, charred paint flakes, etc) and hauled it off (at a 
very high price) to the place that decontaminates the soil enough to be 
used as landfill cover.....all that for something over which one has no 
control, the idea of 3 years is absolutely laughable if that's what it 
ended up to be.

I don't know a single person here who applied for USDA certs, and I also 
don't know anyone who doesn't trust MOFGA's, so it's doubtful it would 
be an issue here, but most of the country's consumers ain't got no 
cloo.......

And then there are all the cute little marketing ploys: using the word 
"natural" as if it actually meant something, plenty of other confusing 
word plays.

The only solution for us as producers and purchasers is to know what 
we're about and to be able to rely on local or regionally-based 
certification programs.

The solution for the consumer-at-large: caveat emptor.  If they don't 
care enough to research it so they can make a truly informed decision, 
let them eat fake.
I'm downright tired of the whole flippin' lazy bunch of 'em, no matter 
whether they live in large white houses in a big city, or in a hut 
alongside a dirt road.

SJ