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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 95, Issue 5

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: Jean French <jwf267@yahoo.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 95, Issue 5
  • Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 10:58:55 -0700 (PDT)

Thanks for letting us know about Section 123 in the Farm Bill.  I think the Constitution might have some problems approving this-but we don't want to run the risk of losing our local ability to have some real say over our food. 
 
It's usually very hard (or impossible) to email a Representative who is not "yours".  Try actually writing a letter, or calliing, or using the "House Committee on Agriculture" email address.  If you can't directly vote for the government official, your email to them will be screened out. 
 
Becky French
jwf267@yahoo.com

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: farm incubator (Michael Nevin)
2. Re: Not about food miles (Dan Conine)
3. Re: farm incubators (Dianne Palmer-Quay)
4. People Putting Food First - newsletter (Douglas Willhite)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 12:34:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Nevin
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] farm incubator
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

Message-ID: <20070607163450.208.qmail@web34413.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Hi - Google in the phrase(s) Farm Incubator or Farm Incubator Program.
There seem to be some programs.
Cheers, Mike in Toronto, ON.

TradingPostPaul wrote:

Wow - could be an alternative to losing the land or selling out to
developers. Sounds like a plan.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 6/6/2007 at 1:25 PM Ken Hargesheimer wrote:

>A friend emailed this to me off of a listserve he is on.
>
>
>
>>Would like to know whether anyone out there has been involved in
>incubating
>>farms? What I am talking about is an incubator that holds title to say a
>>hundred acres and leases out 1- 20 acre plots for would-be farmers to
>>intensely cultivate for the raising of truck farm specialty crops. This
>>would allow persons not having access to farmland to engage in farming.
>The
>>incubator would also be involved in working with the new farmers to
>develop
>>markets for the crops, arrange for compost and other soil amendments,
>>organic certification services, master farmer training sessions, and
>special
>>seasonal events, etc.
>>
>>GT McNaughton
>>Southern Windsor County Incubator, Inc.
>>Board Member
>
> I have a plan for this if anyone is interested. The farm owner agreed
>to finance each plot to the new farmer. I would love to see this done
>somewhere.
>
> Ken Hargesheimer
>



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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:40:53 -0500
From: Dan Conine
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Not about food miles
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <46684325.307@bertramwireless.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Laurie Ann,
I haven't been following the thread, so no comments on the original. I
just wanted to say that your thoughts and letter were very well stated.
Thank you.

I put it this way to people: "If you want Change, keep it in your
pocket. Buy less, buy local, make it or grow it yourself."
The Bigness of It All is overwhelming. The conspiracies really do run
deep. It's no wonder that people feel helpless when every turn of a
corner reveals that they can never do enough to make up for what has
been destroyed. Fear itself isn't the only thing we have to worry about,
but it has been used to sell things to us, including more fears.
Freedom isn't something we can get at the bottom of an oil well. It's
what we get when we don't owe our souls to the Company Store in exchange
for double decaf latte's and the fancy cupholders attached to expensive
cars.
Here's my letter that was published in the Milwaukee Journal (pre-edit;
they took out my tag line):

Who honestly believes that the global System of systems is going to
solve its problems the same way they created them: through FDA or other
agencies that don't grow any food? The biggest problem with food safety
in this country is that people don't spend enough of their budgets on
food, and are left with 'disposable' income to throw away on things they
don't need. Every home has television to tell them to buy more
televisions, but not every home has a garden. The same customers at the
markets who own a $200,000 boat or an ugly second home 'up nort' will
raise holy hell when a local farmer asks them to pay 4 bits for a local
tomato that is a work of love and art.
If America wants safer food, they only have to look next door and be
willing to pay someone what food is worth. Safe food doesn't come from
rich bureaucrats, it comes from well-paid local farms who can afford to
pay for the labor to keep it clean and care for their animals the old
fashioned way: IN PERSON. Cheap food comes from machines and
agribusinesses. SAFE food comes from farmers and gardens. More
regulations by the government will only continue the trend of
concentrating the logistics of food into a few corporations, whose goals
are to make the quickest profits possible. Marketing 'geniuses' of
government and agribusiness work together to take the money that should
be paid by consumers directly to farmers and siphon it away from local
economies into the Global Economy. The end result is that the money gets
transported out, food gets transported in, and our children get drafted
into the wars to fight for high oil prices. As long as Americans want
cheap food and expensive cars, their sons and daughters will be dying
for oil we don't really need.
If you want Change, keep it in your pocket, buy local, make things for
yourself.
> From: Laurie Ann Powell
> Subject: [Livingontheland] Not about food miles
> To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID: <1181155076.2882.26.camel@localhost>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I agree with you, Paul, this contained some serious nonsense.
>
> I note that this kind of article seems to be aimed at paralyzing us into
> helplessness - each time we are touched to consider action by exposure
> to a new concept, another article comes out to make us feel dumb if we
> actually try to change anything. We're being herded into a corner where
> we'll let the "experts" run everything.
>
> Understanding "food miles" can be the first snip of the thread that
> helps us unravel the whole web of irresponsible consumerism.
>
> For that reason, I try not to dismiss any small gesture toward making a
> change. I think it's better to boycott Walmart- as hopeless as that may
> seem - or to "count food miles" or grow even one tomato plant rather
> than to wait until I have mastered the whole global ecology before
> acting. Baby steps with course correction along the way.I h
>
> Laurie Ann

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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 14:07:35 -0400
From: "Dianne Palmer-Quay"
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] farm incubators
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID:
<30a44bd00706071107w2adf36a4r69682b69c40a7702@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

The Intervale in Burlington, VT is a good example of a farm incubator
model. Raft Swamp Farms in NC is a new project along similar lines in NC.
The NC/SC sustainable ag non-profiit (CFSA - see
www.carolinafarmstewards.org) has received a grant to develop farm
incubators in our two states. We are currently pulling together key people
is strategic geographic regions. CFSA has a pretty good track record of
accomplishing program goals and I expect we will see several more incubators
on the ground in NC and SC over the next few years.

Dianne in SC
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2007 05:55:35 -0700
From: "Douglas Willhite"
Subject: [Livingontheland] People Putting Food First - newsletter
To: "Douglas & Hillary Willhite"
Message-ID: <20B8659549954622B8C4C80CD7EB7B69@DouglasPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

1. Creative alternatives to USDA Organic Certification

2. Willits Brookside Farm

3. ACTION ALERT-Call or write your congressional representative requesting removal of recently added Sec. 123 in the 2007 Farm Bill draft that would prevent states and counties from determining whether genetically modified crops can be grown.



1. Creative alternatives to USDA Organic Certification



Are corporations finally putting food first? Philip Morris, Cargill, Nestl?, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Tyson, ConAgra, Dole, etc, - have gained access to the $14 billion (and growing) organic food market. Some are thrilled at the mainstreaming of organic, wanting to boost sales as high as they'll go, even if it's primarily accomplished by purchasing smaller organic food companies. However, the transition to "big organic" has left a sour taste in the mouths of those who consider the word to mean more than a list of "do's" and "don'ts." The federal USDA standards say nothing about many of the elements that the word "organic" encompassed before it became USDA standardized. These include living wages, preserving family farms, bolstering rural communities, localization, and farmer-to-farmer education. How then, are growers with these concerns differentiating themselves?



Close to 500 U.S. growers have joined Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), a non-profit group formed by farmers, specifically for small-scale direct market farmers using organic methods. According to their website, CNG "encourages people to purchase from the small diversified farmers that make up their local landscape," which includes farmer profiles. While the USDA program forbids farm inspectors from making suggestions to improve a farmer's situation, the smaller, more flexible CNG program encourages sharing and advice between farmers. As Alice Varon of CNG puts it, "You can trust it's grown right, and right nearby!"



But this national network didn't come out of nowhere. Communities across the country are realizing their power to influence the way their food is grown, and farmers are responding. Or is it the other way around? Smaller groups such as the Montana Sustainable Growers Union in Missoula have created their own "Homegrown" label after realizing their standards were the same or stricter than the national standard. They stopped paying for third party certification (which allows them to use the word "organic"), and launched an education campaign to tell consumers about what "Homegrown" means. A key part of the trust between farmers and customers is a mutually agreed upon pledge. This pledge requires commitments to practice fair labor, support the local economy, and help one another become better farmers.



As localized economies start to share the spotlight with "organic" and "sustainable," ask the essential questions: "Who Benefits? Who loses? Can this be sustained?" To learn more about the Montana Sustainable Growers Union and read their pledge regarding growing methods log on to http://www.homegrownmontana.org/ .

To search for CNG farms near you, peruse the certification standards, check out their website at www.naturallygrown.org



2. Willits Brookside Farm



Two years ago, Jason Bradford was walking his kid to the first day of school in their new home of Willits, California and noticed a large tract of land behind the buildings, watered and mowed but inaccessible to the children. By January 2006, he had gained approval from the school board to use the land for a farm, and today that one acre is in its first year as a producing CSA farm, thanks to Bradford's full-time commitment to farming, the full time work of Christopher Hansen (funded by the Post Carbon Institute), and the volunteer efforts and donations of many community members, particularly the group known as WEL, Willits Economic Localization.



"Three years ago, I couldn't tell the difference between a carrot and a weed," said Bradford. What inspired him to leave his career as a research biologist at UC Davis and pour his life into farming? "I didn't see this as optional," he said. It was primarily his understanding of the world's energy supply-that is "peak oil" and the unsustainable situation of relying on cheap fuel for an industrialized and highly globalized food system-that led him to see farming as the only viable choice for himself. "People don't think farming is viable, but I think it's a necessity," he explained, and it will only become more so in the coming decades. "There is a big disconnect between the American population's expectations of what our livelihoods will be and the need to de-industrialize the food system." Although it was an energy perspective that first motivated him, he said that he has also become increasingly aware of the broader social and environmental issues associated with industrial
agriculture since becoming a farmer.



Fruits and vegetables are grown alongside sorghum for syrup: an effort to produce a local alternative to tropical sugar imports or East Coast maple syrup. They may distill it for on-farm energy needs as low-grade ethanol.



In their first year, they are still learning and forging the connections between the farm and the Willits community. So far, the farm serves eight CSA members, runs a farm stand to make the produce accessible to families who can't afford the $1,000 that CSA members have invested in the farm. They are working towards integrating the farm produce in the school's cafeteria and curriculum and plan to host classes from Mendocino College next year. They also hope to form direct marketing relationships with local restaurants. Meanwhile, Bradford leads tours for the children, focusing on topics that overlap with their school subjects whenever possible, and encouraging children to snack freely.



The long-term goal is to become a training center and dramatically increase the number of farmers producing local, sustainably grown produce. Bradford hopes that some day food prices will be high enough to make farming high-quality produce and taking care of the land economically viable, that people will spend money investing in sustainable food systems instead of throw-away consumer goods. Luckily, we don't have to wait for economics to determine that for us, because there are people like Bradford willing (and able) to farm not because there's money in it, but because he believes it's the right thing to do.





3. ACTION ALERT-Call or write your congressional representative requesting removal of recently added Sec. 123 in the 2007 Farm Bill draft that would prevent states and counties from determining whether genetically modified crops can be grown.



The biotech industry and agribusiness have been pushing similar state bills, but now they are trying to hide it in the very lengthy Farm Bill. Please write to the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Collin C. Peterson, MN and other members of that committee. You can view the list of committee members at: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/members.html

Many house members prefer that you contact them via their web site.



Sample letter to members of the House Committee on Agriculture

(You can cut and paste this letter or modify as you choose)



Subject: No preemptive language in the Farm Bill to override local democratically-passed laws that protect citizens from risky foods



Dear (name of representative);



I write to strongly oppose the pre-emptive language of Section 123 "Effect of USDA Inspection and Determination of Non-Regulated Status," in the House Farm Bill inserted by the subcommittee on Livestock, Diary and Poultry on May 24.



This language in the Farm Bill would preempt the rights of states and localities to pass regulations regarding food or agricultural products or methods that the USDA has granted "non-regulated status."



SEC 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has:

(1.) inspected and passed; or

(2.) determined to be of non-regulated status.



If included in the Farm Bill, this would negate all current state and local safety laws, including laws on genetically engineered crops and organisms. Hiding this provision in the Farm Bill without full public debate would negate the will of voters who have decided that precautions should be taken until genetically engineered agricultural products can be proven safe.



I urge you to oppose any language in the Farm Bill that would preempt state and local rights to make democratic decisions to protect their own health, food safety, and agricultural production.



Sincerely,



(Your name)
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End of Livingontheland Digest, Vol 95, Issue 5
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  • Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 95, Issue 5, Jean French, 06/08/2007

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