Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] they can bankrupt us with low prices/ was US dairy crisis

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Diane Kann <dianek59@gmail.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] they can bankrupt us with low prices/ was US dairy crisis
  • Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 06:59:31 -0400

I agree whole heartedly.  Our customers notice the difference in their food (we pick fresh to order--its like picking from from your own garden) and we are certain that the food not only tastes better (fresher and less handling) but also is more nutrient dense (vitamins and enzymes are lost as food ages).  We try not to charge premium prices, though, as we feel fair pricing is part of our goal.  Fair for our customers (so they can afford to eat healthy) and fair for us (so that we may stay in business).

And yes, diversified is probably the hardest part of it all.  But necessary if we are to compete in our area without going the wholesale only route.  Our customer base would buy everything from us, if we could grow it (we know we can't but strive for a good mix). 

Still, even with a couple of our sons dedicated to helping us keep it moving forward, and the help of the younger children, we are quickly getting to the point of needing to hire on.  I just hope we can find the right person <sigh>.

--
Diane K
very THANKFUL homeschool Mom to 9 blessings in
Christmas, FL
http://hocfarms.com

On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 1:32 AM, Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net> wrote:

While we're on the subject, I can't stop there. I may be stating the
obvious, but the supermarkets can only sell at low prices by cutting
corners in every area. Their produce is not local so it can't be fresh, and
taste isn't even a consideration. And cutting corners in all these areas
carries hidden costs, not for the store but for us.  We know produce starts
losing some nutrition the day it's picked, and at best it takes time to get
it to the store and it sits on the shelf waiting to be bought. We also know
modern varieties and production methods have drastically lowered
nutritional values compared to decades ago. We know kids like fresh, good
tasting garden food, but don't get much of it, and we're in an epidemic of
childhood obesity. We know almost anything processed and packaged runs some
risk of disease, even if we can avoid all the mystery ingredients that
cause chronic health conditions. What is the cost to our health and our
budgets? 62% of all personal bankruptcies now involve crushing medical
bills. Bottom line: McDonalds and China-Mart can bankrupt us with their low
prices.

We can't sell fresh, local and SAFE food at those low, low prices. And
neither can they.


paul tradingpost@lobo.net


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

On 6/27/2009 at 10:36 PM TradingPostPaul wrote:

>That is the problem.  Those regulations you rightly target tie our hands
>as
>independents in so many ways. It's far from a level playing field. One
area
>where they can't beat us is fresh, local food. Not even Whole Paycheck can
>match us on that score. Organic doesn't mean fresh or local or even good
>tasting. On a small scale we offer all three. No store can compete with us
>on that basis.
>
>>From your link I see you work a year round operation that's extremely
>diversified.  Very difficult. I do know something of the industrial tomato
>crime going on in your state. And that's often the crux of the problem,
>starvation wage labor serving nothing but corporate profits at the expense
>of everything and everybody else. In consideration of which we choose not
>to compete head on with the big box ripoffs, but target a niche market -
>customers who can pay more for better taste and safe food, and want to
>support local growers. And safe food is getting to be uppermost in the
>minds of this demographic. Storebought has become downright dangerous. I
>don't know if you can put a price on food safety and health.
>
>Good for you.
>
>paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>
>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
>On 6/26/2009 at 7:13 AM Diane Kann wrote:
>
>>The farmer's plight is much more than just what's on the surface.
>>Regulations make it nearly impossible for family farms to exist, let
alone
>>compete.  And now our insightful government has chosen to IMPORT milk
>>products from China!  China, the land with the many health issues with
>>regard to milk formulas and other products.  We force our own farmers out
>>of
>>business so that we may buy from a country who has sent us melamine in
>>products recently.  I'm not bashing the Chinese people---I strongly
>believe
>>they are merely trying to survive.  But our government is not doing much
>to
>>allow our farmers and other businesses in our own country to survive.
>>
>>--
>>Diane K
>>very THANKFUL homeschool Mom to 9 blessings in
>>Christmas, FL
>>http://hocfarms.com
>>visit us on Local Harvest:
>>http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M19402
>>
>>On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 3:35 PM, Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> US dairy crisis, message from Willie Nelson & Farm Aid
>>> Wednesday, June 10, 2009
>>> http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/
>>>
>>> The drastic drop in milk prices paid to farmers over the past year has
>>led
>>> to an unprecedented crisis for dairy farmers who, on average, are being
>>> paid less than half the cost of production. Low prices and high
>>production
>>> costs threaten to push nearly one-third of dairy farmers off their land
>>> over the next couple of months, strengthening corporate control of the
>>> dairy industry and severely impacting the health of local and regional
>>> economies nationwide.
>>>
>>> “Setting a fair price for milk won’t fix all the problems that led
>to
>>> the current crisis, but it may be the only way to keep thousands of
>dairy
>>> farmers on their farms this year,” said Farm Aid board member Willie
>>> Nelson. “Unless Secretary Vilsack takes immediate action, huge areas
>of
>>> the United States may be left without any local dairy farms at all.”
>>>
>>> Dairy farmers have been hit with a catastrophic combination of factors
>>> beyond their control. Farmers are struggling to pay bills from record
>>high
>>> feed and fuel costs; adequate credit is increasingly impossible to come
>>by;
>>> and the price of milk paid to farmers by processors collapsed a record
>30
>>> percent in January alone, and is currently down 50 percent since July
>>2008.
>>> In the meantime, the top dairy processors have recently announced 2009
>>> first quarter earnings that are up from the same period last year. The
>>top
>>> processor, Dean Foods, reported their first quarter earnings are more
>>than
>>> double that of last year thanks in part to the plunging price Dean pays
>>to
>>> its milk producers.
>>>
>>> Under Section 608c (18) of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of
>>> 1937, the Secretary of Agriculture is required to adjust the price of
>>milk
>>> paid to farmers to “reflect the price of feeds, the available
supplies
>of
>>> feeds, and other economic conditions which affect market supply and
>>demand
>>> for milk and its products.” Farm Aid urges Secretary Vilsack to use
>this
>>> power to immediately institute a set price for milk that reflects the
>>cost
>>> of production, keeping dairy farmers on their land.
>>>
>>> “The U.S. has a tradition of local and regional milk distribution,
>making
>>> dairy farmers a base for strong local and regional economies. The loss
>of
>>> these farms will reduce spending in small businesses, investments in
>>banks
>>> and shrink the community tax base. If we lose a third of our dairy
farms
>>in
>>> the next few months alone, imagine the impact on these economies by
>>> year’s end.” said Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid.
>“As
>>> our independent family dairy farmers go out of business, our milk
supply
>>> gets more consolidated by giant confinement dairies that do not
>>contribute
>>> to our local economies or act of stewards of the land like our family
>>> farmers do.”
>>>
>>> The petition can be accessed by going to www.farmaid.org/dairyfarmers
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Livingontheland mailing list
>>> Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
>>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Livingontheland mailing list
>>Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Livingontheland mailing list
>Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland




_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page