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market-farming - Re: Making a living& the banana republic

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  • From: robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Making a living& the banana republic
  • Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 01:14:16 -0500


I hope midwestern folks will forgive me but as I see it most all
innovation in small farming is taking place along the east and west
coasts of the USA, the midwest seems stuck in a Banana Republic
Mentality, I mis my combine but dont mis giving away corn and beans for
$1.00 less than it costs to grow, for too long we let the marketers do
the marketing and the traders do the trading as long as we saw some
profit we did not care, in less than 10 years there will be only 5 or 6
corperations controlling 90% of all grains and livestock feeding and
processing, I believe this is a good thing because it will be the spark
that starts the revolution where farmers will take back the market, I
already see it starting around here with small co-ops marketing dairy
and poultry products independent of the mega producers, this is sort of
how it was 40-50 years ago, neodecentralization and regionalization, I
don't know just how it will all work out because the American food
industry is bigger than most of us realize, but there will be some
exciting times ahead.
I agree with Lawrence the new organic standards are just a very well
detailed legal document that allows mega growers to expand their
empires, at this moment they are expanding into Mexicos traditional
winter vegetable areas building organic farms around cheap hand labor
and will take advantage of Nafta to export back to the USA, I don't
think the USDA would spent 10 years of its time and money to make
organic standards just to aid a handfull of back yard garden patch
farmers, I think most small organic growers were just as well off before
the standards...
Got a greenhouse full of Pansys and another full of Geranium stock
plants the summer never ends at......
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.





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