Market Farming

[Joan Vibert <joan AT windwalker-farm.com>]

Allison & Alex -

please keep all of us posted on anything that comes from discussions out
your way - our market is strictly certified organic and most of us have
decided this year to leave OCIA and go with Indiana Certified Organic (I
think that's the right name) the certification fees are comparable but no
user fees and they deal with vegetable growers instead of row crops - I was
amazed that they only want to certify where we are growing as opposed to the
pressure from OCIA to certify the whole farm - which includes woods, ponds
and pasture - which we don't use anything on anyway.

As an organic market we have to keep the designation for now but I think
that a well-explained education program in the future could satisfy our
customers.  I guess I don't see, though, how we'll ever get away from the
need for inspections.  Having been royally burned by a peddler two years ago
who got by with several years of claiming to be self-certified - our market
will, I'm sure, need those inspections.  Since we are an upper-scale market
with very good prices there will always be those who try to participate
without following the rules.

But I don't know why with a new term and small clusters of growers we
couldn't stay together and hire a responsible inspector.  Just a thought -

joan 
windwalker farm
ottawa, kansas