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market-farming - Re: Organic Certification questions

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  • From: Alex McGregor <waldenfarm AT sprintmail.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Organic Certification questions
  • Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 09:05:36 -0400


Answer your question about pesticides yourself. Use of pesticides supports
the centralized military-industrial-agriculture complex. The use
contaminates soil, air and water with chemicals that are definitely not
health promoters for all life forms. The introduction affects not only the
farm and farmers where it's applied, drift and water
movement contaminates others who choose not to use them. And most of these
are systemic, meaning they're absorbed into the plant tissue and are absorbed
by those who eat the contaminated food.

I define ethically grown as taking all factors into consideration when
producing food for others and in stewardship of the land. I fall back on my
premise that to produce food to provide life energy for others is a sacred
trust, not an economic exchange. Management decisions are held up to this
premise. On the positive side, I keep the
fertility of the soil at as high a rate as I can (producing an average of 8
times more food per unit of land than other growers) and attempting to
provide an environment for maximum plant nutrition which results in maximum
human nutrition.

The term "organic" has been usurped by corporations once organic food began
cutting into their profits. Organic growers didn't sell out, our hard work
and dedication to quality food was stolen against some of our wills. Sure,
there were those in the community who waved the flag and told us all that
USDA controlling "organic was the best thing
that could happen and that we would all be accepted into the fold. Sadly,
this line of thinking prevailed.

I see the problem of hanging onto the term "organic" as failing to understand
what's going on. I've been on the fringe of growing since I started over 30
years ago. One thing I've learned through the years is that small growers
can only survive and thrive if they are involved in educating their
customers- continually. There will always be
those who wait for innovators to start being successful and then steal the
ideas in all sectors of the economy- Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Panera...,
and "McDonaldize" the concepts.

So, call it what you may, we still need innovators who strive to produce
quality food and have a close relationship with their customers. This is the
important part of the equation, not some label that can be bought and sold on
the open market.

sunnfarm AT netscape.net wrote:

> Ethically Grown?, Does this inply that because I use pesticides I'm not
> ethical?. I still find it hard to believe that organic growers sold out and
> allowed there most valued possession the term "organic", to be corperatized
> to the benifit of the southwestern ag business industry, so they can
> dominate the growing domestic organic food market.
> I don't think the best ad agency on Madison avenue can ever comeup with a
> suitable term to replace organic in the hearts and minds of the
> consumer...Bob.
> Sunny Meadow Farm
> Bridgeton, NJ.
>
> >I've been selling my produce direct at markets and on farm this year as
> >"Ethically Grown", with only limited sales to a "health food supermarket"
>
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--
Alex McGregor
Walden Farm






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