Market Farming

["jay gee" <jgj23 AT mindspring.com>]

Rick Williams wrote:
>>>>
 Jay Gee wrote:
 > What is needed is a well funded effort.  You don't have the
 > time that was available to the original terms "organic" and
 > "certified organic" to acquire a good reputation.

 > What needs to be organized is a marketing/advertising/PR
 > SWAT cooperative.  At least if you want a term that is a
 > success.
 
 Wouldn't cooperatives be too much like corporations in that they want
 proprietary control. A GPL is nearly the antithesis of such control and is
 more like public domain but still maintaining integrity and standards.
<<<<

Comparing open source software to food
production is like comparing cars to trees.

The whole purpose of having a new designation
is so that it can be controlled and kept out of the
hands of agrigiants, politicians and bureaucrats
who took the term organic away from the people
who had come to terms for its use.

The term will be meaningless unless it has substantial
publicity and farmer promotion behind it.  The term
must also have meaning in that it is not just a name.
Whoever assembles the team also has to assemble
and get agreement on what standards the growers
agree to follow, how to get certification or verification
and so forth.  A national marketing cooperative is
the best way to do this.  Once established, it lifts the
burden from the farmers for day to day operations.

Farms are admitted to the cooperative if they agree
to the terms of membership and pay annual dues.
One farm, one vote.  Getting a farm certified is an
additional expense.  The cooperative screens all
certifiers and sets maximum certification fees.

Membership or allowed use of the term is suspended
when a member farm fails to pass annual or pop
inspections.

The term is trademarked, not copyrighted, so the
mark can be controlled as long as the cooperative
continues to do business.


Jay Gee
not a farmer -- but interested in farming