Market Farming

[Matt Cheselka <mcheselka AT yahoo.com>]

I agree with you, RLP2000.  I, too, was working on a response to send to this list with a modified subject line.  So here it is:

 

After reading the documentation (which as far as I'm concerned is a prerequisite for having any kind of thoughtful discussion about this), I've concluded that the solution the USDA and its cronies have come up with to deal with "food security" is the kind of thinking a 5 or 6 year old kid would do.  There is no forward thinking.  It's also driven by fear.  The last bit of the statement made by poultypress.com says it all:

 

"Loss of the True Security of Organic and Local Foods - The NAIS is touted by the USDA and agricorporations as a way to make our food supply "secure" against diseases or terrorism. However, most people instinctively understand that real food security comes from raising food yourself or buying from a local farmer you actually know. The USDA plan will only kill off more local sources of production and further promote the giant industrial methods which cause many food safety and disease problems."

 

I certainly do not want this idiotic singlemindedness of the USDA and it's "agribusiness" (such a corny word, isn't it????) supporters to be solving these problems.  I have a descriptive name for such people and organizations: flat earthers.  Metaphorically speaking, they look around and see that the horizon is flat and therefore conclude that the earth is flat.  This kind of thinking has kept human beings from advancing for about 1 million years.  In truth, we have to worry about where this issue of "food security" will end with these people and organizations.  Are my lettuces somehow going to need to be tagged and tracked sometime in the near future becuase there might be "security" issues associated with them?  I don't think that this is such a crazy question to ask!  Fear makes people do amazing and unthinkable things.

 

The way to make them pay attention, see the larger picture, and maybe get them to change their minds (if they aren't already corrupt beyond recognition) is though nonviolent noncooperation, mixed in with a high level of provocation.  We can present multiple ways to address the "food security" problem and we don't let up until one or more of them is adopted.  We also agree to not participate in the NAIS, assuming it becomes mandatory.

 

The problem with this solution is that there are substantial risks.  Loss of livlihood being one of  the big ones.  Will you risk having your farm shut down?  It's not enough to just be a voice on the other end of a telephone.  It's not enough to be a signature on a letter or a petition.

 

So now that I've made that speech, I have to tell you that I would fear the loss of my farm because of any kind of negative response made to my noncooperation.  It's easy to get shut down and all it takes is one "tattletale" to keep the "food police" knocking on my door.  So even going "underground" is a tricky proposition.  In truth, I can't imagine how a farmer could go underground since everything that he or she needs to make a living needs to be growing aboveground!  It'd be pretty easy, I'd think, for the "food police" to periodically trample all my beds of vegetables, just like what they do with the marijuana (the drug, not the hemp plant) growers.

 

I also need to mention that I'm vegan.  I'm doing what I can to end meat production by not purchasing or eating meat or animal products of any kind.  That's all a person of conscience can do with regards to the meat industry.  I vote with my dollars.  This, to me, is a nonviolent way to end meat production.  NAIS, on the other hand, is a violent way to end small-scale meat production and encourage larger-scale meat production.  This is horrifying to me on many different levels.

 

But the NAIS seems to be just a first step in a larger plan to control agriculture.  The NAIS wil be pushed through becuase the public has fear about the food supply.  This is why I will stand with the meat producers (especially the small ones) and help them in any way I can to stop the NAIS.  Once the "food police" have their foot in the door (and in fact NAIS will allow much more than just a foot), there's really nothing else in agriculture that is safe.

 

Not too sure where to go from here, but I'd be happy to continue this discussion with interested parties offline.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Matt Cheselka

Cosmic Lettuce

www.cosmiclettuce.com