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  • From: KAKerby AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] clarification of use of "organic"
  • Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2011 11:41:18 -0400 (EDT)

Sometimes I wonder if the system is in part geared to rely on peer pressure as one form of passive (or active) enforcement, and here we are talking about all these rule-breakers and no one is doing anything about it.  Not that I'm any less guilty than anyone else in this regard.  At one of our markets this year we had a suspected reseller where reselling isn't allowed, and another vendor was supposedly certified organic when their produce was suspiciously uniform and perfect and out of season.  Most of the folks at market noticed and whispered and cast dark glances in their direction.  No one did anything about it.  The market manager may or may not have been aware of either issue, but they didn't qualify in the manager's mind as a three-alarm fire alongside the other three-alarm fires which had to be attended to.  Now at the tail end of another market season, I'm not sure anyone even spoke to them to follow up.  That's not the vendors' failing.  That's ours.
 
On the one hand, I strongly dislike the general philosophy of "spying on the neighbors" and using regulatory code to exact vengeance.  We've had a dispute with a neighbor this year mushroom out of control with that neighbor calling Animal Control, the county Health District and the Planning Dept out to our farm to do surprise inspections for supposed breaches of county code.  We passed all those inspections with flying colors.  But the wear and tear on our energies, our schedule and our faith in our little community took a real beating.  And we have no way of knowing whether we're done.  On the other hand, I think it's absurd to expect any agency to be the eyes and ears in every circumstance to do our dirty work for us.  If we believe the rules are fundamentally sound, and we see folks breaking those rules (particularly when it's deliberate), I think the burden falls on us to at least get that ball rolling.  A simple phone call may be all that's required (that was apparently all that was required to sic all those gov't agencies on us this year). 
 
If that sounds uncomfortable, yea, I think it probably should be something that makes us squirm a little.  But allowing rule-breakers to persist is, perhaps, worse.  I was talking to one of the inspectors about this "turn in your neighbor" aspect of code enforcement, and gee how it would be nice to have the person require proof before disrupting everyone's day with unfounded allegations.  He said well, sometimes the ability to just pick up the phone and complain is definitely abused, and yes sometimes everyone's time is wasted.  Other times, a vague concern about things "not being right" has become "tip of the iceberg" stuff which the agency never would have known about otherwise.  So it's a mixed bag.  But I think there's room in that bag, squirm factor notwithstanding, to put some heat on rulebreakers and let them know they're not going to get away with it.  At least not for free.
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
 
In a message dated 9/10/2011 4:41:54 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, vaspencer AT sisna.com writes:
I agree that bad guys will eventually get caught and pay the
consequences.  (If not in this life, then in the life to come if they
don't change their ways.)

I appreciate your level-headed reasoning, as always.  However, I know
what I know.  Maybe the certifying agency is falling down.  Maybe people
are cheating.  Maybe the rules are too lax in some areas.

An organic grower told me that they can buy conventional if they
document that what they want to buy is not available or is too expensive
organically.

I have seen organic growers reselling conventional starts at a
farmers-only market.  They even displayed the original grower's
literature on how to grow at their stand!  Somehow, though, they are
able to avoid the complicated scenario you envisioned.  They don't sell
organic starts.

I ran into another organic grower buying conventional gopher bait at the
store.  He said it wasn't for his field, and I have no reason to believe
otherwise, but it shouldn't be that hard to pay cash, hide it in an
obscure place and not record it if he wanted to.

I can see that the record-keeping can help you run a better farm, and we
are working that direction.  I'm not ready to pay an inspector to drive
150 miles one way to make sure I am keeping really good records, though.
:-)


Vern
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