Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network

[Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network <seranet AT lists.ibiblio.org>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fwd: Joel Salatin resigns from the NOSB (the USDA National 
Organic Standards Board)
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:38:50 -0400
From: Lawrence F. London, Jr. <lflj AT bellsouth.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture AT lists.ibiblio.org>


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Joel Salatin
Date:   Tue, 05 Jun 2012 10:19:10 -0400
From:   Tara Adinolfi <ostara.farm AT gmail.com>

Check out this article Joel Salatin has up on his website about the NOSB:

http://www.polyfacefarms.com/2012/06/01/from-joel-salatin-june-1-2012/

Full article:

http://www.cornucopia.org/2012/05/wildfires-rage-at-new-mexican-organic-meetings/

<>

Joel Salatin
"the charade that has become the national certification program"

<>

A comment: "As far as Joel resigning goes.... I think that was the easy
way out. It's much harder to stay in the system and stand up for what is
right regardless. If everyone does what he did... then what?????"

And a response to that comment:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Joel Salatin
Date:   Tue, 5 Jun 2012 22:49:56 -0400
From:   Eric & Melissa Brown <milkandhoneyfarm AT hotmail.com>

> It's much harder to stay in the system and stand up for what is right
> regardless. If everyone does what he did... then what?????

Why it is "much harder" to stay in the system? One could say it's much
harder when one isn't hiding behind a set of legalistic standards. One
could say it's much harder to forgo the labor-saving OMRI-approved
pesticides, fungicides, industrially processed fertilizers, plastics,
propane- and diesel-powered equipment, etc. that are essential to making
money on farms operating at a scale consistent with organic
certification. One could say it's much harder to sell the value of one's
own farming methods rather than just selling to the value of a program.
One could say it's much harder to get consumers to trust in a local
relationship than a bureaucratic label. It's not at all clear to me that
"staying in the system" is so unambiguously the high road, and as I've
noted, there are pretty good reasons to argue the opposite.

I certainly don't mean to defend Joel Sharlatin, as he only seems to
combine the worst of both worlds in his farm model. I do want to defend
the anti-certification camp generally. Most fundamentally, I object to
the USDA organic label because even if the rules were written and
enforced by angels the label would still be all about replacing
community-based trust with trust in bureaucratically governed certifying
agencies. Isn't the organic label designed to replace the need to
personally know anything about where or how your food was grown? Why was
there ever a need for a label except to enable the organic market to
expand into the marketplace of global anonymity? To answer your
question, what would happen if everyone (meaning presumably all
small-scale/local farmers) opted out of the USDA system... then what? I
think the answer is that corporate agribusiness wouldn't be able to
piggy-back on the integrity of the small farmers any more. Consumers
would see a much clearer distinction between a limited set of legalistic
standards and commitment to principle. If consumers wanted real organic
assurance then they'd have to reconnect to the source of their food.
Consumers might actually be empowered with a little real understanding
of agriculture instead of just getting exploited by corporate marketing.
Consumers might even find themselves troubled in their lives as modern,
wasteful elites of the global economy and begin to effect broader
positive changes. Just imagine if people insisted on knowing and
trusting the farmers that they depended on! That sounds like a very good
thing to me.

-Eric