New Hampshire’s Organic Movement Grows Up

We started a small organic garlic farm last year, Bee’s Wing Farm. We garden organically and think the certification is meaningful for the consumer. I e-mailed the USDA, they connected me to Vickie and I had a certification packet within a couple of days and several helpful e-mails. While we decided to wait ‘til this year to submit, it’s not a difficult process and it’s not financially prohibitive.

On supply chain, we’re on a very small scale, but we had difficulty finding organic seed stock and ended up getting it from a farm in Canada, but there was a delay at the border and that farmer had trouble shipping into the United States – this was early last fall – and even though we haven’t really put ourselves out there we’ve had quite a few calls from other farmers and gardeners looking for organic seed stock, so there’s definitely a market opportunity there.

We have three kinds of garlic (German, Korean and one called Music) and French shallots. As a family farm project, this has been a lot of fun for all of us – we don’t expect to make any real money, but we do a lot of gardening anyway so this is just another step.

I wanted to mention root cellars – we don’t have one but I’ve been talking to a lot of friends and old-timers and I think there is going to be a root cellar come-back, that we need a way to store over the winter, especially root crops like garlic. There's a blog about this at beeswingfarm.blogspot.com if any one wants to chime in about small farming, garlic or root cellars.

Thanks for a great show!

The whole debate centered around organic vs. Organic® is one of ideals vs. money. There's money in Organic®, a term now controlled by both the USDA NOP (National Organic Program) and by international treaty.

The old use of organic, was more in line with today's use of "sustainable", whereas you sought to grow produce and raise animals in harmony with nature. No gene-splicing, no petro-chemicals, no voodoo other than the occasional rain dance. Seeds went into dirt, which had compost or composted manure as the majority of fertilizer. Crop rotation, "green manure" (that is cover crops that improve soil nutrition) like winter rye, buckwheat, oats, or legumes, were used over-winter to prevent erosion and improve tilth.

I contend that corporate giant agribusiness, has the funds and legal means available, to put nearly any product on the american table - as Organic®. "Farmed by Lawyers" into compliance.

I trust - and so do my clients - the people who grow locally. Some, stick with the paradigm of 30 years ago:
Plow like crazy, hit it with herbicide, fertilizer, and plant "Round-Up Ready® seeds.
We KNOW this, as we SEE this - and can make an informed decision. I choose to not purchase that product, and hold no ill will towards those who do. The situation is far more difficult in a supermarket environment, where you have to have a level of trust in the product you purchase - and that's where the NOP
was intended to provide the consumer a valuable tool.

The downside of Organic®?

First:
We're constrained to accept what's "organic" in another country as valid. Often due to some desire by industry to not be questioned about some export of our own.

Second:
As a grower, you're expected to purchase from 'the family' - to obtain only Organic® products, hire those people deemed acceptable in organic practices, pay your fees, fill out your reports, etc... it's liken to the Organic® Mafia.

The backlash to this, is what's fueling the Local/Sustainable/Naturally Grown movement.
Where "bio-diversity, nature and animal-friendly, low-impact, carbon-capture", and other buzz words can be heard. It's not all hemp bracelets and aura enhancing crystals... the foundations of this movement are based on the 1950s work of J.I. Rodale, "the father of organic farming" who's legacy is The Rodale Institute, The NewFarm.org, and of course, both Prevention and Organic Gardening and Farming magazines.

I urge your listeners to get more involved in the Organic®, organic, and sustainable/local/slow food movements. Further information may be found at:

http://rodaleinstitute.org
http://newfarm.org
http://naturallygrown.org
http://localharvest.org
http://mofga.org
http://nofa.org
http://slowfoodusa.org

To plug our own role in this:

Dozens of your local restaurants purchase from your local farmers. Ask your favorite restauranteur: "Is this locally grown? Organic, natural, free-range or cage-free?" Often you may be surprised to find that it is, as local eggs, cheese, meats, dairy and produce have found wide acceptance for their outstanding variety, flavor, freshness and value. Yes - value! Happy plants and happy animals make for better products.
The products they buy stay fresher longer, have better flavor, and give more "bang for the buck", a key ingredient in selling to restauranteurs. Not to mention save a huge amount of fuel, when compared to the same item grown 1000s of miles away.

Why on earth would anyone pay 50 to over 100% more (my experience in pricing)for organic food that has zero additional nutritional value, in some cases is more open to health problems because pesticides supposedly are not used, while “non-organic” food meets FDA standards and is no risk to our health?

Dr. Frank Oski, ex-Chair of John's Hopkins Pediatric University, wrote the book, "Don't Drink Your Milk." Dr. Benjamin Spock, famous pediatrician, urges new parents to adopt plant based diets to ward off the medical consequences we are experiencing in this real time experiment in what the meat and dairy diet result in. In one of his books, he states that because of meat and dairy consumption, affecting the unborn fetus, through the placenta,(their feeding tube) children younger and younger are experiencing fatty deposits from animal based foods, affecting total health and wellness.
Dr. John McDougall, www.drmcdougall.com , has a huge patient list of those he is helping reduce and reverse everything from diabetes to heart disease, using plant based nutrition as "medicine." Dr. Caldwell Esseltyn Jr., retired Army surgeon whose family founded the Cleavland Clinic www.heartattackprof.com, just released "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease." His prescription, plant based foods. Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, www.pcrm.org, has written several books on diet and disease, promtoing plant based foods for optimal health and immunity. Given our current "health care" crisis, percipitated by growing usage of services due to increasing rates of chronic diseases in all ages, how can we even consider feeding grains to animals destined for slaughter, organic or conventional, when this diet results in ALL major degenerative diseases. India and China, once subsiting on far more plant foods than currently, with western globalization of animal agribusiness, are also experienceing increases in diseases never before seen. Huge increases in obesity, heart disease, breast cancers, and other preventable diet related diseases are now common in countries increasing meat and dairy consumption.
Even if the world adopted organic meat and dairy, the unfathomable suffering animals endure being slaughtered, (there is NO humane way to kill sentient animals)and the amount of water, grain, land, energy, to conduct this food system, is unsustainable, compared with feeding humans directly, the greens, grains, fruits, veggies and other plant foods that should be grown on the land mass currently designated livestock feed. If the planet is 30% land, and of the 30%, 30% of that is used to grow and feed animals for slaughter, those statistics are cruel to the millions of children who need nutrition for healthy bodies and minds.
Meat and dairy consumption is more of a self-indulgence than a requirement. Vegan eating offers a huge opportunity to become sensitive to animal suffering, convert the worlds food to feeding humans, not cows, pigs, chickens, etc. destined for slaughter, and would reduce the chemicals, waste and other inputs required.
I beleive raising healthy children should include teaching them a reverence for ALL living beings, and that humans are not the judge and jury over which species can live free, or die by force, at our hand.
www.powerfulbook.com is an examination of why our species evolved plagued with predatory violence that affects the very fabric of health, on every level.
Here in NH, we could potentially grow enough food to service schools, now serving high fat, high sodium, highly processed poison. We should form a non-profit, take inventory of ALL open agricultural land, create a student/community research group, and get to work growing and providing our children with foods that fight disease, optimize immunity, and help re-connect them to nature.

Tolstoy Said, From the murder of animals to the murder of humans, is only a small step."