People Putting Food First #94
1. Creative alternatives to USDA Organic Certification
2. Mission Pie
3. Willits Brookside Farm
ACTION ALERT—Call or write your congressional representative requesting removal of recently added Sec. 123 in the 2007 Farm Bill draft that would prevent states and counties from determining whether genetically modified crops can be grown.
1. Creative alternatives to USDA Organic Certification
Are corporations finally putting food first? Philip Morris, Cargill, Nestlé, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Tyson, ConAgra, Dole, etc, – have gained access to the $14 billion (and growing) organic food market. Some are thrilled at the mainstreaming of organic, wanting to boost sales as high as they’ll go, even if it’s primarily accomplished by purchasing smaller organic food companies. However, the transition to “big organic” has left a sour taste in the mouths of those who consider the word to mean more than a list of “do’s” and “don’ts.” The federal USDA standards say nothing about many of the elements that the word “organic” encompassed before it became USDA standardized. These include living wages, preserving family farms, bolstering rural communities, localization, and farmer-to-farmer education. How then, are growers with these concerns differentiating themselves?
Close to 500 U.S. growers have joined Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), a non-profit group formed by farmers, specifically for small-scale direct market farmers using organic methods. According to their website, CNG “encourages people to purchase from the small diversified farmers that make up their local landscape,” which includes farmer profiles. While the USDA program forbids farm inspectors from making suggestions to improve a farmer's situation, the smaller, more flexible CNG program encourages sharing and advice between farmers. As Alice Varon of CNG puts it, “You can trust it’s grown right, and right nearby!”
But this national network didn’t come out of nowhere. Communities across the country are realizing their power to influence the way their food is grown, and farmers are responding. Or is it the other way around? Smaller groups such as the Montana Sustainable Growers Union in Missoula have created their own “Homegrown” label after realizing their standards were the same or stricter than the national standard. They stopped paying for third party certification (which allows them to use the word “organic”), and launched an education campaign to tell consumers about what “Homegrown” means. A key part of the trust between farmers and customers is a mutually agreed upon pledge. This pledge requires commitments to practice fair labor, support the local economy, and help one another become better farmers.
As localized economies start to share the spotlight with “organic” and “sustainable,” ask the essential questions: “Who Benefits? Who loses? Can this be sustained?” To learn more about the Montana Sustainable Growers Union and read their pledge regarding growing methods log on to http://www.homegrownmontana.org/ .
To search for CNG farms near you, peruse the certification standards, check out their website at www.naturallygrown.org
2. Mission Pie
A neon “Eat Pie” sign invites people in for a slice of pie in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission district. The pie shop in the city stems from Pie Ranch, a farm on the central coast that is shaped like a piece of pie, grows the ingredients for pie, and invites students from Mission High School to come learn about sustainable agriculture and the food system.
The idea to open a pie shop came from a conversation with high school students who were leaving Pie Ranch after a field trip. The farmers invited the students to come back any time. One student said thanks, but he couldn’t get there because his family doesn’t have a car.
“We wanted to not just invite people from the city to the farm, but take responsibility for the whole bridge between the urban and rural communities” says Karen Heisler, the founder of Mission Pie. “We [at Pie Ranch] come from years of experience in the Community Supported Agriculture movement, and were looking for a way to take the next step.
Mission Pie opened in January 2007, featuring pies made with mostly fresh and local ingredients, including pie ranch’s own pumpkins and strawberries. Seven students from Mission High who have been particularly involved with Pie Ranch over the last two years work at the pie shop after school. Not only do they get work experience serving pie and coffee, they get to shape the business as it grows into their community. “The fact that the youth are involved really touches a lot of people,” says Heisler. “They help make Mission Pie a part of the community, not something that just plopped down from the outside.”
Heisler says she has been pleasantly surprised how much people appreciate the commitment to local food, direct relationships with farmers, and community building. “At first I thought that everyone would enjoy the pie, but only a small percentage would get the whole concept, but it turns out it’s just about everyone.” Some people are so taken by the idea that they are surprised that not all the fruit comes from pie ranch, that the high school students don’t bake the pies, and that not every ingredient is local. They are continually reminding us what we want to live up to,” says Heisler.
The next step is to expand the shop and add a kitchen for baking pies on the site. Heisler said she wants the business to grow slowly so that the community can make it their own. And, she plans to keep pushing for new ways people in the city and people in the country can support each other. “We’re thinking about raising money to buy a combine. People have heard of supporting farmers by buying their products, but what about sharing the responsibility for investing in farm equipment?”
Mission Pie is on the corner of 25th and Mission in San Francisco, California. For more information go to www.pieranch.org.
3. Willits Brookside Farm
Two years ago, Jason Bradford was walking his kid to the first day of school in their new home of Willits, California and noticed a large tract of land behind the buildings, watered and mowed but inaccessible to the children. By January 2006, he had gained approval from the school board to use the land for a farm, and today that one acre is in its first year as a producing CSA farm, thanks to Bradford’s full-time commitment to farming, the full time work of Christopher Hansen (funded by the Post Carbon Institute), and the volunteer efforts and donations of many community members, particularly the group known as WEL, Willits Economic Localization.
“Three years ago, I couldn’t tell the difference between a carrot and a weed,” said Bradford. What inspired him to leave his career as a research biologist at UC Davis and pour his life into farming? “I didn’t see this as optional,” he said. It was primarily his understanding of the world’s energy supply—that is “peak oil” and the unsustainable situation of relying on cheap fuel for an industrialized and highly globalized food system—that led him to see farming as the only viable choice for himself. “People don’t think farming is viable, but I think it’s a necessity,” he explained, and it will only become more so in the coming decades. “There is a big disconnect between the American population’s expectations of what our livelihoods will be and the need to de-industrialize the food system.” Although it was an energy perspective that first motivated him, he said that he has also become increasingly aware of the broader social and environmental issues associated with industrial agriculture since becoming a farmer.
Fruits and vegetables are grown alongside sorghum for syrup: an effort to produce a local alternative to tropical sugar imports or East Coast maple syrup. They may distill it for on-farm energy needs as low-grade ethanol.
In their first year, they are still learning and forging the connections between the farm and the Willits community. So far, the farm serves eight CSA members, runs a farm stand to make the produce accessible to families who can’t afford the $1,000 that CSA members have invested in the farm. They are working towards integrating the farm produce in the school’s cafeteria and curriculum and plan to host classes from Mendocino College next year. They also hope to form direct marketing relationships with local restaurants. Meanwhile, Bradford leads tours for the children, focusing on topics that overlap with their school subjects whenever possible, and encouraging children to snack freely.
The long-term goal is to become a training center and dramatically increase the number of farmers producing local, sustainably grown produce. Bradford hopes that some day food prices will be high enough to make farming high-quality produce and taking care of the land economically viable, that people will spend money investing in sustainable food systems instead of throw-away consumer goods. Luckily, we don’t have to wait for economics to determine that for us, because there are people like Bradford willing (and able) to farm not because there’s money in it, but because he believes it’s the right thing to do.
ACTION ALERT—Call or write your congressional representative requesting removal of recently added Sec. 123 in the 2007 Farm Bill draft that would prevent states and counties from determining whether genetically modified crops can be grown.
Please forward this action alert to friends who share your concern about food safety.
The biotech industry and agribusiness have been pushing similar state bills, but now they are trying to hide it in the very lengthy Farm Bill. Please write to the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Collin C. Peterson, MN and other members of that committee. You can view the list of committee members at: http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/members.html
Many house members prefer that you contact them via their web site.
Sample letter to members of the House Committee on Agriculture
(You can cut and paste this letter or modify as you choose)
Subject: No preemptive language in the Farm Bill to override local democratically-passed laws that protect citizens from risky foods
Dear (name of representative);
I write to strongly oppose the pre-emptive language of Section 123 “Effect of USDA Inspection and Determination of Non-Regulated Status,” in the House Farm Bill inserted by the subcommittee on Livestock, Diary and Poultry on May 24.
This language in the Farm Bill would preempt the rights of states and localities to pass regulations regarding food or agricultural products or methods that the USDA has granted “non-regulated status.”
SEC 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has:
(1.) inspected and passed; or
(2.) determined to be of non-regulated status.
If included in the Farm Bill, this would negate all current state and local safety laws, including laws on genetically engineered crops and organisms. Hiding this provision in the Farm Bill without full public debate would negate the will of voters who have decided that precautions should be taken until genetically engineered agricultural products can be proven safe.
I urge you to oppose any language in the Farm Bill that would preempt state and local rights to make democratic decisions to protect their own health, food safety, and agricultural production.
Sincerely,
(Your name)
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This issue of People Putting Food First was written by Food First interns Joey Smith, Devon Sampson, and Diana Strong.
