organic farmers gain respect [General]

2011 Aug 29
Read this today in the citizen http/www.ottawacitizen.com with the heading "Canada's organic farmers gain respect"
I am not a farmer and I don't know all the legalities behind labelling your food organic, but was wondering if the farmer felt this was or wasn't good news.
I felt that it was postive if it is good for trade and cuts out some beaurocracy.
I do think that if they take someones certification away they should say why.

We have some organic growers on the site, any thoughts?

2011 Aug 29
Posting a link to the article might be helpful

www.ottawacitizen.com

2011 Aug 29
A bit off topic, but regarding organic farmers . . . Monsanto is so evil . . . an organic farmer got his crops contaminated by pollen from GMO fields nearby, and then he lost his organic certification. He sued Monsanto. They countersued that he had stolen their intellectual property (the GMO dna). Since they could afford the best lawyers money could buy, and he couldn't, they won the countersuit. Drove the guy right out of business.

2011 Aug 30
Francis - urban myth - or at least not the whole story. I'm pretty sure the original lawsuit is posted somewhere. My brother is a plant breeder and filled me on some of the details. They guy who got sued by monsanto and claimed that the seeds had wafted over to his field, had a big stash of GM seed. I don't remember what happened to the lawsuit(s) but from the more scientific explanation I got is the farmers involved where a lot more shady about their explanation than Monsanto - regardless of what you think about GM grains.

2011 Aug 30
here's an article from change.org last spring about the lawsuit by farmers against monsanto:

news.change.org

2011 Aug 30
@sourdough, Thanks for the info. Actually I don't mind GMOs per se. After all, that's what plant and animal breeders have been doing for for 30,000 years, maybe more - genetically modifying organisms. But I personally don't think you should be able to patent living things.

2011 Aug 31
Hmmm, not sure if I personally would consider selective breeding to be the same as genetically modifying something, but I guess I see it different.

Regarding the article, I read it, and here's my thoughts as my family does have a certified organic farm. I'm kind of on the fence about it, and I haven't a clue what it means regarding exports, as we generally only sell our products locally.

Part of me hates all the rules and regulations, and all the paperwork it produces. Can't we just be honest with our customers about what we do and let the consumer decide? If a farm thinks GMO's are fine they can tell people and the customer can shop there or elsewhere. If a farm rescues baby pigs from factories, tell the customers and they can decide if they are excited about saving baby pigs, or if they feel it's inadvertantly supporting factory farms. That's the beauty of living in a free country, we have choice.

I know in Quebec, you can't use the word 'organic' unless you are certified. So, most farms will certify, but if they have been farming organically for years, and they have a dedicated customer base that knows the farms organic practices, they don't really need to state that they are organic, and they may not bother with certification.

In Ontario, however, if I had a nickle for all the 'organic' farms out there that aren't organic, I'd have a BIG jar of nickles. Of the dozen or more farms near me that call themselves 'organic' only one or two could actually pass an inspection.

Some would fail for minor infractions, like all the gardens and animals are cared for organically except for the horses (which are fed products containing GMO's), and the horse manure is not kept separate. To big infractions like pastured pig operations that are actually feedlots for grocery store garbage, or pig and dairy farms that regularly use antibiotics, vaccines, GMO's and chemical dewormers. They all feel that they are 'organic' so maybe regulating the use of the word would be helpful to the consumer, assuming the regulations and those doing the inspections are sound.

I also think that Francis hit on something above, when he said he "doesn't mind GMO's per se.". What do you, the customer want from a farm? Is local more important than GMO free to you? Maybe you don't mind the use of antibiotics or other chemicals. Maybe you are an organic freak that needs to know EVERYTHING on the farm is organic and the farm is constantly improving soil, water and air, no exceptions.

Regulations for this kind of stuff won't regulate morality. Farmers can make up any pretty story they want about what they do. I think the best thing the consumer can do is get to know your farmer. And know what you are ok with and what you are not. Ask questions, lots of them. Things like:

- what do you use for parasite control?

- what kind of antibiotics do you use, and if you don't use them how do you treat sick animals?

- what do you feed your animals?

-how are your animals housed?

(Questions can be altered to ask about crops and gardens)

-What do you do to keep soil, air and water clean?

-if you say the farm is organic, why aren't you certified? (Many farms say it's too expensive. Depending on the size of the farm, the cost is between 10 and 20 dollars per week, so I think that's a bad excuse.)

And better yet, whenever possible, go see the farm. Seeing is believing as they say. Then YOU can be the inspector. ;-)

So I guess that's my 2 cents. Well, maybe my 50 cents...

2011 Aug 31
thanks organic girl.

2011 Sep 28
Hee, hee