A gentle reminder

The water was off this morning.  Not a pleasant way to start the day.  The town is fixing the fire hydrants along our road and had to turn off the water.  I'm sure people were notified, but we are the last house on the system and not really in the town, so we missed the notification.

Fortunately we had some water stored (a couple of gallons per person) so we could drink, brush teeth, and take care of some basic needs.  We also have a 50 gallon rain barrel that is full from the recient storms so we can get by for a few days.

For me it was a reminder of just how dependent we are on systems we have no control over, and how suddenly those systems can fail.  I'm not a big believer in massive amounts of storage for preparedness.  Except for short, sudden emergency you can store enough of anything to survive for long.  Adopting a way of living that is locally sustainable is more important.  That said, it is also VERY important to have some essentials stored to get you through emergency situations.  Water is one of those essentials, and you should have a few days worth for each person. 

How are you set for water in the short term, and in the long term?

$9.00 chicken quandary

I finally got to read the whole study about the cost of eating health food.  It just confirmed the quandary I'm facing.  I find my self approaching the problem of food from three different, and sometimes irreconcilable perspectives. As a local food activist I'm working to promote buy local even if it costs more.  As a producer I'm trying to produce great food and make enough profit that I am able to continue producing and expanding my business.  As a wage earner near the bottom of the wage scale I'm looking for the best food I can get for the limited money I have.  My $9.00 chicken sits right in the middle of this.  It costs to much for people like me (most of my county) to buy.  If I sell for less I don't make any money so what's the point of offering it as part of my food business.  The easiest way to balance this all is to scale up.  Tyson and co. can sell chickens for what they do because they pay a lot less for feed and processing  than I do, and because when you sell millions of chickens you can afford a much smaller profit margin.  I'm looking for creative ways to solve these problems while staying true to my vision.

I'd love to hear what you think.  Maybe together we can plot a course forward.

We still have some openings for our summer and fall chicken CSA at our Local Harvest Store.

Back to the discussion about a $9.00 chicken

I read an article in the Harvard Review (my mother-in-law is an alum...not me) about the cost of eating "healthy" vs "non-healthy" food.  It was a review of research (which I haven't read yet, but will on my day off), so it was less specific on some things than I would have liked, but it did highlight some things that I have also found in my daily life.  First, the cost of eating "healthy" food is not as great as most of us think.  It is only about $1.50 per person per day more.  Second, that cost may be insignificant to most of the readers of the Harvard Review, but it is a big deal to the people at the bottom end of the income scale.  Third, the food production and distribution system is heavily subsidized to favor "non-healthy" food, so it is less expensive.

There are many things that were not addressed in the review (which may be in the research...) that I have found impact my food choices.  I've recently had the eye opening experience of living (as a family of 4) on a $9.00 an hour income.  Changed some of my assumptions about why people make the food choices they make.  For me, $1.50 per person per day is huge.  That is almost a whole week (after taxes and all the other "benefits" they take) worth of work.  Some how I can't fit an extra week in every month to pay for "healthy" food.  The cost also doesn't address the fact that "healthy" food is either more perishable, so I cant buy it once or twice a month when I shop, or only available in bulk quantities that cost a lot up front but will last me for months.  I don't have the upfront cost, so those are out.  and I cant afford to buy stuff every week.  We shop twice a month.  That's it.  We are lucky.  We have a big garden, and animals, and we have been putting food up for years.  We have the equipment and the skills to do that.  But, when jobs went south, we found that our pantry was not as well stocked as we thought, and the run-up to spring has been grim.  Most people at my wage level don't have the space, equipment, skills, or existing storage to make it.  That's why the $4.50 chicken at Walmart, or the cheap bread, or other cheap "food" is the option they choose.  It isnt because they are stupid and cant make a good choice.  It is because they only have a few $ for the days food and they chose the most BANG for the $.

What's your experience with the cost for eating well?

Lucky to have a job...

In the 8.5 hours I was at work today,  people came in, resumes in hand, asking for applications for part time, minimum wage jobs.  Same happened yesterday (I know because I printed the applications before I left, and they were all gone when I got to work today)  So, 6 apps x 7 days = 42 apps per week at our store.  We live in an isolated county with a population of around 30,000.  200 people applying for work at one store in a month seems like a lot in such a small population...where is the "recovery"?

So, we cleaned up a corner of the yard today before work... Hart Nut Trees planted 2 years ago were being  overcome in weeds, and we rescued them today.  Good family effort.

Canned 7 quarts of Portuguese Kale Soup.  Its a winter fav, and having it 20 min ready is great.   Still looking for ways to store kale and swiss chard for the winter...  Ideas welcomed.

No bills today!!! still trying to figure who gets paid...

Feeling lucky to have a job, and work for a co that thinks I have value (not enough to live on, but some...)

Maybe I am stupid...

I find that discovering a truth that changes everything doesn't make life easier or better.  I know how we should live, maybe not all the details, but the big rules.  I know that if I create a life following those rules I will be happier, healthier, and the world around me will be a better place.  Yet, every step I take toward living a new way creates a myriad of problems.  So, here's an update after too long being quiet.

The farm thrives.  Garlic is in.  Beans are in.  Freezer is full of chicken, pork, and beef.  Parts of the yard look brilliant, and other parts are totally over run.  We haven't finished painting the house...  The remodel is in year 7 of a 15 year plan, and on schedule...  This month we are trying to make $685.00 cover $1156.00 in bills.  Next month will be better.  We are making fudge, bread, hard cider, and all kinds of other good stuff.  We are writing books, and getting ready to launch an online mag.  Life is full. The system kicks us daily, but we are still here, fighting on, and trying not to choke on our philosophy.

Maybe I'm stupid for believing... maybe I'm stupid for sharing... maybe I'm just stupid... but I'll trudge on, and drag you along with me for as long as you allow.

After the silence,.....politics?

So, it's been a  LONG TIME since I wrote.  Not that I didn't have anything to talk about, its just that ideas, time, and a functional brain didn't really come together at the same time.... (BE GLAD YOU ARE NOT ME...)
So, here I am blogging again.  BUT, rather than catching you up on all the cool things happening around the Roost, or with LOCAL FOODS, I'm going to rant (isn't that really why we blog?????)

I went to the farmers market today.  The LOCAL market, 2 minutes from my house where I have been selling stuff to my neighbors for the past three months.  The INSPECTOR ( cue Inspector Gadget Music...) showed up as I was setting up my table.  He wanted to look at my labels.  Not my products, just the labels.  My labels tell who I am, where I am located, and how to contact me.  My signs tell buyers that the products are home made and what they are and what is in them. 

I didn't pass inspection, and I was asked to leave.  (he said I could stay and sell my 5 bags of greens, but not my bread, but IF he had seen that the bags were closed, he would have fined me for not having processed them in a licenced facility. Been down that road before... I went home.  It is 96 degrees F and 100% humidity... greens will not hold for 4 hours in an open container.)

So,  I've come home.  I'll fix my labels, and be back next week. 

On my way home I stopped at the local store for some wine (seemed like a good idea...)  They sell bread, but no one there could tell me what was in it, who made it, when it was made, where it was made, or anything about it other than "read the label, and it costs $1.95 a loaf."  I don't know how that is safer than my neighbors buying bread from me, knowing where I live, how to get in touch with me, what I put in the bread, when it was made, etc. 

I don't blame the drone at the bottom who showed up to inspect.  He was just doing his job and trying to survive in the hive.  I am frustrated that we keep throwing money into such a STUPID system.

I've formed a group to work on local food issues.  We are doing LOTS.  It is a slow process, but we are moving.  I'm spitting nails, throwing stuff, mad that Big Brother is treading on our progress.

Sustainability and Economics – an eco-farmer’s thoughts

I get questioned about the economic viability of my little farm on a fairly regular basis. Usually the question comes in a rather dismissive form. “You can’t really hope to make a living doing that, can you?” Or, “It wouldn’t work if your wife didn’t work full time.” These questions bother me because they are hard to answer in a way that people understand. I’m going to try again. Feedback is welcome.


First, a short look at what I mean by sustainability.

In nature, everything is tied to a place (a spot of dirt or a range of travel). Everything needed for the life of the creature comes from that place. Resources are taken in, held for a while in a living creature, then they are returned to that place to be used by myriad other creatures. Individually and collectively they are expressions of that place and the resources held there. This cycle is very fractal in nature. It repeats at every level of magnification, from the microscopic creatures of the soil to the gigantic, ancient oak, to the vast herds of bison, it is the same process. They are all expressions of their place.

Resources are not lost, just tied up for a while in one creature or another. The system is infinitely sustainable without input beyond sunlight and water cycling through. This is the sustainability I am working toward on my farm. It is at the root of my obsession with all things local.



Economics and Sustainability

Natural sustainability limits growth. Places become more complex, denser in life, more diverse as more and more creatures find niches in the resource pool of a place, but they limit growth. The resource pool doesn’t really expand. So if resources are tied up in one creature they are not available for another creature. This creates equilibrium, balance. As an eco-farmer this defines the economics of my place. I can increase diversity, make better uses of the resources at hand, find more niches to fill, but I can’t push growth beyond the limits of my resource pool and I can’t upset the balance of life in my place without crashing the system.

Making a living

Unfortunately, I live in a world where another model of sustainability and economics holds sway. This model is based on unending growth. It strips resources from one place and feeds them into a growth machine somewhere else. Business expands, more tons of corn are harvested from this field, more pounds of beef are produced at this feedlot, than ever before. The measure of economic sustainability is “can you keep growing at the desired rate?” If you can’t, your operation is not viable.

This model and nature’s model are incompatible. So, what’s a poor farmer to do?

Here’s what I’m finding.

The more we move our farm toward nature’s model, meeting our basic needs from the resources here, and returning those resources back to the local pool, the less tied to the current economic system we become. If our food, water, and energy come from this place, we need very little cash to purchase it from elsewhere. We do have our deal with the devil (I mean the bank) to pay for our land. It’s a small amount, and we may reach a point where we generate enough income to pay that and our other financial needs. But, natural sustainability trumps income generation. We will push ourselves to be the best farmers we can, but we will not crash the system to make more money. If we can’t make enough farming the way we know we should, we will have to have some kind of outside income to meet the demands of our artificial economy.

A snapshot of what we eat

Here's a quick look at what we ate for breakfast and how far we have to go in the next three months.

Whole wheat pancakes for breakfast.  Simple, made from scratch, topped with local maple syrup.  This is what the kids ask for almost every day.  So where do all these ingredients come from?

Flour - King Arthur Premium Whole Wheat - At least as far away as Kansas, probably farther.  700 - 1000 miles.

Canola oil - Generic - Somewhere in Canada.  700 - 1000 miles

Baking Powder - Sodium bicarbonate from a mine somewhere and corn starch from the Nebraska (probably).  At least 1000 miles.

Sugar - Domino - Somewhere in Florida probably.  700 miles

Whole Milk - our cow - 150 feet

Free Range Eggs - our chickens - 150 feet

Maple Syrup - Adelsberger's Farm - 5 miles

Obviously we have a problem.  If it isn't from our back yard, the stuff we ate for breakfast traveled WAY TOO FAR.  More than half of the ingredients for today's breakfast traveled at least 700 miles.  That's not local.

Solutions we will start exploring. 

Local Grain Mills and Local grain producers.

Switching to local honey instead of sugar (except for fudge making... fudge doesn't set when made with honey.)

Changing what we eat.  If breakfast was scrambled eggs, yogurt, and bottled or frozen fruit, we could have been almost entirely local.

So, where did your breakfast come from?

Eat Local 2011

The past few weeks we have had some interesting conversations around the table. Many of them have been spurred by ideas and anecdotes from Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Most often, when we weren’t laughing along with the story, the conversation ran along the “we’ve done that” and “when we did that this is what happened…” The rest of the time we talked about the nature of our food, where it comes from, what cool things Barbara’s family did that we want to try, etc. At the end of CC and I reading and discussing the book we found ourselves with a wistful, empty feeling. We had done most, if not all of the local living adventures described in the book (except the trip to Italy, which is on the MUST DO list.) We talk about the importance of local food, write about it, read about it, and dabble in it. But we always backslide. The month long project ends, or we get busy, or… any of a thousand things. So, we find ourselves creeping closer, but never really fully committing.

 

So, as they say, “talk is cheap, (it’s time for us to) shut-up and dance.”

 

This week we are launching our Eat Local 2011 project. We are going to spend the year building the habit of eating local food.
I know, January is a pretty stupid time to start such a project. There is nothing growing locally. We are setting ourselves up for failure even before we start. But, we have given some thought to this. We are giving ourselves three months to put the pieces together.

 

Here’s our plan:
January

• Local Food Fridays – Our main meal on Friday will be 100% local. We will use this as an opportunity to push our awareness of what is available in the long dark season, and to build connections with local producers.
• Explore where our food comes from.
• Find sources for staples.
• Plan the new and expanded garden so that we can meet more of our food needs.

February

• Filling the gaps – What things can we not possibly get locally? What can we do without? What is the best source for those things we can’t do without?
• Snacks – Local alternatives to the processed chips, crackers, etc. that we love.
• Start the garden.
• Continue Local Food Fridays

March

• Planting, Planting, Planting
• Explore food storage options so we will be ready for the production season
• Find local cheese, and learn to make cream cheese, soft cheeses, feta, etc.
• Find processer for chickens, rabbits, etc. (Or convince the family that we can and should do our own…)
• Continue Local Food Fridays

April

• Take the plunge, 100% local.
• Continue Local Food Fridays Posts to highlight what is in season here and how we are dealing with it.

Beyond that, we will see what happens.

 

This week I will be adding a page explaining the project. I’ll include a button you can get to link back to the project information. I’ll also include a link to anyone who wants to dance with us.

Local Harvest - A great resource

One of the things that is very difficult for small farm and for people looking for real, locally grown food is getting connected. Most small farms don't have the time or the money to advertise so if you don't know them, or happen to drive buy you might never find what is available in your community. You might make a connection at the farmers market, but many producers don't go to the market.

There is a great resource that can help both producers and consumers.



It's called Local Harvest. It is a site where small farms can list information about their farm. You can look up what farms are listed in your area. It also lists farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants, and co-ops.

They also have an online store where small farms list things they have for sale. Some of the things you can only get at the farm, but some things, like our Fudge, can be shipped.

We have been listed on Local Harvest for a while now. We get lots of visits and questions about our farm. Our Fudge is available through the online store. We also use it to find things that are not produced in our area or to find other producers near us that we didn't know of before.

As you are preparing your holiday meals and gifts you should check out Local Harvest. You will be amazed at the things you can get that are grown close to home.

A look at sustainability

Sustainability is something we work on at our farm everyday. So far it has been pretty elusive, pretty hard to define, a quest rather than a destination. We are lucky in many ways in our quest. First, we are lucky to be able to pursue such a quest. Second, our farm is wedged between two very different models of production so we get to see other possibilities without having to try them all ourselves. Here’s some of what I’ve noticed about my neighbors and their production approach.

Across the road and up the hill from my farm is a collection of fields that have been abandon by the owner. She still owns them, and maintains fences, etc. but no active use is made or management is inflicted in the space. Nature manages as She sees fit. In the past almost five years the fields have changed from mown grass to new forest. I did a species count on my farm (identical to the fields on the other side of the road when we moved in 5 years ago) and we had an average of 12 different plant species per square yard. I haven’t crossed the road and measured, but from my side of the road I can see at least 20 more species, closely spaced in the fields. These are “weed trees, shrubs, and forbs” that no one would allow to grow on their property. I’ve also noticed an increase in the number of birds, and the diversity of bird species seen on both sides of the road. More things are blooming over there so the pollinators have more food and habitat. The varieties of plants is greater and the animals and insects that use them for food or shelter has increased. Over all (with out doing an exact count) I’d say there are twice as many species thriving per square meter. This is without management and will continue into the future until there is some cataclysmic (a very abrupt and RARE occurrence) event that disrupts life. Even then the system would just start over where it was and would quickly fill every conceivable nook with burgeoning life.

Across the fence on the other side of the farm is an 80 acre field of soy beans. It is in a corn, corn, soy bean rotation. Low till methods are used with GPS pinpointed fertilizer applications and every current application being applied to reduce inputs and increase outputs. It produces a lot and the farmers who manage it make a pretty good living. There are three species of plant living in the field (if you count some of the edges). Soy beans, one variety of grass that the spray hasn’t killed yet, and cockle burrs. Nothing else lives. There are a lot of Mexican Bean Beatles (between sprayings), a few birds, and lots of ground hogs. My chickens won’t even go over there now (they did in the early spring until the spraying started again.)

From a sustainability measure it is hard to say which system works. The farm field theoretically produce more human food (except you can’t eat any of it with out processing the life out of it). The other field supports more life. From my perspective the abandon field is a more sustainable system. It is dependant on nothing from outside it’s own community of life. Every resource there stays there and is recycled into food for other community members. The farm field fails as soon as the inputs stop. In 10 years or so it would start to be like the field across the road, but it would be a long slow process to overcome all the chemicals and destruction of life systems that have happened over the past 50 years.

My farm is wedged in between. This is a physical thing, but also a philosophical thing. I can’t live on the production of either field. But I know the natural space is more sustainable. Trying to build systems that utilize the same natural processes while producing the things I need is my challenge. Finding the key could save our species on this planet. It’s much better than questing for the Holy Grail (but it probably won’t make a great movie.)

Local Food

Local food and sustainable production are topics that are being touched on several places I participate in around the web. I think about these issues a lot. Solving them for my small farm is what I spend most of my time working on. Here are some thoughts from my experience for people and groups also working on these issues.

Barriers to local food systems -

1. Regulations.- Most locations with larger populations prohibit any kind of “farming, particularly livestock” within their jurisdiction. Keeping chickens, goats, meat rabbits, or having a market garden in the city or the suburbs is prohibited more places than not. If the production can’t be close, it isn’t local.

2. Costs - Land in or near the city is expensive. Setting up processing facilities, buying equipment, paying laborers for the first few start up years all costs money. Many of the people with the passion and skills to be local producers don’t have and can’t get the money to do it. In many ways we are like a third world country when it comes to developing local economies. There is a vast need, no infrastructure, and no one with money to do it. Micro loan programs, co-ops, and other micro scale development efforts that have worked in the third world should be applied to local programs here.

3. Knowledge - there is no organized education or mentoring aimed at developing and enhancing the skills needed in a local economy.

4. Market - Locally produced food is not cheaper. Especially starting out it could even cost more. If producers can’t make a living doing what they do they will do something else. Educating the consumers, supporting marketing, building incentives will help.

5. Eco-warriors - There are many activist types who think doing battle with the government or big business must be a part of this kind of effort. Resources get wasted trying to fix an unfixable system. We need to start building a new system rather than wasting time, energy, and money on the broken one.

This conversation is happening lots of places. Get involved in your area. Explore ways to live more locally and share your experiences with as many others as you can.

Champagne d' Argent Rabbits

The past few days I've been on my soapbox, ranting about sustainability and local food. If you want the latest on that issue it is on Bioneers. The rest of my time has been tied up with finishing 4H projects (evaluations for Archery are tomorrow at 9am.) and getting our Champagne babies settled.

Five weeks ago our Champagne doe kindled (I think that's the right term). She had seven beautiful black, silky babies. Six of them made it through the rigours of growing up to weaning time. I must admit I didn't do much other than putting the nest box and materials in and making sure they had plenty of good feed and water. Everyone looks great. The plan was to butcher them in a few more weeks, and have at least one more litter (is that the right term?) before winter. Now half of them are sold. At $35 each (registered) it is hard to justify eating them. We still have three left (two does and a buck) with one other interested person. We will be having another litter in the fall and be keeping one of the does (that means changing bucks soon, genetics in rabbits is a bit strange.) I still hope to have some of them in the freezer in the near future. I'm very pleased with the way they have reproduced and raised their young, even in the heat.

We are exploring ways to make them more sustainable by including some grazing options in their care. More on that later.

Sustainability?

We had guests at the farm this past week. Two kids ages 7 and 9 to play with our two. It was full on, but great! This morning I had to take them south to meet their parents. On the drive I was listening to NPR's morning show. They were blathering about the economy and politics and I wasn't really listening. Then the sponsor came on and my brain kicked in. The hour was sponsored by our friends Monsanto. They came on and said "Morning Edition is sponsored by Monsanto, committed to sustainable agriculture..." They went on to talk about the wonderful genetically superior products they offered to sustain farming into the next century. My brain shut down after the first line. Monsanto, the champion of sustainable ag. The mind reels. So, I started thinking about the word sustainable. For Monsanto and for many people it implies that this business will continue into the "foreseeable future". It has nothing to do with long term, ecological, or geological sustainability. There is no thought about the future of the species or the planet, just the short term viability of the business. That is not my definition of sustainability, but it is the definition that is used by much of the public sector. Some effort needs to go into creating these definitions. Otherwise the words mean nothing.

Hysteria

Today I grumbled about the hysteria surrounding Food Safety Legislation. The chatter on the net is filled with such theories of Grand Conspiracies. I think it gets in the way of rational discussion of the problems with the proposed legislation. When I arrived here (Bioneers) I found another tirade against the Monsanto consortium and their bid to take over the world. I was about to comment when this link popped up on my desktop (a link from a conversation at Wildlife Gardeners-On the heels of HR875). Another 12 bills to add to the 5 I was already following and trying to be rational about. Maybe a bit of hysteria is called for. It does seem that someone is trying to ram "food safety" legislation down our throats. Maybe we should be wondering why!

I find it passing strange that I'm writing about politics. In the political season I didn't and two bloggers I really respect (Jack and Sheria)did. I sniped at their posts, playing the cynic. Now they blog about their lives and I scramble to keep up with the politics. Justice, I suppose.

Food Safety Legislation and The Grand Conspiracy

There has been a lot of chatter on the net about H.R 875, H.R. 759, H.R. 814, and Senate Bills 425 and 510. Doom and gloom. Apocalyptic ranting and raving. The END OF EVERYTHING. I understand the feelings being expressed, but most of these tirades tend to get labeled as the ranting of the lunatic fringe and discounted. That doesn't mean there is no truth in these posts, or that the accusations they make have no validity. It just means they wont be taken seriously by the politicians or the main stream public.

The truth is these bills, H.R 875, H.R. 759, H.R. 814, and Senate Bills 425 and 510, consolidate power in a single bureaucracy, increase safety requirements and regulation of small, diversified producers (with many requirements that would put small producers out of business), and do very little to improve food safety. Large producers are already regulated and the tracking systems are already there for most of the things they produce. The failure has been in the bureaucratic administration of the existing regulations, not in the lack of regulations. Creating a larger bureaucracy with more regulations will not increase food safety. Having a more localized, diverse food system will. These bills deliberately or inadvertently eliminate such diversity from the system. That is why they should be opposed. If the government is truly looking for ways to ensure safer food it would be developing ways to support smaller, more localized, more diverse food production. The "redundancy" and "inefficiencies" in this kind of system make it less susceptible to threat from disease or terrorists.

We need to stop ranting about Monsanto and start calmly expressing our concerns as voters to our representatives in the government. Money may be powerful, but so are voters.

The Food Safety Modernization Act - Trojan Horse?

I'm being told that H.R. 875, The Food Safety Modernization Act, is not going to pass. I shouldn't worry about it. Apparently the bill that has the best chance of passing is H.R. 759, The Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act. It is in committee now. It is much harder to get a handle on. Much of it is written as amendments to Title 21 of Federal Code. That makes it pretty tough for a non-lawyer like me to wade through it and figure out what it means. There is a section dealing with Safety Standards for Fresh Produce that makes me think small farmers who "process" produce on farm should be concerned with this bill as well.

Here is the text of that section.

SEC. 104. SAFETY STANDARDS FOR FRESH PRODUCE.

(a) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 301 (21 U.S.C. 331), as amended by sections 102 and 103, is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(pp) The production or harvesting of produce not in accordance with minimum standards as provided by regulation under section 419A(a) or a variance issued under section 419A(e).’’.

(b) STANDARDS.—Chapter IV (21 U.S.C. 341 et seq.), as amended by sections 102 and 103, is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘SEC. 419A. STANDARDS FOR PRODUCE SAFETY.

‘‘(a) STANDARDS.—The Secretary shall establish by regulation science-based minimum standards for the safe production and harvesting of those types of fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities for which the Secretary has determined that such standards minimize the risk of serious adverse health consequences or death.

‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The regulations under subsection

(a)—‘‘(1) shall set forth such procedures, processes, and practices as the Secretary determines to be reasonably necessary—‘‘(A) to prevent the introduction of known or reasonably foreseeable biological, chemical,

12 and physical hazards, including hazards that

13 occur naturally, may be unintentionally intro14

duced, or may be intentionally introduced, in15

cluding by acts of terrorism, into fruits and

16 vegetables that are raw agricultural commod17

ities; and ‘‘(B) to provide reasonable assurances that the produce is not adulterated under section 402;

‘‘(2) shall include, with respect to growing, harvesting, packing, sorting, and storage operations, minimum standards for safety;

‘‘(3) shall include standards addressing manure use, water quality, employee hygiene, sanitation and animal control, temperature controls, and nutrients; ‘‘(4) may include standards for such other elements as the Secretary determines necessary to carry out subsection (a);

‘‘(5) shall provide a reasonable period of time for compliance, taking into account the needs of small businesses for additional time to comply; and ‘‘(6) shall provide for coordination of education and enforcement activities by State and local officials, as designated by the Governors of the respective States.

‘‘(c) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall prioritize the implementation the regulations under subsection (a) for specific fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities and have been associated with food-borne illness outbreaks. ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary may coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture and shall contract and coordinate with the agency or department designated by the Governor of each State to perform activities to ensure compliance with this section.’’.

I'll keep working my way through this as best I can and as time allows. I'd appreciate feedback from others who have looked at it from a small farm perspective.

Food Safety Regulation - Why I am concerned with H.R. 875

I've been asked a number of times why I am spending so much effort on this bill. I get a lot of people saying it wont pass and even if it does it wont be the doom of small farms, so why worry.

Here's a true story that illustrates why I am concerned.

A few years ago I worked on a small farm in Texas. The mission of this farm was to train people who were preparing to go overseas on agricultural missions or peace core deployments. Much of the farm was set up to give people real experience with the conditions they would meet in the field. They learned to build, live with, and maintain composting toilets, rain catchment systems, water pumps, water filtration, wood fire cooking, etc. It was a great learning environment.

To raise some of the money needed to maintain these programs the farm operated a small grade A Raw Milk dairy and a vegetable CSA. There were also farm days held a couple of times a year when community members came for food and fun and donated money. After one of these farm days someone complained to the health department about conditions at the farm. There was no sickness, no problem that I was aware of, just a complaint. An inspector from the Health Department came to check things out. She happened to show up on CSA day. We were just finishing bagging the lettuce for the afternoon pickup. We, the farm staff, interns, and CSA members, were working at tables in the shade on the porch of the learning center. The inspector walked around with the director, asked a few questions, and left. A few days later we were notified that we must cease processing (washing and bagging) lettuce or any other produce until we had a certified, inspected, separate processing facility in which to work. The facility had to be completely enclosed, washable, have a bathroom, a separate hand washing sink, refrigeration, etc. It needed to basically be a commercial kitchen without the cooking equipment. The cost of such a facility, even with donated labor and some donated materials would run to several thousand dollars (much more than that with out the donations and the existence of a concrete pad we could build on.) Everything was put on hold while the farm scrounged the donations, money, and help to build the facility. It came close to permanently shutting down the CSA.

The CSA at this farm had been running for years. The state dairy inspector visited the farm every few weeks to check the dairy and the milk we sold. There was never a problem brought up that was outside the normal operating of a dairy. Yet, one unrelated complaint to the Health Department almost shut down the whole operation and cost the farm thousands of dollars and a huge amount of time. If this had happened to a farm that was not a well known and fairly well funded non-profit teaching center, it could have easily spelled ruin. Very few small farmers have the resource base to create such a facility mid-season. The banks rarely loan money for such projects (the return is too small and takes too long from a business pov.) It would be a disaster.

The proposed Food Safety Modernization Act would link the state and federal systems much more closely with the state doing the ground work of registration, inspection, and data collection. It would also completely open farms to the regulation of the Health Department. Because most small farms process (wash and bag) produce on farm they become subject to the same inspections and regulatory requirements as large processing facilities. Most small farms can't afford to create the required facilities and would be forced out of business.

That is why I'm concerned with this bill and am working to see it doesn't pass. I support safe food and inspections that help insure its safety. I think there is a need for it at all levels of the food production process. But the large scale commercial system is vastly different from the small scale local system. This bill does not address these differences, it lumps everything together. It falls short of the needs at the large scale and doesn't even consider the needs at the small scale.

Here is a link to another look at the bill and some ways to get involved http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-solemn-walk-through-HR-8-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090314-67.html Check it out.

Food Safety Bills - more information

There is a summary of H.R 875, H.R. 759, H.R. 814, and Senate Bills 425 and 510 on the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance site. They also have links to more information and to ways to take action.

Judith McGeary, from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance ended her letter to the editor of Acres Magazine, April 2009 issue, with the following;

"None of the bills recognize the fundamental differences in food safety between the industrial, centralized food system and the sustainable, local food system. To one degree or another, they all attempt to impose expensive, burdensome requirements on all farmers, regardless of the scale of operation or the management methods. True food safety reform needs to recognize that foods such as grass-fed meats, processed in local, small-scale operations, are not the same as - and should not be regulated as - feedlot meats processed at massive facilities and shipped all over the country. Nor should vegetables and fruits from a local farm be treated the same as spinach from mega-farms in California, processed at a multimillion-dollar facility, and shipped all over the country."

If you care about the future of local, sustainable food you should get involved. Follow the link to Farm and Ranch Alliance and take action.

Food Safety Modernization Act - Another Look

Since I posted my take on the Food Safety Modernization Act - H.R. 875, I have been drawn into a number of conversations about the bill and what it means or does not mean for small farmers. In these conversation a fact sheet put out by Food and Water Watch has been referred to often, either by people who support the bill or people who work for Food and Water Watch. Their reading of this bill and mine differ on a few points. Here is what Hayley, an employee of Food and Water Watch, posted in the comments on the Garden Rant discussion of this bill.

Hayley said...

Hello everyone,

My name is Hayley and I work for Food and Water Watch. In the posts, Jill, mentioned our fact sheet, well I think it's important to clear up the bill, so I'm going to post it here. Our policy experts have read and interpreted the entire bill and basically there are 6 food safety bills being circulated in Congress, but only this one seems to be receiving a lot of attention. H.R. 875 – would overhauling the totally dysfunctional Food and Drug Administration. But the rumor mill has this legislation pegged as something entirely different. Now it’s time to set the record straight. Here are a few things that H.R. 875 DOES do:

- It addresses the most critical flaw in the structure of FDA by splitting it into two new agencies –one devoted to food safety and the other devoted to drugs and medical devices.
- It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced – but it does NOT make plants pay any registration fees or user fees.
- It does extend food safety agency authority to food production on farms, requiring farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur.
- It requires imported food to meet the same standards as food produced in the U.S.

And just as importantly, here are a few things that H.R. 875 does NOT do:
- It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish.)
- It does not establish a mandatory animal identification system.
- It does not regulate backyard gardens.
- It does not regulate seed.
- It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements.
- It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines).
- It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper.)

HOWEVER Several of the other bills include provisions that should worry small farmers – like H.R. 814, which calls for a mandatory animal identification system, or H.R. 759, which is more likely to move through Congress than H.R. 875 and calls for electronic recordkeeping on farms and registration fees for processing plants.

I hope everyone found this helpful!

Hayley says the bill "- It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced". What she doesn't mention is that if you "process" (as in cut and bag, or otherwise package food or produce) you are reclassified as a food establishment and subject to these inspections. Many small farms do this. Most large farms do not. She also points out that this bill "extends food safety agency authority to food production on farms." Food and Water Watch think this is a good thing, and it may be for large commercial farms. The requirement to "write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur" (and submit it for review, approval, and inspection, I'm sure) is a good thing for giant producers of some kinds of produce, but would be burdensome and unnecessary for small farms.

Hayley goes on to point out things the bill "does not" do. Some of these are true as far as the wording of the bill is concerned (except that if you process anything on farm you instantly become a food establishment and subject to all the requirements of this law.) Other things, like "- It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements." are true. The bill isn't aimed at the marketing methods, and contains nothing about farmers markets or direct marketing. But, (9) CATEGORY 5 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT.—The term ‘‘category 5 food establishment’’ means a food establishment that stores, holds, or transports food products prior to delivery for retail sale. the small farmer taking his bags of lettuce to market and holding them there for sale could also fall subject to the inspection and requirements for a Category 5 Food Establishment. That could mean refrigerated trucking, refrigeration at the market, etc. This would have a huge impact on small farms and small Farmers Markets.

She says "- It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines)." I didn't find this anywhere in the bill.

On the topic of traceability Hayley says the bill will not "establish a mandatory animal identification system." and that "- It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper.)" But the bill states "SEC. 210. TRACEBACK REQUIREMENTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in order to protect the public health, shall establish a national traceability system that enables the Administrator to retrieve the history, use, and location of an article of food through all stages of its production, processing, and distribution.

(b) APPLICABILITY.—Traceability requirements under this section shall apply to food from food production facilities, food establishments, and foreign food establishments." Seems like a traceability requirement for all food to me.

I still think this bill addresses some efficiency issues that need to be looked at. But it is written with an eye for large producers. The regulatory part takes into account their needs and the problems associated with them. It does NOT consider small farms at all. That is a different system and needs to be addressed in different ways. This bill as it is written has the potential to severely damage the small farm and local food movements. Not from maliciousness, but from ignorance of the issues at this level.