Thursday, October 25, 2007

Agriculture in "The Home of the Free"

I have been studying sustainable agriculture fairly intensely the last several months. If you know the way most of the food you eat is produced, you can quickly see how unsustainable and undesirable it can be. I don't have time to go into detail, but the way most of our animals are raised in this country is unsanitary, inhumane and an environmental catastrophe. I'm not an environmentalist, but I do believe in stewardship--and the way we grow a lot of the food in our country is not good stewardship.

The irony of all this is that I'm working on a PhD in plant biology that has prepared me to go work for the ag-biotech companies like Monsanto and Syngenta. These companies are huge cogs in the gears of conventional ag. I'm probably not going to go work for those guys--but I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do instead, although I have LOTS of ideas.

Okay, now to the point of this post. I just finished reading this article by Joel Salatin. Joel is a sustainable ag farmer in Virginia and a real luminary in the movement. I love his books and his philosophy on farming and food. In the article he discusses how government regulations have interefered with just about every step in his development of a profitable and sustainable farm. He can't sell his neighbors farm products at his farm because that would make him a store--which means he needs restrooms, handicapped access, etc. The blame for these idiotic regulations that prevent entrepreneurs from developing alternatives to conventional ag can't be assigned to Democrats or Republicans. The whole system stinks. It makes me want to go out and vote for Ron Paul. I'm tired of the government "protecting" us from our own creativity and ingenuity. The latest regulation that will "protect" everybody is the National Animal Identification System that the USDA is trying to put in place. Essentially, it mandates that farmers label every farm animal in the United States--oh, but if you are a big producer it's easy because your animals are born, raised and slaughtered at one location so you don't have to label every animal. Also, you have to register your farm in a national database and report any movement of an animal off the farm within 24 hours. This is just one more regulation that could cripple small farmers. Anyway, there are lots of "stop the NAIS" websites out there if you want to learn more.

What can you do? We really need to think about where we buy our food and what our food dollars are supporting. We should consider buying our produce through local farmers markets or CSA's and our meat and eggs from local producers. What we don't need are more regulations or new laws--although phasing-out farm subsidies would be a good start. We need to vote with our dollars. That's my first agriculture rant. Don't worry, there will probably be more!

10 comments:

  1. So, is the reasoning behind the NAIS to be able to better control things like mad cow? If so, it's pretty ironic that a policy designed to solve a problem caused by large feedstock operations ends up giving them a serious competitive advantage.

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  2. Right. I think that's the main purpose. It allows federal officials to come onto your land without a warrant and destroy your herd if you're within a certain radius of an infection.

    One of the talking points on the anti websites is that there has been no cost-benefit analysis done on the program.

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  3. Has anyone else driven through Nebraska recently. You hit a stock yard every 30 minutes, or should I say that the stock yard hits you with its strong smell. This past summer the smells were extremely strong as we were passing through the cornhusker state. After dealing with the smells all day we heard Marianne in the back seat saying the most sincere prayer, "Please don't let the smell come in the car anymore." I realize that cows are not known for their sweet smells, but it becomes clear that something is evidently not right when you drive buy such operations. However, these thoughts soon leave your mind when you enter Iowa and your quickly distracted by the endless sea of corn fields. I'll have to do a little research to see what other shopping alternatives are out there. Any suggestions? There is nothing better than the fresh produce stands out on the country roads this time of the year.

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  4. That's exactly what I'm talking about. They grow the corn in Iowa and the cows in Nebraska. The cattle manure needs to be recycled to produce more food rather than sitting on a few acres with hundreds of cows where it becomes a liability instead of an asset.

    I recommend looking at localharvest.org. If you put in your city they will list farms in your area. You can search by the food you're looking for (e.g. turkey, since Thanksgiving is coming up). Also you can join a CSA (community supported agriculture). For something like $20 a week you get a box full of whatever is in season at the farm throughout the growing season, and it is picked the day you get it, instead of being shipped from South America or California. You have to pay it all up front, but I think it is a good deal. We're definitely thinking about joining a CSA for this upcoming growing season.

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  5. Farmers markets are great things! You get nice fresh local produce that is often priced below what you'd pay elsewhere. Of course, I can't get me a pineapple there, but what I've gotten has been great.
    That's always the problem with the Feds though, they solve a problem by causing another problem. Heaven forbid we release the shackles a bit!

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  6. Right, I don't think we'll ever get all of our food locally, but a move in that direction would certainly be a positive development. Are there any farmers market in Utah? I don't remember any from when I was there, but it's been a few years and I wasn't really paying attention.

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  7. Rob, it's too bad you talk about voting for Ron Paul with such a humorous tone. If he's the right man then he is and if everyone is scared to stick their neck out for him then he really won't have a chance.

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  8. We have a semi-big box store called Harvest Fresh that is a large, permanent farmer's market. All the produce is local and they do the whole organic thing too. There is also one on quite a few weekends down by the county building in Provo.

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  9. I thought I left a big comment on this earlier today, but I guess it didn't make it on.
    Anyway, I've had the exact experience Kirk is talking about. With a smell that bad, you know something's not right.

    Kris and I read a great book last year called "the Omnivore's Delimma" It's way below Rob's level for sure, but it's a good intro to the current food/agriculture situation and we learned a lot from it. It's sad to know how ignorant most of us are about stuff we eat every day...scary.
    We've been trying to do better with the great farmer's market we have out here, and I think we'll check out the CSA thing for sure.

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  10. I wasn't joking about voting for Ron Paul. I haven't ruled him out.

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