Gourmet Magzine focuses on Politics: NY Senator Gillibrand joins Committee on Agriculture

The Senate Committee on Agriculture is responsible for U.S. farm policy as we know it—but Kirsten Gillibrand, the committee’s newest member, may help push it in a better direction.
by Sam Hurst

"Gillibrand comes from a family of hunters. Her mother is an avid gardener. One of the first bills she introduced in the New York House after being elected Representative from the Hudson Valley was a proposal to save small-scale dairies. The state’s dairy industry will remain one of her top priorities in the Senate. But these personal interests hardly command a seat on the Committee. What makes Gillibrand different is that she may see agriculture in a way traditional Farm Bloc politicians scoff at. She now represents not just upstate farmers, but one of the world’s largest, most food-savvy and economically influential urban markets.

"Gillibrand’s staff suggests that she will assert herself in areas such as organic marketing, farmers markets, “buy local” networks, and even state and local efforts to keep small farms and rural landscapes from being subdivided and developed. If Gillibrand turns out to be a bridge between farmers and direct markets, her influence could be far greater than expected from a junior senator representing a state that in the past has barely paid attention to farm policy."

Read the full article in the prior post.
http://berkshiregrown.blogspot.com/2009/02/politics-from-gourmet-magazine-nys.html

Politics from Gourmet Magazine: NY's Senator Gillibrand joins Committee on Agriculture

From Gourmet Magazine, by Sam Hurst:

The Senate Committee on Agriculture is responsible for U.S. farm policy as we know it—but Kirsten Gillibrand, the committee’s newest member, may help push it in a better direction.

"Over the years, Iowa has placed 13 different senators on the Committee, and lest anyone forget the importance of agriculture in the hawkeye state, both current senators, Tom Harkin (D) and Charles Grassley (R) sit on the Committee today. The same is true for Nebraska; both Ben Nelson (D) and Mike Johanns (R) have taken seats. Scan a Committee roster and the obvious states jump out—Kansas, Montana, Mississippi, Alabama, Minnesota, Vermont. It is hard for senators from large, urban states to make room for agriculture, though. California has the largest agriculture economy in the country, but neither Barbara Boxer nor Diane Feinstein sit on the “Ag” Committee.

"In the 184-year history of the Committee, New York has seated only three members, and none since Charles Goodell, 38 years ago. The Empire State made its identity clear from the beginning: trade, finance, foreign affairs. It is hard to imagine Charles Schumer (Finance, Banking, Judiciary) or Hillary Clinton (Budget, Armed Services, Environment and Public Works) in the world of agriculture, so it came as a surprise that only days after her selection to replace Hillary Clinton as Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand chose to take a position on the Committee.

"Gillibrand comes from a family of hunters. Her mother is an avid gardener. One of the first bills she introduced in the New York House after being elected Representative from the Hudson Valley was a proposal to save small-scale dairies. The state’s dairy industry will remain one of her top priorities in the Senate. But these personal interests hardly command a seat on the Committee. What makes Gillibrand different is that she may see agriculture in a way traditional Farm Bloc politicians scoff at. She now represents not just upstate farmers, but one of the world’s largest, most food-savvy and economically influential urban markets.

"Gillibrand’s staff suggests that she will assert herself in areas such as organic marketing, farmers markets, “buy local” networks, and even state and local efforts to keep small farms and rural landscapes from being subdivided and developed. If Gillibrand turns out to be a bridge between farmers and direct markets, her influence could be far greater than expected from a junior senator representing a state that in the past has barely paid attention to farm policy."

Secty of Agriculture Vilsack on local food

Will local foods play a part?

In a perfect world, everything that was sold, everything that was purchased and consumed would be local, so the economy would receive the benefit of that. But sometimes that stresses the capacity: the production capacity or the distribution capacity. Especially since we don't have yet a very sophisticated distribution system for locally grown food. One thing we can do is work on strategies to make that happen. It can be grant programs, loan programs, it can be technical assistance.

Read the complete interview by Jane Black with Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, from the Washington Post in the post below

Tom Vilsack, The New Face Of Agriculture

Wednesday, February 11, 2009; F01 Washington Post

Sustainable-food and farming activists in Washington have long felt they were on the outside looking in. New Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says he wants to change that. In an interview with staff writer Jane Black, the former Iowa governor, 58, talked about his personal struggles with food and about his vision of how to transform the department -- maybe even rename it -- to serve a broader range of interests. Edited excerpts follow:

Some in the sustainable-food community have worried that you are too closely identified with ethanol and agribusiness. Is that fair?

First, I would ask for the opportunity for people to get to know me and judge me by the actions I take in this office. I'm not sure the full nature of the record was understood.

What don't people know about you that might change their minds?

Food during my early years was a very difficult issue for me. I grew up in an addictive family. My mother had serious problems with alcohol and prescription drugs. I was an overweight kid. I can remember back in those days there weren't the strategies that there are today to deal with those issues. So my parents put this very nasty cartoon of a very overweight young kid with a beanie cap and pasted it on the front of the refrigerator. So every time I opened the refrigerator I had to look at that picture.

Food is a fairly significant aspect of my life. I have struggled mightily with food. With my weight. And I'm conscious of it. So I have a sensitivity to people who struggle with their weight. That's one aspect people don't fully appreciate. I don't want youngsters to go through what I went through.

There are ways we can go do a better job of educating young moms and dads about the vital role they have as the child's first teacher. I think there are ways in which we can partner with local school districts and states to do a better job to provide nutrition options at school. It's our responsibility to get this health-care crisis under control. I think if people understand that history and how serious I am about this and look at the record in Iowa -- the real record in Iowa -- they would be less concerned than they were.

What specific ideas do you have about how to move forward to improve nutrition in school lunches?

Part of my responsibility is to find people who share my concern and have more expertise than I do. People we nominate will be people who understand this issue and have the desire to effect change. The specifics of how we can do this will come from the experts. My job is to listen to the president, who is the ultimate vision maker, articulate his vision to the people who work in this department and add my two cents' worth. The vision is, he wants more nutritious food in schools.

Will local foods play a part?

In a perfect world, everything that was sold, everything that was purchased and consumed would be local, so the economy would receive the benefit of that. But sometimes that stresses the capacity: the production capacity or the distribution capacity. Especially since we don't have yet a very sophisticated distribution system for locally grown food. One thing we can do is work on strategies to make that happen. It can be grant programs, loan programs, it can be technical assistance.

Whom do you see as your constituency?

This is a department that intersects the lives of Americans two to three times a day. Every single American. The department has a global influence in terms of food, in terms of consumers and in terms of some of the moral challenges that a wealthy nation faces in the face of hunger. So I absolutely see the constituency of this department as broader than those who produce our food. It extends to those who consume it.

I know you are aware of the lists of progressive candidates for undersecretary that are circulating. How will you bring new voices into the debate?

As we set up advisory boards and committees, we'll have a better representation of people involved in food and agriculture. I think it's not so much the names on the list as a recognition of the vision: a sufficient, safe, nutritious food supply produced in a sustainable and environmentally supportive way. There's a recognition of the importance of that.

Is it true that you are thinking of changing the name of the department to include a reference to food?

We haven't got to that point. Rather than renaming it, as important as some people may feel that would be, I think [we need] a recognition that this was America's first energy department. If you think of what food is, it's the energy we use to do our daily work. I want people to know about the USDA. This is a very important department. It's not fully appreciated as such.

It's hard to convince people of that sometimes.

You tell them there's a new day here. You tell them every time they pick up a fork, every time they pick up a spoon, every time they slice a piece of bread, remember America's first energy department.

Vilsack: USDA Must Serve Eaters as Well as Farmers

By Jane Black

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 5, 2009; Page A04

"In an interview this week, he called for a "new day" for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's sprawling bureaucracy, which he believes should champion not only farmers but also everyone who eats.

"This is a department that intersects the lives of Americans two to three times a day. Every single American," he said. "So I absolutely see the constituency of this department as broader than those who produce our food -- it extends to those who consume it."

It is a significant departure from the traditional view of the USDA, which historically has emphasized programs that support commercial farming, such as price guarantees for crops and marketing promotions for exports.

"He's definitely sounding a different note than his predecessors," said Michael Pollan, the reform-minded author of the bestseller "In Defense of Food." "Whether they'll be reflected in policies remains to be seen."

Read more in prior post:

Vilsack: USDA Must Serve Eaters as Well as Farmers

By Jane Black

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 5, 2009; Page A04

"In an interview this week, he called for a "new day" for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's sprawling bureaucracy, which he believes should champion not only farmers but also everyone who eats.

"This is a department that intersects the lives of Americans two to three times a day. Every single American," he said. "So I absolutely see the constituency of this department as broader than those who produce our food -- it extends to those who consume it."

It is a significant departure from the traditional view of the USDA, which historically has emphasized programs that support commercial farming, such as price guarantees for crops and marketing promotions for exports.

"He's definitely sounding a different note than his predecessors," said Michael Pollan, the reform-minded author of the bestseller "In Defense of Food." "Whether they'll be reflected in policies remains to be seen."

With President Obama at the government's helm, food activists have begun drafting policy wish lists calling for more nutritious food in schools, money for school gardens, and incentives and support for small producers who find it difficult to compete with industrial-size farms.

Vilsack was cautious about outlining detailed proposals; he has yet to appoint a deputy secretary or the heads of key agencies such as the Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees the food stamp program, or the Food Safety and Inspection Service, charged with protecting the meat, poultry and egg supply.

At Obama's bidding, one of Vilsack's first challenges will be to improve child nutrition and food assistance programs, such as the $6 billion Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which is up for renewal by Congress. Food activists have called for these programs to emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables, locally grown when possible, to improve the diet of low-income families.

Vilsack said he supports such efforts: His first official act was the reinstatement of $3.2 million in grant funding for fruit and vegetable farmers that had been rescinded in the final days of the Bush administration. Though the dollar amount was small, Vilsack said it sent a message of his emphasis on nutritious food.

He added that educating school administrators, parents and children is essential in effecting change. To that end, he said, he supports establishing school and urban community gardens, long at the top of the wish list for activists.

"We want to make a better connection between what kids eat and knowing where it comes from," he said. "I've seen it in my own family. If you educate kids at an early age, you can have a tremendous impact."

Vilsack also said he favors establishing state food policy councils, nonpartisan advisory boards that would represent a diverse array of food interests. He created a state council in 2000 in Iowa, and he said it was instrumental in implementing improvements in nutritional benefits for seniors, expanding farmers' markets and increasing the number of people receiving food stamps.

Read more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/04/AR2009020403467.html

An Interview Series

Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA (lisa)

As a new installment to Berkshire Grown's blog, I am proud to introduce a monthly interview series with farms and food providers in the Berkshires. Each month will feature a new farm or business person, and I plan to cover a variety of areas in agriculture and farming throughout the year, giving you an insider's view of the people who provide us with local foods.

If you have a suggestion for an interview, please email me.

Next month: An interview with Seth Travins (Sauerkraut Seth) of Hawthorne Valley Farm.

Become a member of a local CSA farm!

Our local farmers need your support all year long. You can help them and help yourself by selecting a CSA now, before shares sell out.

What is a CSA?
A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA.
Each CSA farm has its own unique character: shares vary in price, pick-up days & times, vegetables grown, you-pick options, etc. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season.

http://www.berkshiregrown.org/map.html?search=C.S.A.

Click on CSAs to explore the local farms!

New CSA member farms in Berkshire County

We're excited to announce two new CSAs in the Berkshires:


River Valley Farm
345 New Lenox Road (just south of Pittsfield -- a CSA in Central Berkshire County!)
Regular ($500) and summer ($375) shares.
413-822-9621
e-mail: Lisa@raresheepwool.com

http://www.raresheepwool.com

Wolfe Spring Farm on Hewins Street in Sheffield, MA

A share is $550 or $500 with three hours/season work.
Shares for sale beginning February 1 until they sell out.

413-229-2012

wolfespringfarm@yahoo.com

Food democracy on the web

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2715/t/3528/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=265
The Center for Rural Affairs hopes you will sign their letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to urge him to fulfill Obama's vision for rural communities and family farmers.

The food democracy website founder wants you to support advocates for sustainable agriculture as under secretaries in the Department of Agriculture. Read about these wonderful candidates:
http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/

Tom Vilsack - Chosen for Secretary of Agriculture

Read more about Governor Tom Vilsack -- Obama's choice for Secretary of Agriculture:

A controversy has heated up on the web:

The Organic Consumers Association is trying to stop the appointment, here is an excerpt and a website for more information:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/vilsack.cfm

"While Vilsack has promoted respectable policies with respect to restraining livestock monopolies, his overall record is one of aiding and abetting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms and promoting genetically engineered crops and animal cloning. Equally troubling is Vilsack's support for unsustainable industrial ethanol production, which has already caused global corn and grain prices to skyrocket, literally taking food off the table for a billion people in the developing world."

A group who support Vilsack's appointment have created this website:
http://www.supportvilsack.com/

Supporters include: Denise O'Brien, the organic farmer who ran for secretary of agriculture of Iowa; Walter Robb, co-president of Whole Foods; Bob Scowcroft, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation; Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States; and many others.

Here is an excerpt from what Gary Hirshberg, founder and CEO of Stonyfield Farms writes:

"I need to be very clear that I am neither blindly nor universally supportive of all of Governor Vilsack’s positions. Indeed, as he is very well aware, I disagree with a number of his past decisions. But even on the issues about which we disagree, I have found Tom to be an open-minded, excellent listener who is genuinely interested in opposing views, and who is actually able to change his views based on new findings. My support for his candidacy as Ag Secretary derives less from his specific views and historic voting record and more from his overall character, outlook, judgment and capacity to hear all sides of an issue and then make reasoned and sound decisions.

"With that said, I will add that I do agree with most of Tom’s judgments, and believe that we could not find a better leader for an agency that is in desperate need of a deep renovation and a long-term vision that truly embraces sustainable solutions. In a nutshell, Tom Vilsack gets it.

"He deeply understands issues of sustainability, of climate change and of the toxification of our nation’s air, water and soils that have resulted from short-term, short-sighted thinking. He has taken principled and visionary positions on biofuels and courageous stands in a corn state that corn is NOT the long-term answer. He deeply understands the critical role that family farmers must play in a resource-stressed planet and believes in the need for new, out-of the-box thinking and solutions that will not just slow the deterioration of our nation’s farms, soils, ecosystems and biodiversity but will actually begin the process of restoring these broken systems. He respects ecology.

"Tom believes in technologic innovation but is not blind to the threats and problems posed by, for instance, biotechnology. Just as he has been among the nation’s truly visionary politicians with wind power, he also sees the promise of the organic foods industry and will be the best organics champion we’ve ever had in that role.

"Tom will also be a leader in an area that gets too little attention – the nutritional quality of our nation’s foods, especially the foods we serve to those in need."

Gingerbread White House by William Merelle, Rouge

William Merelle of Rouge in West Stockbridge, www.rougerestaurant.com created the White House in gingerbread to win the Best Gingerbread House by a professional chef at Wheatleigh's annual Gingerbread House Silent Auction and Competition to benefit Share the Bounty on Sunday December 7, 2008.

Here's another view of the fabulous Gingerbread White House created by William Merelle of Rouge Restaurant for Wheatleigh's Benefit for Share the Bounty.

THE 5th ANNUAL
GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION

AN AFTERNOON OF HOLIDAY FUN FOR THE FAMILY

All Welcome to Participate
Professionals, Amateurs, Children, Groups and Families


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2008, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Lenox Community Center, 65 Walker Street, Lenox

All proceeds from the Silent Auction and Gala Dinner to Benefit
SHARE THE BOUNTY


Please join us as a bidder, builder or just be…. there.
To enter a gingerbread house or for more information please contact
Wheatleigh at (413) 637-0610

Kitchen Garden at the White House?

"Eat the View" is a campaign to urge President-elect Obama to replant a large organic victory garden on the First Lawn with the produce going to the White House kitchen and to local food pantries.

"Eat the View" is coordinated by Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine-based 501c3 nonprofit network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries who are inspiring and teaching more people to grow some of their own food.

Since its launch in February 2008, Eat the View! has been featured in over 450 newspapers and countless blogs. Our "This Lawn is Your Lawn" video has been viewed thousands of times on the internet and is a winner of the "Climate Matters" video contest. As one of the winners, the video is being shown on national TV to an estimated audience of 50 million households.

"Eat the View!" is also currently the most popular and most discussed proposal on the website www.OnDayOne.org where citizens are setting the agenda for the next president.

Please direct all inquiries to Roger
Doiron, (207) 883-5341.

Berkshire Grown member restaurants feature local harvest for Thanksgiving celebrations!

Plus you can buy locally grown food to create your own harvest dinner at home.

North Plain Farm for turkey and lard. 413-528-2092 or seanstanton@hotmail.com

Maiden Flower Farm for pork. 413-274-6628 or farmers@maidenflowerfarm.com

Cricket Creek Farm for cheese. info@cricketcreekfarm.com

"Dear Farmer-In-Chief" writes Michael Pollan

in an open letter to the next president of the US, outlining a new food and farming agenda, published in the October 12, 2008 New York Times Magazine:

"First, your administration’s food policy must strive to provide a healthful diet for all our people; this means focusing on the quality and diversity (and not merely the quantity) of the calories that American agriculture produces and American eaters consume. Second, your policies should aim to improve the resilience, safety and security of our food supply. Among other things, this means promoting regional food economies both in America and around the world. And lastly, your policies need to reconceive agriculture as part of the solution to environmental problems like climate change."

  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

NYTIMES: backyard bounty goes to food banks

September 14, 2008
Food Banks Finding Aid in Bounty of Backyard
By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
BERKELEY, Calif. — Natasha Boissier did not expect an epiphany while pushing her baby’s stroller exhaustedly around the neighborhood. But eyeing her neighbors’ yards, Ms. Boissier began noticing the abundance of fruit trees — and how much of their succulent bounty wound up on the ground.
“There was all this fruit going to waste,” she said of the apples, pears and plums in her midst. “It seemed like such a natural way to deal with hunger.”
Thus was born North Berkeley Harvest, part of a small but expanding movement of backyard urban gleaners — they might be called fruit philanthropists — who voluntarily harvest surplus fruit and then donate it to food banks, centers for the elderly and other nonprofit organizations.
In an era in which fruit canning, drying and preserving are for many no longer everyday skills, harvesters like Ms. Boissier, a 40-year-old social worker, are bringing a new spin to the concept of U-Pick-’Em. A renewed emphasis on locally grown organic foods, along with higher food prices and increased demand at food banks, has inspired a new generation of community harvesters to search for solutions in their backyards.
“Farmers markets are great for those who can afford to spend $2 on a peach,” said Aviva Furman, 54, whose year-old Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle also offers canning and pruning classes. “But a huge percentage of Americans can’t afford the two cups of fruit a day recommended by the government.”
The concept of gleaning, or collecting a portion of crops on farmers’ fields for the needy, before or after harvesting, goes back to ancient cultures. But it has more recently been taken up by people like Joni Diserens, a 43-year-old program manager for Hewlett-Packard and founder of Village Harvest in Silicon Valley. Ms. Diserens uses sophisticated databases and remote telephone answering systems to track the group’s 700 or so volunteers, 40 receiving organizations, 1,000 fruit-inundated homeowners and, on a recent Tuesday, 780 sticky pounds of French prunes.
They rescue people like Diane Leone, an artist whose property south of San Jose, Calif., contains some 40 unpicked fruit trees, from bees, squirrels, the occasional wild boar and other creatures that gorge on fallen fruit.
“You feel like you’re actually doing something,” Diana Foss, 44, a former astronomer who is now a stay-at-home mother, said as she was sorting plums and prunes recently in Ms. Leone’s backyard. “You pick a piece of fruit and know that someone’s going to eat it.”
The group’s car pools fan out to places like the Community Services Agency in Mountain View, which operates a food pantry that serves a large Russian, Hispanic and Asian population. “Their speed is astonishing,” said Laura Schuster, the nutrition programs director. “They’ll call and say, ‘Hey, we’re hitting an orchard in San Jose.’ Then they walk in with 1,000 pounds of plums.”
Ms. Schuster added: “We always worry about nutrition. When we get the fresh fruit, we worry less.”
Over the last decade, organizations like Feeding America, a nonprofit agency that distributes food to more than 200 food banks around the country, have introduced more fresh produce to respond to high rates of poverty and obesity and a lack of access to nutritional food in low-income neighborhoods. About 18 million pounds of fresh produce was distributed nationally 10 years ago, said Rick Bella, the director of food purchasing. This year, that has grown to 150 million pounds, 30 percent of it donated by corporations and individual farmers.
But affordability continues to be an issue, Mr. Bella said, which is where the fruit philanthropists come in. “It’s a shame to say, but a package of Twinkies per pound costs a lot less than a pound of fresh apples,” he said. “Backyard gleaners make a difference.”
Amy Grey, a graphic designer and mother of two in Moscow, Idaho, became a harvester after inadvertently growing 200 heads of lettuce in her backyard. “I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to plant the whole packet of seeds,” Ms. Grey said. “We have friends,” she added, “but we don’t have that many friends.”
A local food bank was so receptive that Ms. Grey and several volunteers joined with a local environmental group before striking out on their own. Her 50 or so gleaners picked 10,000 pounds of fruit last year, including more than 2,000 pounds of cherries, despite June snows. “It’s different than dropping off cans,” Ms. Grey said. “It’s really about tying the community together.”
Backyard harvests gleaned for the common good echo the Victory Gardens of World War II, when mandatory food rationing resulted in citizen gardens, said Amy Bentley, an associate professor of food studies at New York University and the author of “Eating for Victory.” During the war, Dr. Bentley said, the private yard became “a place of civic obligation.”
Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., said that with increased food costs, “we are seeing changing attitudes about our food system.”
“People are becoming more engaged,” Dr. Kirschenmann said, “whether growing their own food or being part of community efforts.”
A survey this year by the National Gardening Association predicted a 10 percent increase in the number of people growing vegetables at home. “Sticker shock is prompting many folks to grow, if not a produce department in their backyards, then at least a salad bar,” said Bruce Butterfield, the research director.
For the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Phoenix, the abundance means a brigade of citrus volunteers from January through March, picking 1.4 million pounds of oranges and grapefruit from Sun City and Surprise. The fruit reaches thousands of people, from those at domestic violence shelters in Tempe to those on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon.
In Los Angeles, three “social activist” artists who call themselves Fallen Fruit have mapped neighborhood fruit trees and sponsored public “fruit jams,” said David Burns, a founder.
“The L.A. we experience is mostly mediated through windshields and cellphones,” Mr. Burns said. “So it was surprising to find out how many fruit trees hang over alleys, sidewalks and parking medians in neglected corners of the city.”
Ms. Boissier, who grew up on Park Avenue in Manhattan, drives through the Berkeley hills in a Toyota hybrid loaded with apples and ladders, helping out homeowners unable to keep up the pie-baking pace, even with convection ovens, and relieving them of the guilt of waste.
In the bustling kitchen of the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, Calif., a shelter serving more than 800 people a day, the apples would soon be transformed into pancake toppings, apple butter, cider and cobblers.
Roy Hunderson, homeless for four years, prepares meals in the kitchen. “The fresher the fruit, the better it is,” Mr. Hunderson said. “If I had a backyard with fruit going, I’d bring it here too.”

Can Organic Farming Feed the World?

http://www.chewswise.com/chews/2007/07/can-organic-far.html

By Samuel Fromartz

Organic food is often portrayed by its critics as a low-yielding farming method that undercuts the main goal of food production – feeding the world.

These critics also argue that if organic farming were to grow much beyond its tiny elitist niche, forests would have to be plowed under because a much greater land mass would be needed to make up for far lower crop yields.

Pretty sad picture isn't it? Organic farming is portrayed as an inferior agricultural method that ends up raping and pillaging the natural world.

The only problem with this argument is that it doesn't square with the facts. (Nor with the actual picture if you check out the organic wheat field pictured above that was part of a USDA trial).

Although many studies have countered these arguments, three recent ones deserve notice.

First, researchers at the University of Michigan recently published a new study in the Journal of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems that evaluated 293 studies comparing conventional and organic farming.

They found that in the developed world, such as the US, Europe and Japan, organic farming methods yielded slightly less than conventional methods.

But importantly, in the developing world, where food-scarcity is most pronounced, organic methods were actually two- to three-times as productive as conventional agriculture.

Farmers in poorer nations often could not afford the chemicals and fertilizers that are required by high-yielding seed varieties. By farming organically, they could enhance soil fertility by composting waste sources on their farms.

The researchers write that organic farming could produce enough food on a global per capita basis to sustain the current human population, and potentially an even larger population, without increasing the agricultural land base.

"My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can’t produce enough food through organic agriculture," said Ivette Perfecto, a professor at University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment, and a principle on the study.

She added that the idea people would go hungry if farming went organic was "ridiculous." (You can listen to a brief interview with the researcher).

Another report out of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Iowa is also significant, for it demonstrates the long-term yield potential of organic methods.

The now nine-year-old trials "convincingly show greater yield, increased profitability, and steadily improved soil quality in organic over conventional rotations," the Leopold Center stated.

The longest running rotation of corn, followed by soybeans, oats with alfalfa, and then another crop of alfalfa, produced 188 bushels per acre of organic corn in 2006. The traditional corn-soybean rotation on conventional fields yielded 177 bushels/acre – a 6 percent deficit from the organic fields.

In soybeans, the organic fields produced 45 bushels per acre in this long rotation, compared with 43 bushels on conventional plots.

Over eight years of data, here's the average corn yield in the various methods:

* Conventional corn, soybeans rotation, 160 bushels per acre of corn
* Organic corn, soybean, oats mixed with alfalfa rotation, 150-1/4 bushels/acre corn
* Organic corn, soybean, oats mixed with alfalfa, alfalfa rotation, 160-1/4 bushels/acre corn

Those include the first three years of the organic transition. If you back those years out, and only look at the organic fields post-transition you get these average yields:

* Conventional corn, soybeans rotation, 173.2 bushels per acre corn
* Organic corn, soybean, oats with alfalfa rotation, 162 bushels/acre corn
* Organic corn, soybean, oats with alfalfa, alfalfa rotation, 176 bushels/acre corn

The study shows that well-managed organic crop rotations, which are key to organic farming practices, actually lead to slightly higher yields than conventional chemical methods and rotations. And in the current ethanol-infused corn boom, farmers are forgoing the traditional corn-soybean rotation and growing continuous corn on corn, which requires a greater amount of chemical fertilizers to keep the yield up.

Finally, organic farming gets criticized for its tillage practices, which critics say leads to soil erosion and leaches nitrates into groundwater. These critics say conventional "no-till" farm methods, associated with genetically modified crops and heavy doses of herbicides, are superior.

But again, the facts point to a different conclusion. USDA researchers report that organic farming methods actually produced healthier soils than no-till conventional methods.

In a nine-year study at the Henry A. Wallace Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland, USDA researchers found that the addition of organic matter in manure and cover crops more than offset losses from tillage.

In a final three-year study, corn was grown with no-till practices on all plots to see which ones had the most productive soils. The organic plots had more carbon and nitrogen and yielded 18 percent more corn.

Needless to say, critics won't be convinced by this evidence. But then neither do those who continually assert, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that global warming doesn't exist.

We know better.

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