Saving the planet may well stem from the small act of many, than bigger actions undergone by the few. One restaurant chooses to participate in a city-wide program, recycling its food waste into reusable garden compost—the owner explains her reasons for doing so.

I started composting much of my food scraps last year. I wanted to start a vegetable garden and I felt the two go hand in hand. I always struggled with the first steps of composting. How do you do it? Yes, I have a container, but what’s the ratio between food and grass cuttings? What about the smell? What about the critters? Is it so complicated that I will regret I added one more chore to my life?

Fortunately, my good friend, Mary, came for a visit and got me started. She had been composting and gardening for years, and I knew she would be able to walk me through the process. I called her and gave her the heads up that this would be one of the items on our ‘to-do’ list while was here. She was game, and I’ve been successfully composting since.

So here I was, taking the food from our family of five and recycling it into compost. I have always been very good at recycling paper, glass, and plastic, but I noticed by taking food out of my garbage pail, the amount going to the landfill had drastically reduced. This surprised me. Really surprised me.

Then I began thinking, if one household threw out this much uneaten food, how much food waste would a restaurant have? I’m not a big ‘let’s go out to eat’ person, but when we do, I notice many plates leave the table with food untouched. Now, I’ve worked in the restaurant industry, and I know once it goes out to the table, all uneaten food goes into the garbage. Now that adds up to a LOT of food. Can you picture it? Mounds and mounds of food waste piling up and rotting alongside broken furniture, outsized clothing, plastic containers, and forgotten toys? There had to be a better way.

I had heard about a program at the Office of Sustainable Development called Portland Composts! This makes so much sense, but how does one go about learning how and what’s entailed? I set out to learn from one who knew firsthand, and I found that one of the best local and organic breakfast places in town has been participating in this program since its early days, the bijou, café.

Kathleen Hagberg and the crew at the Bijou have made the change from going to the dump to going to the composter. And it wasn’t all that hard for them. It seems to be working in Seattle, and San Francisco too. Is it happening in your community? Can it happen there? If all the different parts (restaurant, collector, large scale compost company) come together, perhaps there is a chance to reduce some of the CO2 emissions occurring on this planet, after all.

Recipes from this show: Blueberry Muffins; Oatmeal Pancakes

—Rebecca

Related Post: WASTE NOT: From Commercial Trash to Garden Gold

The only authority that could provide the national oversight that the organic community sought was the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The obvious reservations about strange bedfellows were compounded by memories of an earlier courtship between the two parties. Bob Bergland was President Carter’s Secretary of Agriculture and wondered what was behind the anecdotal reports trickling in that organic agriculture was environmentally sensitive and energy efficient, yet still productive. In 1979, Secretary Bergland appointed a study team of senior USDA researchers who spent a year doing due diligence with, in their words, “organic farming leaders, editors, spokesmen and practitioners.” Robert Rodale, who had stepped into his father’s shoes as editor of Organic Farming served as a key contact and coordinated a detailed survey of almost 700 farmer subscribers. The study team released their highly favorable conclusions entitled, Report and Recommendations on Organic Farming (PDF) in July 1980 and it quickly became the USDA’s most frequently requested publication. After the Reagan Administration entered office six months later, the publication went out of print and organic agriculture went back to the equivalent of non-person status within USDA.

The organic community shrugged off Reagan’s cold shoulder – after all, what did they agree with him about? However, as the value of organic agriculture grew during the 1980s, the scales began to tip and it became apparent that a working relationship with Washington, DC was a necessity. As the saying goes in Washington, you’re either at the table or on the menu. Most fortuitously for the organic community, their initial contact in the quest for official recognition was a bright and open-minded Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry staffer named Kathleen Merrigan. (Full disclosure: Dr. Merrigan was later responsible for bringing me to work both in Washington and at the USDA, but I’ve forgiven her for that.) Over the two decades that followed, Merrigan (now Deputy Secretary of Agriculture) would lead the organic agriculture charge inside the Beltway and do more to shape the successes and failures of the USDA’s role in the process than any other person.

The first fruit of the new partnership between the organic community and the USDA was the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 which remains the legal foundation of the federal regulations governing organic food. The OFPA was quite a victory because it authorized the USDA to establish and enforce a consistent national standard for organic crops, livestock and processed foods while ensuring that the organic community who have a significant voice in the process. Most importantly, it directed the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint a fifteen member National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to include prescribed numbers of farmer, processor, certifying agent, scientist, consumer and environmentalist representatives. The NOSB is responsible for advising the Secretary on establishing standards and otherwise implementing the certification program but has an even greater power. While organic agriculture is predicated on a systems approach, many day to day decisions that its practitioners face involve working some type of material into the process, such as fertilizers, livestock medications and even, yes, pesticides. The rule of thumb in organic agriculture is that natural materials are allowed unless prohibited and synthetic materials prohibited unless allowed. Courtesy of the OFPA, only the NOSB can determine which synthetic materials may be allowed and under what conditions, giving the Board tremendous discretion over how organic agriculture is practiced.

Two other provisions in the OFPA are worth noting. One, the USDA sets the standards for organic crop, livestock and processed food production, but the responsibility for monitoring compliance with those standards is delegated to accredited certifying agents. This mechanism enabled the pre-existing certifying agents (including private non- and for-profit operations as well as state run programs) to keep their hands in the game; they simply dropped their own standards and started working with their farmer and processor clients to comply with the new federal ones. This has proven to be a major attribute of the OFPA since it brought the tremendous institutional knowledge of the certifying agents (the co-stars of the organic scene all along) into the federal program without USDA having to train its own certification inspectors and review committee personnel. To this day, the major present-at-the-creation certifying agents continue to enforce compliance with the USDA’s standards. Based on the USDA’s performance of the duties it is responsible for, one could argue that the continuous transfusion of real-world understanding via the certifying agents has kept the entire program alive.

The second point to note – while allowing specific NOSB approved synthetics in organic crop and livestock production, the OFPA categorically prohibited the use of synthetic ingredients in organic processed foods. This provision was agreed upon by the organic community at a time when the processed foods market was modest and the products available were relatively simple to work with. However, very quickly certain organic interests realized that it would be impossible to produce large volumes of commercial grade processed food without the processing aids, stabilizers, and other neat tools that food technologists (yes, a real term) were adept at creating. Soon after the NOSB began meeting in 1992 its members began approving synthetic ingredients for use in organic processed foods and the USDA went along with this blatant violation of the OFPA in finalizing the organic regulation. For constitutionalists, it is an insightful lesson in how the Executive Branch (USDA) can readily frustrate the will of the Legislative Branch (Congress). As with a parent telling a child what to do, the interpretation and implementation of the order can often veer dramatically from the original intention. A persnickety blueberry farmer from Maine named Arthur Harvey eventually took the USDA to court and won a repeal of the offending allowance for synthetic substances in organic processed foods, but this decision was quickly rendered mute when Congress re-wrote the law to allow them. Today, the list of synthetic processing aids and additives in organic foods can be just as long and tongue twisting as you’ll find in the conventional product.

You may be wondering, how did the OFPA get to be so groovy and then survive the great sausage grinder we know as Capitol Hill? Working with the support of her boss Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Kathleen Merrigan spent two years in continuous dialogue with the organic community to craft the bill. Replicating the organic standards themselves was the easy part since the existing models were simple and succinct. For example, livestock standards were just emerging and were typically no more detailed or elaborate than good haiku. The real genius in the OFPA was creating a mechanism to enforce a federal regulation that so meaningfully incorporated public participation – ever hear of a civilian telling the Pentagon how to fight the war? However, all this work stood a good chance of being for naught since Representative Jaime Whitten, Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture had zero interest in organic agriculture and refused to let a companion bill move through that chamber. Courageously, a young Congressman representing Eugene, Oregon named Peter De Fazio stood up on the House floor and proposed amending the 1990 Farm Bill then under discussion by tacking the Leahy plan on whole hog. It was audacious to say the least to challenge Chairman Whitten who was referred to as the permanent Secretary of Agriculture since those appointed by the President came and went. However, in a sign that the times were indeed a changin’, the House approved the DeFazio amendment – the only floor amendment to make it into the Farm Bill that year.

Next time: We’ll pick up the story next time by looking at USDA’s faithfulness to its new partner and the creeping sense of buyer’s remorse that the organic community has lived with since the marriage was consummated.

Mark Keating has worked in the natural, sustainable, organic and local food movements since 1982. His work experience includes stints in commercial food service, farm labor, retail sales and marketing, state and federal civil service, non-profit advocacy and academia. While at the USDA between 1999 and 2004, Mark helped draft the national organic standards for crop and livestock production and spent two years working to develop and promote farmers markets. An inveterate believer that naturally raised and locally distributed food offers the best opportunity for human health and planetary survival, Mark lives in the Kentucky Bluegrass with his wife and their daughter.

This video Obsessives: Urban Farming, arrived courtesy of our friends at Chow.

Q. Being a self-described child of Hippie parents growing up in rural Idaho, are you surprised that you now have your own farm?

I am but I’m not. Because of genetics and conditioning, it does make sense that we do often turn out just like our parents. Like most people, I struggled with that in my twenties, and tried to be anything but a hippie. But now that I’m 36, I’m getting a bit more comfortable with the idea that I just might be a “hippie”. I enjoy growing food and raising animals, eating with friends and family, and building community. If that’s not hippie, I don’t know what is. But I still refuse to listen to the Dead. You have to draw the line somewhere. 

Q. To date what livestock due you currently have, and what fruits and vegetables do you grow on a regular basis?

 I have three goats (two doelings, one milk doe), about six rabbits in various stages of growth, four chickens, and about 20,000 bees. It’s fall now so the main crops are greens like chard and collards, lettuce, and some remaining tomatoes. I love growing winter squash, carrots, beets, herbs, cucumbers, etc. I’ve raised pigs and ducks and geese, and will probably get ducks again, but Muscovies this time.

Q. Do you think you and Bill (Novella’s Boyfriend) will eventually leave “Ghost town”, by a nice house in a better hood and start all over?

Well, we’re squatting on the land where we farm so eventually we will be kicked off the lot and it will be bulldozed to build condos or something. Since I don’t like the idea of living right next to a construction zone, I’m sure we’ll move eventually, but a nice neighborhood? Doubt it. The neighbors would hate us! A friend of mine who was having troubles with her neighbors put it this way: “you’re a hero if you farm in a ghetto, but a public nuisance if you try to farm in nice neighborhood.” we fit in the public nuisance category, I think, because people with manicured lawns don’t like to see goats pooping. So we’ll probably head out to east Oakland when it gets bad here in west Oakland.

Q. I read that you were a student of Michael Pollan when you attended UC Berkeley.  What is the best piece of advice he’s ever given you?

He told me to go to New York City right after graduating from school. Just for a visit, to introduce myself to editors and meet people who might want me to write for them. I ended up getting a book deal. 

Q. What words of advice do you have for a budding Urban Homesteader?

Start small and simple, grow or raise things that you like to eat. For instance, grow some lettuce in some buckets if you like salad, or get some chickens if you like eggs. Don’t overdo it, though, I remember there was that urban farmer in Brooklyn who thought he should just get everything–plants, rabbits, chickens–and then we surprised when things got out of control. Learning to be a farmer doesn’t come instantly. 

Q. What’s more important to you personally, Local or Organic?

Those labels don’t really mean anything anymore so I don’t like to choose one over the other. Our society is so used to picking one thing over another, we’ve been told over and over again that to find happiness (or whatever) that we just have to make a consumer decision. This depresses me, and that’s why I’m into DIY (do it yourself) so you become empowered to grow your own. I can see the eyes rolling out there for people living in apartments, but there is an amazing amount of stuff in small spaces, or if you search out opportunities to get your hands dirty. Like community gardens.

Q. You’ve had your blog for a while in which we’ve been able to follow some of your adventures at Ghost Town farm, when did you decide it was time to write an actual book about your adventures?

The blog didn’t come before the book. I’ve basically been working on the book idea for ten years. I’m a writer, so as I farmed, I always thought the stories would add up to something bigger. I actually used to think blogs are frivolous, but now I look at my farm blog like a new version of an old farm tradition like the farm log or journal. Recording what I grew and how it did. I actually look back at old blog posts from years ago to remember what I planted or how I canned my tomatoes. Diaries and blogs are just a way to store memories. 

Q. What’s next for you? Another Book, a second farm?

I’m working on a proposal for a new memoir. I have a book coming out with Willow Rosenthal that is more hands-on. I’m pretty busy. I don’t have the time or money for a second farm, alas. 

Q. What do you think it’s going to take to get people to take a more active role in where their food comes from?

Pure boredom of the “normal” way of living, buying stuff is so unrewarding, and unsatisfying. Once you start growing stuff, it becomes addictive. We need better school garden programs in schools so kids will learn about growing food. Once that happens, it’ll spread like wildfire. 

Thank you Novella for taking time out of your very busy schedule to answer my questions, I certainly look forward to your next book and continued adventures at Ghost Town Farm. Novella has been on the road quite a bit promoting this great book. Listed below are dates for a few of her upcoming appearances so if you are in the area please go check her out.

November 10, 2009 New York, NY; Horticultural Society of New York, 6pm
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY, Telephone: 212.757.0915
November 11, Brooklyn, NY, Vox Pop Cafe,TBA
November 12, Providence, RI, TBA
November 13, Boston, Mass, TBA
November 14, Portland, Maine, TBA
November 15 Brooklyn Rabbit processing class, TBA

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown; and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla, and a recent guest on Martha Stewart’s radio program. Heather resides in Woodbine, New Jersey (population: 2800) with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.461

They are found in almost every kitchen, but surprisingly there’s only one U.S. manufacturer. Follow us inside the Best Manufacturers plant for a rare visit to see how a whisk is made.

A factory of whisks. Wire, wire everywhere. How do they get those wires to stay in place and not come popping out. I was curious. I love to see how things are made.

Best Manufacturing Plant, Portland Oregon

I guess I’m one of those few people who don’t own a whisk. I see that it’s a simple tool, and widely used by many, but how? I called a couple of home cooks I knew and asked if they had a whisk. Both did. In fact, each had several. So off I went and watched them work their magic and listened. What an education.

Recipe from the show: Michael’s Mars Meringues

—Rebecca

This clip is the first of a three-part segment about manual pollination in Japan. I’m editing this series specifically for web release, but it will also appear in “WWOOF! The Movie” in the full context of our 10-day stay with our host family at Nakagomi Orchards.

WWOOF Japan: Apple Blossoms from Ashley Terry.

As I’m sure many of you have heard, the global bee population is in decline. And while this is an alarming trend, it is not the reason that manual pollination of fruit trees occurs in Yamanashi. The history goes back to the 1940’s. My only source for this history is our host and friend, Kazumasa Nakagomi.

Yamanashi Fruit Orchard; 2009 Ashley Terry

2009 Ashley Terry

Though our crops will never survive without the wind, bees and other sources of natural pollination, this method of manual cross-pollination will likely yield more produce than relying on solely on Mother Nature.

Ashley Terry graduated from the University of Montana in 2004 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Media Arts. Since then, he has worked in broadcast news, commercial and television production houses, radio, and internet broadcasting. In 2007, he started “AT Films” as a professional wedding and event videography service provider and the business has since branched out into the world of documentary and short film production. He is currently working on a documentary called “WWOOF!” about the collective of organizations that make up the World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms coalition.

*Five million family farms have been lost since the 1930’s. As the population of family farmers continues to age, there is also a critical shortage of young farmers to take their place. Michael Paine is a rare breed; he doesn’t come from a farming family, and he’s relatively young. His story is a good example of the unique challenges facing those who wish to take up farming.

I read this in my local paper awhile back: “Oregon is one of the only bright spots in the country where we’ve got young farmers coming into the business…”. Hmmm, I knew most farmlands were industrialized, but I thought, with the growing interest in locally produced food, I would think the family farm would also be growing.

I contacted Dianne Stefani-Ruff from Portland Farmers Market, who made the quote, to see who might just be one of those new young farmers. She gave me the names of 4 or 5, and I never got past the first one I called, Mike Paine of Gaining Ground Farm. I knew right away he was someone who was very passionate about farming. He wasn’t born to farming, like many are, but raised in the suburbs. He had a garden as a young adult, but that was about it. His drive to become a farmer really sprouted from his experience in Africa in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and, finally from working on his Masters degree at UC-Davis in Agriculture.

Sustainable agriculture is a growing field. Many farming methods that may have been lost to time are now returning. One that Michael puts to practice is using chickens to ready his fields. He puts them in portable coops that are moved along the field after the group of chickens scratch, peck the ground, and leave behind a rich manure. Recently he created a pond to catch the natural drainage of water from the hills. This water will be used to irrigate his crops.

Using organic methods, some of the vegetables he grew this year were tomatoes, melons, squash, mixed green lettuces, eggplant, and beans. They were all beautiful. I really enjoyed his sharing all the different varieties he grew, many I never heard of. I think the people who come across his vegetables at the farmer’s market and who are shareholders in his CSA are very lucky indeed. If you’re not familiar with what a CSA is, check out the story I did on Laura Masterson’s farm, in Food Network: Community Supported Agriculture

Recipe from the show: Fall Carrot Soup

There is a lot of hard work involved in farming. I knew that. But what really surprised me is how hard it apparently is to get your first farm. It even surprised Mike. Does it surprise you? Here’s some alarming information about the state of family farms in America today, and the respective ages of these existing farmers.

From Farm Aid:

In the 1930s, there were close to seven million farms in the United States. Today, just over two million farms remain, and only about 25% of these are family farms. In 2004, the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) predicts that 98 percent of total farm operator income will come from off farm sources and at last count only 7 percent of all farm families reported 100 percent “on-farm” income.

More than half of today’s farmers are between the ages of 45 and 64 and a quarter of the farmers in this age group plan to retire by 2005.

Only six percent of our farmers are younger than 35.

The complete Farm Aid article is titled, “Why Family Farmers Need Help”

*Update: According to the latest 2007 USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service, roughly 4 million family farms have been lost since the 1930’s, though it should be noted that small farms (50 acres in size, or less) have increased about 13% compared to the earlier USDA 2002 census data).

—Rebecca

Larita, from Schlichting Century Farm shares her first-hand knowledge of pumpkins, and how to turn raw pumpkin meat into ingredients for making delicious home made pumpkin pie. As you can see, both types of pumpkins—Cinderella and Ghost—also have fresh seeds that can be roasted, and eaten. Check out this recipe for making Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

On the surface, the practice of medicine—both the traditional and non-traditional approaches—would seem to have little in common with the growing of wine grapes. For Dr. Robert Gross, there is a strong connection between his training as a Psychiatrist, and viticulture. This episode draws upon the rich interplay between two completely separate fields, each helping to enhance better understanding with the other.

It was fall, and crush time for the grape harvest. The weather was gorgeous, the skies were mostly clear with only a hint of possible rain. I heard (through the grapevine) about a doctor who practiced both traditional and nontraditional medicine, and also owned his own organic winery, Cooper Mountain Vineyards. This piqued my curiosity, and also that the winery began incorporating Rudolph Steiner’s biodynamic principles years ago when it was a fairly obscure practice here in the United States.

I must say, I also enjoyed filming the grapes, their different colors and shapes.

—Rebecca

Cronin Family Farm, Gettysburg, South Dakota: It’s cold and wet on the plains; winter is just around the corner. Dan Forgey has been growing crops on this 8500 acre farm for 42 years. About 18 years ago he adopted a no-till practice—when a crop is harvested, its stubble is left untouched through the winter months until the next planting season, at which time seeds are planted right on top of the residue from last seasons crop. This method cuts down on water erosion, wind erosion, and also feeds the soil with the decomposing plant matter.

Seeking a way to improve the soil’s health even further, Forgey decided to introduce cover cropping to his no-till methods. By adding a cover crop of lentils after harvesting his cash crop of winter wheat, he fed the micro-organisms in the soil, which in turn helped build organic matter. Over the years, his results have proved out well – much greater yield of cash crop with a dramatic reduction in the amount Nitrogen inputs needed for the soil.

Harvested wheat with cover crop;
photo courtesy of Dan Forgey

Preserving Nitrogen in the soil is a big concern. Here’s how Michael Dimock, of the sustainably-focused organization Roots of Change (ROC) characterizes in part, its importance from his recent post, The Nitrogen Challenge: “Among those who better understand agriculture and food systems, nitrogen has been known as a core challenge for decades. Sadly, the general public and too many policymakers don’t know, think or care about it. The lack of focus on nitrogen is dangerous for us all.”

Dimock’s article goes on to explain that the management of Nitrogen is a complex matter. While essential for the growing of healthy crops in soil, it takes a tremendous amount of fossil fuel consumption to put the nitrogen back into the soil. Burning Fossil fuels adds carbon dioxide and nitrogen back into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change problems. Run-off from nitrogen fertilizers into waterways is also toxic to fish, and other marine life.

A healthy clump of farm soil;
photo courtesy of Dan Forgey

The work that Dan Forgey is doing on his farm using no-till and cover crops, may provide some answers to deal with the Nitrogen issue, at the same time, protecting his land from soil erosion, and improving overall soil fertility, and crop yields.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a how-to video detailing Mr. Forgey’s no-till and cover crop practices, as part of our partnership with Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), along with other related videos.

Who am I and how did I get here?

I have a small farm in Mulino, Oregon, located about 20 miles south of Portland, Oregon, in the northern end of the Willamette valley. We, my boyfriend Harold and I, moved out to Mulino in the early 1990s when he decided to buy some emu chicks from a brother of his in Missouri. It was the height of the emu breeder market and we figured that, while the birds he bought would not be mature enough to breed until the tail end of the breeder market, we’d still have a fairly good income in the slaughter market over a long period of time. Even if we couldn’t support ourselves full time raising emus, the birds would still be able to bring in enough income to at least help pay for the property. Long story short, for various reasons the emu slaughter market collapsed, but we still decided to stay in Mulino and kept the birds for our own use.

I have an extensive background in working with a wide variety of animals, both domestic and exotic. I study animal behavior, various animal husbandry methods/systems, and intraspecies and interspecies communications and how they relate to animal/human interaction and various husbandry systems. The behavioral and communications study I do isn’t formalized, but does relate directly to how I handle and manage the birds and mammals we raise on the farm. It is also, by far, the most fascinating aspect of farming for me.

In addition to farming, I am an independent construction contractor doing work in the Portland, Oregon metro area. While I specialize in tile and stone installation and fabrication, the skills I’ve learned working in construction come in pretty handy around a farm and enable me to do a wide range of jobs from fence building to constructing run-in sheds, greenhouse building, etc.

What do I farm?

I grow a variety of produce, herbs and fruit here. I’ve also been granted access to fruits and nuts at another location that I’m allowed to pick for my subscribers. In addition to this I keep a flock of laying hens of various breeds, some are commercial egg laying breeds and some are heritage breeds, for a mix of white, brown and green or blue eggs. The extra roosters are sold to subscribers.

Golden Laced Wyandott Hen Preening

For red meats I have emus and goats available to subscribers and non-subscribers, and will be offering custom growing of rabbit, turkeys and other poultry/fowl in 2010.

Young Emu

I believe in growing a range of plants and animals for my subscribers for several reasons, variety being chief among them. I enjoy a lot of variety in my foods, and believe many others do as well. Then too, not all subscribers like the same things, so it’s best to have a range of produce, meats and eggs for them to choose from.

I live for challenges, and growing many different types of plants and managing many types of animals definitely provides that. Growing a range of plant crops and animals also presents new opportunities to market to new customers, as well as to more fully integrate various systems on the farm, so that each supports the other. I feel that diversified farms are also more adaptable to both short range weather/climate changes and to customer preferences.

Cardoon

This also supports another one of my passions – cooking. I love to cook. Trying out and developing new recipes isn’t work as far as I’m concerned. It’s the kind of product R&D that I can literally sink my teeth into. An avocation which helps me to market new crops. It’s difficult to just present someone with a new food that they know nothing about. Some people are adventurous cooks, but most, while interested in new foods, are more likely to feel comfortable trying out a new food if you provide them with a recipe as a jumping off point.

Brassica Greens Salad with Pak Choi Flowers

Why do I have a diversified farm incorporating livestock, poultry and produce?

I farm this way for a variety of reasons. I like variety in food, and my subscribers do too. I want to be able to offer my subscribers a variety of meats as well as vegetables, herb and fruits, eggs, etc.. There are several other reasons I have livestock and poultry on the farm.

They add another set of revenue streams and do jobs here that we’d have to either use manual labor or use mechanical and/or chemical means to do here in order to support the row crops. Our laying hens help pay for various aspects of the farm with their wonderful eggs. We eat them, and my subscribers love ‘em. The hens also help keep the insect population at bay, both flies and other pests that are harmful to some of the row crops.

Goats Clearing Brush

The goats provide meat and brush/grass control. They may provide replacement milk for other young animals next spring as well. I also use the goats to clean out some of the row crop areas, called gardens out here. At the end of a particular garden’s season, the goats are turned into the area. They go to work cleaning up crop residues and weeds. When the goats are done they are moved out of the garden and the ground is prepped for another crop cash crop or a cover crop. The emus provide meat and oil for us and for those customers who want to buy a bird. They also lay wonderful blue green eggs that, while edible and great to eat, can be blown (dleaned out) in order to provide crafting substrates.

Luna-Andalusian Filly Foaled on the Farm

The horses control the grasses in the field, which we’d have to mow mechanically to reduce the fire hazard in the summer as well as occasional income in the form of a foal for sale, and back up horse power if we never need it for work out here.

As I said earlier in this article, I’m very interested in animal behavior and communications issues/systems, both between individuals within a species (intraspecies communications) and between individuals of different species (interspecies communications). The work I do with the animals out here furthers my understanding of these issues and helps me resolve problems that people may have in working with their own animals.

Harold brings compost to one of the gardens, then hens’ scratch, looking for worms and also spreading the compost. One of the most important things the animals do out here for us, however, is to provide fertilizer. That green gold that comes out of the south end of a north bound critter….. Manure, when properly handled, can be a great boon to a farm. While we do use some artificial fertilizer in specific areas, and for specific and limited reasons, the two primary sources of the fertility of our soils in the row crop areas are composted manures, mostly from the horses, and wood chips. Those two materials are the primary reasons we’ve gone from just a couple of inches of topsoil over hard pan, to between 6 and 14 inches of top soil, and growing. As the cropping areas are expanded, which is happening at an accelerated rate how that I’m ‘officially’ farming, they will continue to provide that service.

Also, I’ve been working with animals ever since I was a little kid. My mom used to tell a story of finding me out in the garden when I was just a few years old. According to her I was bent over, doing something. When she went out, she found me ‘petting’ a worm. When she asked me what I was doing I replied “Petting ‘Opah the friendly worm’ “. For me, my farm wouldn’t be complete without animals. They’re an integral part of a whole system.

Why do I farm?

So, why do I farm in the first place? It would certainly be much easier to purchase foods from the store, or if I wanted to support local agriculture, which I certainly do, I could join a CSA, shop at the local Farmers Markets in Colton, Canby, Oregon City, Woodburn, etc.. I can also source a surprising number of local and regionally produced/grown foods from the grocery stores, from poultry to butter. Then too, we have 6.67 acres, which enable us to grow a large portion of our food at home.

Farming is a lot of work, and I’m not just talking about the hours spent selecting crops, ordering seed, greenhouse work, planting, weeding, maintaining the crops, harvesting, etc.. Farming means that you’re in business for yourself, dealing with finances, book keeping, marketing and promotion (if you’re selling direct to the consumer), dealing with bulk buyers, distributors, etc. (if you’re selling into the commercial distribution and/or commodity markets). In short, more work than you can shake a stick at. Why bother? I mean, it’s not like I don’t already have a job, right?

To answer that question I have to go back to the end of 2005, when I found out about about the USDA’s proposed National Animal ID System (NAIS). The system is controversial among many of us involved in animal agriculture, and I’ll not debate the advantages or disadvantages of the system in this article. There is plenty of information out there on the net both for and against the NAIS for any of you who are interested the subject. Suffice it to say, that in late 2008 and early 2009, it looked like full mandatory implementation was a real possibility, and I figured that as long as we might be pulled into the NAIS and treated as any other business as far as livestock and poultry ownership goes, I might as well register as an independent business and start acting like one. I certainly wasn’t about to give up my animals, or my way of life.

I’ve also wanted to find a way to support myself from home in a business other than construction. Most construction work is done in the cities, and living in Mulino, that involves a fair amount of commuting. While I like driving, and don’t have a problem with it, the shorter commute the better in my opinion. I prefer the commute to the garden areas and the barn (50′ to 300′) over the commute to Portland and other cities (20-50 miles). The hours are longer, but it’s home.

Being the owner of sole proprietor businesses as well as having partnered in businesses with other people, I was well aware of the risks and responsibilities of running a business, meeting expenses, etc.. Having been involved in one aspect or another of agriculture for the bulk of my life, I was also aware of the risks involved in entering the business end of agriculture.

New businesses have an alarmingly high rate of failure for a variety of reasons, and agriculture brings to the table some risks that other non ag businesses, be they manufacturing, service, or distribution, may not be prone to. Those risks include the vagaries of weather, diseases, pests, predators, and some aspects of long range planning for markets that one may not be completely familiar with.

I’ve always been a big fan of challenges and someone who is used to overcoming those challenges. Having worked as a woman in the masonry trades since 1985, I’m used to blazing my own trail, so to speak. I’m also used to acquiring and assimilating new skills and information rapidly. I like to say “I’m used to vertical learning curves”. Starting a small agriculture based business was something I believed was doable for me. Not easy by any means, but definitely something I saw myself being as capable of.

So, armed with a ‘Can Do’ attitude, and a fair amount of experience running businesses, I registered a business name, The Little Homestead, with the Oregon Secretary of State’s corporate division in late 2008, and embarked on my journey in farming. This actually isn’t my first farming business. Harold and I were ‘Emus R Us’ when we moved out here in 1991. Having experience in the failure of that market, the emu slaughter market, and having a better idea of the risks involved in that type of market, which was to be a commodity market, I decided not to target any commodity market. We’re on such a small acreage that commodity farming isn’t really something that would be financially viable anyway, at least not for anything I’d be interested in growing anyway.

How did I evolve into becoming a CSA farm?

My involvement in issues surrounding the NAIS led me, over time, to issues surrounding food production in this country, international trade issues, and finally to the local foods movement. I learned that, for the past couple of decades, local foods, farmers markets, CSA (community supported agriculture) farm/business models etc. have become very popular. In addition to shielding farms from the fluctuations of pricing in the commodity markets, they also provide a market for, and a higher return on, foods grown and produced by farms. Retail is always better for the financial bottom line for a business, especially a farm business, than wholesale, if you can get it. I considered selling at farmers markets, but settled on the CSA model as it seemed more stable over a longer period of time such as a growing season, than the market, for a variety of reasons. I also felt that selling at a market was a bit more than I could handle this year, so it would be better for me to leave selling into that venue until I had a few more years under my belt farming.

I didn’t want to lock customers into a contract that I might not be able to deliver on, so I decided to initiate a pay as you go type contract with ala carte ordering for each week’s delivery with payment on delivery. That way, customers could order what they wanted, as much as they wanted, and if there were shortfalls in the harvest that week for a particular item, I could adjust their bill to reflect that. As I’ve learned, there are both advantages and disadvantages to this particular model and for the farm. It’s nowhere near as secure as the traditional CSA model where subscribers pay up front for their share each season. But as I hadn’t ever run a business like this, I decided to err on myself taking on all of the risk.

I’ve since transitioned to a CSA model, that while still ‘Pay as you go’, requires that subscribers sign up for a set sized share of the farm’s production. New subscribers are required to fill out a questionaire that lets them know what the farm is currently producing and what I may add, they’re given the option of suggesting things that they’d like to see in their share but that I don’t grow, and they can indicate foods that they either do not want or should not receive in their share. For instance, diabetics may not want a lot of, or very many, potatoes in their share, as eating these could adversely effect their blood sugar. People sensitive to eggs would not want those in their share. Others who like unusual greens, root crops, etc. that I wouldn’t think of growing can indicate on the survey that they’d like to see those items in their share. I love growing new things, but I really don’t want to grow more than I can use if no one else is even interested in them.

I’ll be operating under this system untill next spring. I plan to grow year round, so I’ll see how things work out during the winter.
In future articles, I will share my experiences and views on a variety of issues related to small scale diversified farming, animal husbandry and behavior, as well as what’s going on around my farm in beautiful Mulino, Oregon.

Next time, part 2 of my introduction, I will discuss

• My philosophy for small scale farming.
• What I can do on this small farm?
• What I can’t do on this small farm?
• What are some advantages and disadvantages to combining livestock and row crops?
• What do I grow now, and what are my plans for the future with this particular farm?
• What I don’t grow and why?

I was looking forward to the road trip to the Imperial Stock Ranch, and learning more about what it takes to run a large ranch. Thoughts of open spaces, corrals, and cowboys on horseback all came to mind.

The eastern side of Mt. Hood is a beautiful part of the country, one that I continue to savor discovering. As Lynn and I came out of the Columbia Gorge, past the communities of Hood River, and The Dalles, the land began changing from the majesty of the gorge to rolling green hills to hills spattered with black and brown craggily rocks and tufts of grass. After miles and miles of this kind of landscape we came into the town of Maupin, a population of 411 people, and our new home for the next several days.

The next morning we left early, filled our coffee cups and headed further into the high desert. It was early spring, the air was cool, and the landscape contained a great expanse of rocks, dry earth and short clumps of grass.

Baskets of rock dotted throughout the high desert landscape of Eastern Oregon

Finally, I came to the road I was looking for, Hinton Rd, named after the man that came across the plains in a covered wagon with his family in 1852. How did R.R. Hinton ever find this place?! After yet another mile, or so, down this road, I finally came upon the homestead that was originally built by Mr. Hinton, and for the past 21 years, the current home of Dan and Jeanne Carver.

Dan and Jeanne Carver, Imperial Stock Ranch

Later in the day I got to meet Bruno and Babe, the 2 Maremma sheepdogs, who guard, well, the sheep! They fit right in – big and white themselves – and are at home on the rocky landscape. The Carvers introduced them into the sheep family when they were losing up to six lambs a week, and since their arrival they have not lost any lambs to predators. These big dogs may look lovable from the outside but they spend their days and nights with the sheep, and the only humans they have regular contact with are Dan and Jeanne Carver. They consider everyone else a possible predator, and so I kept a respectful distance as I filmed their sheep ‘family’.

The second day I spent wandering the property and filming the different buildings, fields, and livestock. Many of the buildings were built by the original founder of Imperial Stock Ranch, Richard Roland Hinton. The buildings were beautiful in their simplicity and well-aged in character. The planks on the outside wall of the shearing shed undulated from one end to another. I imagine the decades in dry desert heat had this effect.

The Museum Room

The Carvers are working hard to preserve the original buildings that serve as a symbolic link to the past, while continuing the proud tradition of ranching responding to the ever changing economic landscape, and thriving.

—Rebecca

Nilla Persson, one of the volunteers in the group came up to me, and asked if she could share a personal story with us. Without any further preparation, Rebecca turned the camera upon her, as she began. It was obvious to us, this was one of those family stories that survive over the years to be told at appropriate moments, and that represent an important symbolic event in a person’s life.

The cool thing about Nilla’s story is that her young son developed a taste early in life for fresh vegetables. In a way, many of us forget that our food comes from farms because we often purchase them directly from the supermarket, where year-round availability of fruits and vegetables are not always the best substitute for fresh, and seasonal foods.

Once the taste for fresh foods are developed, the frozen and canned varieties never quite taste the same. I hope that never changes!

—Fred

I’ve devoted the first two installments in this series to exploring the dual wellsprings that gave rise to organic agriculture. Organic Agriculture: Its Origins and Evolution delved into Sir Albert Howard’s pioneering vision of organic agriculture as a self-regulating system of integrated crop and livestock production that provides optimal nutrition for organisms, including humans, on their journey through life. In Industrial Agriculture and the Organic Alternative: Rachel Carson’s Contribution, I introduced the more contemporary concern, brilliantly articulated by that noted marine biologist and author, that the reckless release of toxic synthetic compounds into the environment threatens to undermine the Earth’s ecological balance. The convergence of these two tributaries by the early 1960s led to a small but spirited torrent of dedicated farmers and supportive consumers who rejected a mainstream food supply increasingly driven by mass production, saturation advertising and convenience preparation.

How would consumers seeking chemical-free fruits and vegetables, brown eggs and bulgar wheat find the precious yet rare commodities they prized? One solution was to grow them personally and many people tried, with varying degrees of success, to go “back to the land” and start farming. Another solution was to pool resources with like-minded souls and procure bulk orders from trusted farmers for communal distribution which fostered the modern cooperative grocery/health food store movement. But becoming a farmer meant sweaty full-time work and joining a coop led to messy group dynamics and lots of left over brown rice. Alternative-minded farmers and consumers alike began imagining a simple yet reliable shorthand that would readily identify food raised and handled as naturally as possible and ideally with no chemical inputs. J.I. Rodale had been popularizing the term “organic” to describe such production systems through his publications and research institute since the 1940s. With this pedigree, “organic” was widely synonymous with natural farming systems and a numerous regional farmer groups (calling them “organizations” at this point would be stretching it) were using it as a marketing claim by the late 1970s.

Despite a perpetual cold shoulder from the land grant agricultural establishment and the commercial food industry, organic agriculture grew steadily if silently during the 1980s. Each regional farmer group developed its own set of standards that specified the conditions with which a farmer must comply for their farm and the food it produced to be certified, labeled and sold as organic. These standards began with the basics of Howard and Rodale – small scale systems emphasizing natural fertility sources including compost and cover crops, crop rotations, and crop diversity – and grafted on the Carson commandment – no synthetic inputs, especially pesticides. The pioneering farmers of this era deserve high praise not only for developing ways to produce under what were generally thought to be impossible conditions but for also building the credibility and market value of their distinct brands. By the end of the decade, there were at least thirty organic certification programs operating across the United States with some – especially in California, New England and the Upper Midwest – developing sizable consumer loyalty.

How were these nascent organic certification programs capable of guaranteeing potential customers that certified products had indeed been grown and processed in accordance with the proclaimed standards? It takes something more than the threat of bad karma to deter us from acting selfishly when we think no one is listening. The answer then, and to a considerable degree to this day, was similar to Ronald Reagan’s approach to negotiating nuclear disarmament with the Soviet Union: “Trust, but verify”. The certification process is predicated upon a comprehensive and ongoing dialogue between the farmer and their certifying agent. In a nutshell, the two parties agree on an organic system plan that commits the farmer to managing their operation in compliance with the standards. Compliance with the organic system plan is documented through an annual on-site inspection with follow-up as warranted, although the certifying agent can also conduct unannounced inspections. Detailed paperwork is fundamental to smooth certification and over time the certifying agents – who then and now tend to be the exacting types you would imagine would be drawn to this work – became highly efficient. In an oft-repeated phenomena, a member of the original farmer group who proved the most capable at the certification process stepped away from farming and took on an independent role in certifying their former peers. One cannot say that deliberate misrepresentation has not occurred, but the nearly forty year history of organic certification in the United States reflects has been overwhelmingly transparent, honest and accurate.

Anyone involved in business (or a relationship, for that matter) knows that success brings with it a whole new set of challenges and the organic community was clearly experiencing growing pains by 1990. More and more consumers were drawn to organic foods, but the plethora of independent certification programs (several states had joined the existing pool of farmer-based and for-profit certifying agents) created confusion around the generally slight but occasionally significant differences between their standards. This problem was magnified for food processors who wanted to combine ingredients certified by different programs into a single certified product such as corn chips or soup but were constrained by the lack of reciprocity. Amidst growing concern among established farmers and certifying agents that newcomers could seriously dilute or outright misrepresent the meaning and integrity of their hard work, organic agriculture literally went prime time overnight. In late 1989, the CBS news program 60 Minutes covered findings from the Natural Resources Defense Council that the widely used agricultural chemical Alar left carcinogenic residues on apples. In pre-Internet days when 60 Minutes was among the country’s most widely watched and trusted news sources, the story triggered a classic Rachel Carson backlash and Americans knocked down doors to get “chemical-free food”. Having become in a sense too big to fail and too small to keep going it alone, the organic community accepted what many continue to see as a Faustian bargain: they turned to the federal government to create a single standard and certification program to regulate use of the term “organic”.

Next time: we’ll explore how this relationship was consummated and what fruits it has borne.

Mark Keating has worked in the natural, sustainable, organic and local food movements since 1982. His work experience includes stints in commercial food service, farm labor, retail sales and marketing, state and federal civil service, non-profit advocacy and academia. While at the USDA between 1999 and 2004, Mark helped draft the national organic standards for crop and livestock production and spent two years working to develop and promote farmers markets. An inveterate believer that naturally raised and locally distributed food offers the best opportunity for human health and planetary survival, Mark lives in the Kentucky Bluegrass with his wife and their daughter.

This is what I discovered when I happened upon Norma Cravens of Springwater Farm at the local Portland Farmers Market recently. A table was piled high with a large variety of mushrooms. Some, like Shitake and Golden Chanterelles, are more commonly found than others. Nestled in baskets nearby were wild Lobster mushrooms – and once you see them, you’ll understand why they are called that – Maitakes, Namekos, and Matsutake mushrooms. Each has their own shape, color, and distinct flavors.

Nameko Cultivated Mushroom,
Portland Oregon Farmers Market

If you have a chance in the next few weeks, go visit your local farmers market or local farmer. They not only provide access to fresh, and locally produced foods, they often offer greater diversity of food choices than found in the typical supermarket store.

—Rebecca

Greg Massa, Organic Farmer-Hamilton City, California

I came across this little gem through twitter. You see, Greg Massa is one of those farmers who twitter while he works. Being limited by 140 characters or less, probably fits a busy farmer’s work schedule just fine. The tweet just said, “New video post on our blog: Rice Harvest 2009″ with a link to the video on his website. No explanation, just the video. Well, I wanted to know more, so I DM’d him – and this is what I learned:

A fourth generation farmer, his great-grandfather planted the first fields of rice in 1916 – so they are coming up on 100 years of rice growing. Quite a feat, considering so many family farms have gone under or exchanged hands over the years, let alone stay in the family and continue growing the same crop.

Massa is in the process of turning all 650 acres of rice into certified organically grown rice. Currently 170 acres are certified organic, with another 60 acres being added to this for next year’s planting.

That’s a lot of rice! Where does it all go? After being harvested, the rice goes to a dryer, um, to get dried! It comes from the field with a moisture content around 20%. In order to be stored, the moisture content needs to be lowered to 12%. Here’s how Greg describes the drying process: “with heat applied, drying takes a few hours. no heat, just air blown through bin, takes a week or more. Organic: no heat.” When it’s time, it goes to the mill, where the outside hard hull is removed to reveal the brown rice beneath. The non-organic rice goes to the commodity market and is co-mingled with rice from other growers.

The certified organic brown rice is packaged with the Massa Organics label and is direct marketed to restaurants and schools. In addition he sells the 2 pound and 20 pound packages at 12 regional farmers markets (in Northern California), where he gets to meet and talk to the actual buyer and eater.

Really, I don’t know where he finds the time to twitter, but I’m glad he does!

These are the different types of corn that Anthony Boutard mentions in this video:

Blue Corn
Dent Corn
Popcorn: Cochiti Pueblo; Amish Butter; and Pink Beauty
Open Pollinated Corn: Sweet Corn; Black Aztec; and Rainbow Inca
Flint Corn: White Cap Flint; Seneca Nation; and Roy’s Calais Flint

A field of shimmering sunflowers; a flock of hungry birds feeding , and a farmer who shares some of his stories about his sunflower fields.

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I have a soft spot for flowers.

Years ago I took some painting classes from a great watercolorist, Susan St. Thomas. The subject I always picked to paint was flowers. Gladiolas, stargazer lilies, Johnny jump-ups. They are all my favorites, for various reasons.

Near to where I live there are many farms and nurseries. Out driving one day, looking for fresh berries to pick, I stumbled upon a field of sunflowers in full bloom. There were acres of them, which translated into thousands of perky yellow and black heads craning upwards. Which also translated into millions of seeds for birds, and, perhaps, for people.

Aha! There might be a story here after all.

I pulled over into the fruit stand, and asked for the owner. His name was Don and he was great. I just had to ask him one question—Tell me about your field—and he took off.

Sometimes you never know where the next story will pop up.

Recipe from the show: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

—Rebecca

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In this final segment, Marion Kalb, director of the Farm To School program, suggests practical ways to work with food service directors, and others, to bring fresh, locally produced foods, into the school cafeteria lunchroom. Kalb shares success stories of schools in different areas of the country that have offered kids fresh vegetables and fruits, demonstrating that they will develop wider tastes for these foods when given a proper chance. Do you know of a Farm To School program in your school? What was your child’s experience?

For more information how you can bring a program to your community, contact these organizations: Coalition For Food Security: National Farm To School Program; National Farm To School Organization; and this conference that took place in Portland, Oregon, March 19-21, 2009: 4th National Farm To Cafeteria Conference.

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Part 2: Marion Kalb continues the conversation around the Farm To School program, acknowledging that added costs for fresh foods are a challenge, but also explaining practical ways to overcome some of those obstacles. Pointing out, in some cases, the cost of fresh, locally supplied foods are less expensive than their out of state counterparts.

With hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus money about to be provided by the taxpayer, how about including in the stimulus package provisions to fund a national Farm To School program? Imagine, if we could provide healthy, fresh, and locally produced fruits and vegetables to school kids throughout the country, how this may positively impact the economies of rural communities, advance the health of school kids, and provide hands-on education to encourage healthier eating habits for the next generation of American adults.

How important would offering fresh, locally produced fruits and vegetables in schools, be to your family?

See Related: Farm To School: A Conversation with Marion Kalb

This is the first in a series of “how-to” videos funded by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and produced by Cooking Up A Story. SARE is pleased to be part of this cooperative venture, and to share the rich heritage, knowledge, and individual stories of some of our past farmer grant recipients. As Jeanne Carver notes in the video, SARE’s Farmer Rancher Grants program provided critical assistance for them as they embarked on a new marketing approach.

The Imperial Stock Ranch, which began in 1871, faces a new and serious challenge to its very survival: how to create new markets for its products to compensate for longstanding existing markets that have declined or shifted overseas. Some bold steps were needed to rethink what to do with the wool from the sheep they raise on their 30,000 acre ranch in Eastern Oregon. Their solution? Direct, value-added marketing to yarn retailers and apparel designers.

Jeanne Carver is following in a long tradition of farmers striving to distinguish their product in the marketplace—first and foremost by its quality, but also through processing, product enhancements, packaging, and suggestions for how consumers can use the product. As you watch the video, note the four key areas where producers focus their efforts in order to achieve success.

1. Identify your product and its market potential: What do we have and what does it need to become to be able to sell it for a profit?
2. Determine what processing is required: How will we convert our raw product into the saleable items that consumers are looking for?
3. Create a marketing package: What is it about your product that is of special value to buyers of your product, and what is the best way to get that message across?
4. Develop a plan for how to market and sell your product: What steps will be needed to get my product to the marketplace and who can help me make that happen?

The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program provides grants to farmers, ranchers, researchers and educators in order to advance food and farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. SARE is proud of its connections to farming communities across the country and encourages those who wish to learn more to visit our Web site www.sare.org. SARE is a program of the USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service.

However insightful it was, the organic vision that Howard and his peers, notably Lady Eve Balfour in England and J.I. Rodale in America, had outlined by 1950 was incompatible with the changes then transforming commercial agriculture. The components of this transformation were not all that new – chemically derived fertilizers and pesticides were introduced in the nineteenth century and hybrid seeds and mechanized tractors became commercially available during the 1920s. The agricultural intelligentsia at the publicly funded, university based research and extension system was solidly committed to this more industrialized approach to farming before the Great Depression and Second World War impeded the transition. The conditions during the 1920s that precipitated the Dust Bowl – mono-cultural commodity production (wheat) dependent on mechanization (tractors to plant, plow and harvest) for foreign markets (Europe) pointed to agriculture’s future come peace time. After 1945, the United States had the scientific, educational and industrial capacity and the economic incentive to replace traditional solar and animal powered agriculture with an industrial model driven by fossil fuels.

Commercial agriculture was part of a broader cultural transformation after the Second World War as the marriage between the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century and the scientific discoveries of the twentieth became synonymous with progress. Faith in human mastery of the environment – reflected in the ability to decode DNA or travel to outer space – pushed technology to the realm of religion. The new and improved way of doing things characteristically involved synthetic compounds that interrupted rather than complimented natural processes. For example, the recently synthesized insecticide DDT seemed capable of eradicating pest populations that posed grave risks to human health and agricultural production. Under constant pressure to operate profitably, American farmers embraced the brave new world of industrial agriculture that academic, commercial and governmental authorities enthusiastically endorsed. Excluding the great many that subsequently left farming and the relatively few who have found a viable alternative, American farmers are making that same choice today.

Rachel Carson; Circa 1929, off the coast of what is now known as Woods Hole Observatory

If Howard, Balfour and Rodale gathered the kindling needed to ignite what we call organic agriculture, Rachel Carson unquestionably provided the spark. More than that, Carson brought a depth and clarity of vision that overturned the conventional scientific thinking of her day in the same way that Darwin and Einstein had in theirs. Born in 1907 and reared in modest circumstances in the Allegheny Mountains near Pittsburg, Carson’s early flair for creative writing gave way to a passion for biology that led her to a Masters degree from Johns Hopkins. Always among the first women in her achievements, Carson started on a PhD but withdrew to become the breadwinner for her extended family after her father passed away in 1935. She became only the second full-time professional woman hired by the federal Bureau of Fisheries and displayed a knack for translating technical material into enjoyable and informative prose for print and radio delivery.

Carson complimented her federal service with an increasingly well received career as a freelance writer on marine ecology capped by the phenomenal response to her 1951 book The Sea Around Us. The work earned the National Book award, remained on the New York Times best seller list for 86 weeks and was eventually translated into thirty languages. Financially stable for the first time, Carson relocated to her beloved Maine coast and dedicated herself to communicating not just her wonder at the natural world but also her concern that humans were increasingly jeopardizing its survival. Along with an extended network of ecologists, conservationists and epidemiologists, Carson grew alarmed that the widespread and largely indiscriminate application of persistent synthetic pesticides threatened to fray and soon sever the interconnected web of life on Earth.

As we all know, Carson’s undertaking produced the crowning achievement of her career – Silent Spring, published in 1962. In contrast to the lyrically descriptive prose with which she had written about sea life, Silent Spring was a data intensive, densely footnoted work constituting the most comprehensive cost/benefit analysis yet conducted on a host of recently introduced synthetic pesticides. Many a budding environmentalist turning to the book for inspiration has put it down soon after completing the evocative introduction – “And No Bird Sang” – that led to the title. Carson advanced the most scientifically rigorous and technically detailed case possible because she correctly anticipated that challenging the new synthetic status quo would elicit a withering rebuke from powerful and deep pocketed interests. That criticism persists to this day and it is possible with contemporary analytical tools to poke holes in some of Carson’s assertions, though her fundamental conclusions are tragically all too accurate. Of greater significance than the fine print behind the science in Silent Spring is the spirit within its vision that launched both the mass organic movement and the sweeping environmental consciousness of the 1960s.

Like the great naturalists John Muir and Aldo Leopold before her, Carson popularized the understanding that human beings are an intrinsic part of the natural world which they could neither dominate nor control. And like those geniuses, Carson warned that extremely adverse consequences would result from ignoring this principle of universal reciprocity. Specifically, she documented that the new generation of synthetic pesticides such as DDT, dieldrin and heptachlor persisted long after their application and accumulated in the fat tissue of organisms exposed to them. The movement of these toxins through the food chain resulted in their concentration in longer-lived species and posed severe if unpredictable health risks. Carson was deeply disturbed that citizens were kept ignorant of these risks with comforting assurances that powerful technologies in the hands of responsible authorities would necessarily contribute to progress. Rather than advocating the prohibition of synthetic pesticides, she argued for a more realistic appraisal of the costs and benefits of specific applications and for an accelerated effort to study and employ alternative, environmentally friendly, systems-based, biological controls for pest problems.

The massive public attention that Silent Spring received became an extraordinary catalyst for Americans to reject the industrial agricultural model and seek out – and grow, if necessary – chemical-free food. Within a few years, J.I. Rodale’s Organic Gardening magazine had several million subscribers and spurred the back-to-the-land youth movement from which many pioneering organic farmers emerged. Carson’s powerful message had clear connections to Howard’s organic paradigm: Nature, not mankind is in charge, and everything is connected to everything else, in a closed system. However, Carson’s warning cry regarding toxic synthetic compounds corrupting organic purity was a secondary if parallel concern to Howard whose primary focus was on the fertility and resilience of the system itself. This divergence in focus has led to an enduring confusion as to whether organic farming and the certification procedures that govern it address the process (the production systems) or the product (the food itself). More about this critical subject when we take up organic certification next time!

I’d like to close by acknowledging another of Rachel Carson’s enduring contributions. While Americans like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists, our propensity to accept authority and conform to the status quo runs deep. Carson dismantled the presumption that the people in charge, even in a democracy, would always act with the best interests of the community at heart. She demonstrated convincingly that the commercial, academic and regulatory establishment would at best gloss over and at worst sweep under the rug any less than flattering information about their latest and greatest innovation. Such insight awakened millions of Americans to consider that perhaps atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons was not as safe as it was portrayed, that our military intervention in Vietnam was not about supporting an ally yearning for democracy and that the Watergate break was not simply a “third rate burglary” as the President’s press secretary initially suggested. Asking the right questions qualifies as “speaking truth to power”, and Rachel Carson inspired millions to start asking questions.

And, to persevere until the truth is brought to light!

Next time: Preserving the magnificence of organic farming in the pen and paper world of organic certification continues to prove challenging, a subject I will address in my next post.

Mark Keating has worked in the natural, sustainable, organic and local food movements since 1982. His work experience includes stints in commercial food service, farm labor, retail sales and marketing, state and federal civil service, non-profit advocacy and academia. While at the USDA between 1999 and 2004, Mark helped draft the national organic standards for crop and livestock production and spent two years working to develop and promote farmers markets. An inveterate believer that naturally raised and locally distributed food offers the best opportunity for human health and planetary survival, Mark lives in the Kentucky Bluegrass with his wife and their daughter.

This story illustrates one farming family that work hard to grow good food, and who enjoy selling directly to their customers at the local farmers market.

This is not your typical story, for Anthony Boutard, of Ayers Creek Farm, is not your typical farmer. Trained as a forester, he and his wife, Carol, backed into farming – as he likes to tell it.

He shares many stories, including how he goes about deciding what to grow for a particular season, and shares his wealth of farming knowledge, some of it borrowed from indigenous cultures.

Anthony Boutard has lots of ideas and thoughts, and he’s a nonlinear thinker. As a result, I think this story stands out from the rest in terms of style. I wanted to make sure that his personality came through, and that his experience, and the rich flavors of his philosophy and approach to farming did not get left out during the editing process. Even the ending music was left out, it just didn’t fit here.

If you love food – good food – I hope this story will resonate with you. If it doesn’t matter to you what you eat or where it comes from, well, then, maybe you’ll get a sense what the fuss is all about. And, why (for those who can), it’s really important to support your local farmer. Anthony and Carol Boutard love eating good food, and lucky for us, they love to grow and sell it too. For those in the Portland, Oregon area, Ayers Creek Farm sells direct at the Hillsdale Farmers Market.

Have you ever tried to grow food during the winter months? Indoors with a few herbs, or maybe a cold frame with some lettuces? Or try curing sweet potatoes and squash to bring out their sweetness? Our local farmers have so much knowledge to share to help us understand and discover the good food around us. I encourage you to visit your local farmers market, many (at least in our area) are open in the winter, too.

Who is your Good Food Farmer? Tell us about him/her.

In Part 2 of this Cooking Up a Story: Food News interview, Mark Bittman, best-selling food author, and New York Times Columnist, lays out the central tenet of his life’s work as a food writer, and home cook. The “minimalist” view that we need to eat substantially more plant based foods, and consume substantially less animal products than what currently defines the typical Western diet.

Bittman’s argument is not (for the most part) with the hamburger in terms of the quality of the cow, his beef is with our wholesale substitution of plant based foods for meat products, and highly processed foods. This raises an interesting question, if as Bittman suggests, we consumed 90% less meat products, and processed foods, and correspondingly increased our intake of the remaining foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, and grains), how would this impact our current agriculture system? What would be the effect on food sustainability, public health, and on our food economy, if such a substantial change in our eating habits were to take place? Tell us what you think.

Related: Food Matters with Mark Bittman-1

Marion Kalb, director of the Farm to School program, part of the Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC), talks about the benefits to school kids, farmers, and rural communities when fresh, and local food is brought into the school lunch program for K-12 kids.

At first blush, it may seem too expensive for most budget-conscious school districts to adopt such a program? In addition, even though there may be clear health benefits of getting kids to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, along with important benefits to farmers and local communities, how many kids will actively participate, even if the opportunity is served to them on a silver platter (in this case, on a cafeteria lunchroom cart)?

But listen first to Marion Kalb, and you may find some of your doubts begin to fade. The Farm To School idea does work, and it may be coming to a neighborhood district where you live—with grassroots efforts, more success stories, and evangelists like Marion Kalb to inspire folks to try. As you will hear in the video, the benefits are potentially huge!

Two pioneers in showing that farmers in temperate climate can grow food in the winter months with less reliance upon oil are Chuck Waibel and Carol Ford, owners of the Garden Goddess greenhouse in western Minnesota. The couple runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm that ships fresh greens every winter, from October to April, to their neighbors.

Northlands Greenhouse Winter Manual

I first visited the greenhouse one January day when the wind chill was 13 below. The plants were snug and warm, clearly thriving despite the staunch winds outside. At sunset, when I entered the greenhouse, the indoor temperature was 65 degrees. Chuck chuckled as he told me that he had to open the greenhouse door for an hour or so prior to my arrival, so I would not be too hot. It had been 85 degrees in mid-afternoon.

Leaves shining, roots planted firmly in organic soil, and happily humid, the fresh greens were a welcome respite to winter winds and blowing snow. The mustard greens had a sharp, tart taste. Red, green, and purple colors competed for attention as I gazed around the greenhouse.

Photo courtesy of Ken Meter, Creative Commons 3.0

For more information, and to purchase Northlands Greenhouse Manual

Ken Meter is one of the most accomplished food-system analysts in the U.S., integrating market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns.  As president of Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, Meter holds 38 years experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building.  His Finding Food in Farm Country studies have promoted local food networks in 45 regions in 20 states, and one Canadian province.  He heads the proposal review process for USDA Community Food Projects.  Meter taught economics at the University of Minnesota, and the Harvard Kennedy School.  He also directed the public input and indicators selection process for the city of Minneapolis Sustainability Initiative, which won a national award.

First a quick update on my Farmers Market project. If you’ve been following my posts then you know that a couple of months ago I decided to take a huge leap of faith and approach my local municipality about bringing a Community Farmers Market to my town. Well, I presented my idea to the Municipal Council in August and it was approved pending selection of a new market location. If you recall when I met with the town mayor to try and garner his support, we had a bit of conflict concerning the proposed location and he asked me to find another spot. After careful consideration and what seemed like hours wandering around my one horse town I decided that there really wasn’t a better location and I was going to fight for my initial selection. When I met before the Council, I found that the location I was interested in is slotted for another project as I suspected all along. The Council loved the idea of the Farmers Market but was leaving it up to me and my “committee” to find a better spot. Since meeting with the council I have formed a Farmers Market “Committee” and we are scheduled to meet later on this month to toss around possible new locations. As always I will keep you posted.

Despite ineffective mulching and weeding my small victory garden did yield about 25 pounds of heirloom tomatoes and I’m still harvesting jalapenos and frying peppers. I put up 2 dozen jars of Strawberry preserves and few experimental flavors as well, how does Blackberry Thyme sound and Blueberry Lemon Verbena? Sadly there were no trips to the strawberry patches or blueberry farms this year, most of my wares were purchased from the Farmers Markets. My mother and I decided to go half on a poultry share and after tasting what these true organic, sustainable chickens taste like I don’t know how I could ever go back to any supermarket brand. I happily stumbled upon a couple of great produce stands relatively close to home and stayed committed to my weekly trips to the various farmers markets. My grandfather happily supplied me with black beans, zucchini, and so much more from his own garden. Although I put my homemade bread making on hold (it was just too darn hot) I continued with some regular butter and ice cream making but no more adventures with cheese, and speaking of homemade dairy I even had the good fortune of being a guest on the Martha Stewart Radio program Morning Living on August 24th talking about my adventures in homemade butter making.

One thing I didn’t find myself doing was a lot of grilling. I usually love grilling but after my last post on the differences between gas and charcoal grilling and which one is the more sustainable choice I decided just to put my outdoor grilling on hiatus for a bit and found myself using an energy efficient counter top electric grill when the mood for grilled foods would strike. I feel like there was so much more I could have done to support the local, sustainable food movement but given my situation I think I did pretty well and I always have to remind myself that I am only one person and Rome was not built in a day. But I want to hear from you, what did you do this summer to make it a more sustainable one? And what are your plans for having a more sustainable fall and winter? Foodwise that is.

Here’s a small portion of Heather Jone’s first post about working toward bringing a Farmer’s Market to her small town in New Jersey:

So this is where my newest journey begins, I’m saying my prayers and keeping my fingers crossed that I may be able to possibly have it up and running for the month of August but if not this summer than all systems will ago for next year.

Heather Jones is a wife, mother, freelance food writer, and graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She has worked for Gourmet Magazine, TV Personality Katie Brown; and the New York based Indian-fusion restaurant Tabla, and a recent guest on Martha Stewart’s radio program. Heather resides in Woodbine, New Jersey (population: 2800) with her husband and two daughters. She is a strong supporter of the Sustainable Food Movement and believes that education is the key to making a difference.

Painting by Julien Dupre

After all the conversations about organic agriculture that I’ve had since then, I’ve found that the gentleman is far from alone in his misunderstanding of the subject. Interestingly, the depth of misunderstanding about organic agriculture seems unrelated to whether the individual is a true believer or a doubting Thomas. This isn’t so surprising, since our dependence on mass communication exposes us to a typhoon of mis- and dis-information intended more to persuade than educate us. When we pass along what we think we’ve learned, we inevitably distort its meaning – our minds are analog, not digital. As a result, our understanding of organic agriculture is more likely the sum of hundreds of anecdotal impressions than a focused study.

How do we untangle the multiple personalities – healthier, more expensive, safer, less safe, corrupted by corporations, better for the planet – that organic brings to mind? Let’s start by treating organic farming and organic certification separately, the latter I will specifically address in a future post, as part of this ongoing series. As we shall see, organic farming involves an ancient protocol of crop and livestock production practices embedded in principles of interdependence and harmony. Organic certification began as a grass roots effort about forty years ago and is now managed by the Department of Agriculture, where interdependence and harmony are discretionary. Understanding how organic farming and certification function separately and together is essential for making wise choices about the source and quality of our food.

If I were asked to sum up the results of the work of the pioneers of the last twelve years or so on the relation of agriculture to public health, I should reply that a fertile soil means healthy crops, healthy livestock, and last, but not least, healthy human beings. —Sir Albert Howard, 1945

Sir Albert Howard is probably the individual most frequently associated with the establishment of organic farming. Howard was active in research for more than half a century and in An Agricultural Testament (1940) he carefully detailed the essential organic practices, especially the addition of composted animal and plant materials to the soil. As renown as Howard remains for this work, his legacy suffers from our fifteen-minutes-of-fame mindset that categorizes him as “the compost guy.” Compost was indeed central to his vision, yet a fuller examination of his career sheds invaluable light on the context in which he worked and the essential principles he discerned that are inseparable from organic farming’s meaning and promise.

Growing up on a farm before his academic proficiency launched his research career, Howard was instinctively skeptical about the modernization of English agriculture. He sensed that the replacement of draught animals with machinery and manure with synthetic fertilizers was degrading soil quality by diminishing its microbiological vitality. Howard was a brilliant scientist in the field and laboratory – his success in breeding wheat varieties adapted to India was historic – but he explicitly rejected the mechanistic and reductionist model of his Western contemporaries. To Howard, industrialized agriculture’s increased yields and greater labor efficiency would inevitably lead to diminishing returns, particularly in the nutritional attributes of the crops and livestock it produced.

In lieu of the industrial paradigm, Howard embraced Nature as the exemplar of agricultural productivity and efficiency. Consistent with his youthful experiences on the farm, this perception crystallized brilliantly during the twenty-five years that Howard conducted research in India. This work convinced Howard that the carefully balanced and cured combination of plant and livestock materials we call compost was the foundation of vitality in individual organisms and long-term resilience in biological communities. Sir Albert Howard’s summary of Nature’s approach to gardening— he wrote in 1940— articulates the fundamental principles of organic farming:

The main characteristic of Nature’s farming can therefore be summed up in a few words.  Mother earth never attempts to farm without live stock; she always raises mixed crops; great pains are taken to preserve the soil and to prevent erosion; the mixed vegetable and animal wastes are converted into humus; there is no waste; the processes of growth and the processes of decay balance one another; ample provision is made to maintain large reserves of fertility; the greatest care is taken to store the rainfall; both plants and animals are left to protect themselves against disease.

Howard’s tenet that “both plants and animals are left to protect themselves against diseases” is noteworthy, especially in the context of his earlier quotation about the linkage between healthy soils, crops, livestock and humans. Howard saw disease in an organism as an indication of imbalance with the natural order, most likely due to imperfect nutrition. Nature visited disease upon poorly nourished organisms to facilitate their passage through the cycle of life, inviting death to both complete the cycle, and begin it anew. Properly nourished organisms, meaning those partaking of food produced from vibrant, biologically active soils, would be fit and inherently resistant to diseases. There was no question in Howard’s mind that organically produced food was healthier; indeed, it’s the only food he would identify as healthy.

One more point needs to be made: Sir Albert Howard should not be characterized as the father of organic agriculture, though perhaps its midwife would be appropriate. He gratefully acknowledged the generations of Eastern peasant farmers, primarily in China but throughout South East Asia who handed down organic principles to become, as Howard’s peer F.H. King noted, “Farmers of Forty Centuries”. These origins and the influence of belief systems that shaped them – specifically Buddhism and Hinduism – help explain why organic agriculture so often seems counter-intuitive to Western agriculturalists. Fortunately, Westerners such as Howard and King (an American) were not put off by the primitive appearance of Asian agriculture and gleaned its magnificent substance.

Next week, I will examine Rachel Carson, and how her work so dramatically influenced organic agriculture.

Mark Keating has worked in the natural, sustainable, organic and local food movements since 1982.  His work experience includes stints in commercial food service, farm labor, retail sales and marketing, state and federal civil service, non-profit advocacy and academia.  While at the USDA between 1999 and 2004, Mark helped draft the national organic standards for crop and livestock production and spent two years working to develop and promote farmers markets.  An inveterate believer that naturally raised and locally distributed food offers the best opportunity for human health and planetary survival, Mark lives in the Kentucky Bluegrass with his wife and their daughter. 

This story is about a farmer that builds a bridge (metaphorically speaking) from his fields to the school lunchroom cafeterias. In the process, fresh, and wholesome foods are provided to growing kids, and a small local food economy develops. This is part of a growing trend across the country.

Okay, if you’ve been following along, you know I like to see how things work…it satisfies the engineer in me (thanks, Dad!). And, I love to garden, cook from scratch, participate in my community, work toward leaving a smaller carbon footprint…did I say anything about my kids yet? 3 of them. All boys. All healthy eaters. And, all in school.

Which leads me to the current story about the importance of teaching our kids about where our food comes from, that it doesn’t come from just a grocery store, it doesn’t come along with the ‘free’ toy, and it doesn’t just miraculously appear on their plate full of wholesome goodness and taste. A lot of work goes into bringing our food to our table. And, most of us know about the challenges of putting together a well-balanced meal, day-after-day.

The National Farm to School Network is an ongoing grassroots effort to build a local food economy, a bridge between the farmer in the field and the student in the cafeteria. Kids are beginning to learn that broccoli actually tastes good, and administrators are learning that kids will eat healthy foods when they are fresh and taste good. When you factor in possible healthcare costs down the road, from diet-related illnesses, everyone wins: fresh, healthier food for school kids, support for local farmers, and less food waste at school.

Now, just imagine, if you are the lunch lady at school and you have thousands of hungry kids filing into the cafeteria that are yammerin’ for something good to eat. You’re hoping good healthy food, and the kids are probably just hoping for it to be good tasting!

Why not both?

Which takes me to the farmer, who may grow fresh fruits, vegetables, or raise chickens and eggs, pasture feed their cattle, pigs, and maybe make cheese or pickles too. There’s a good chance, if they are a ‘small’ farmer, they are looking for many different markets to sell their food. This is the basis of a local food economy, where the farmer supplies a valuable commodity and service, and the community, as a whole, benefits not just financially but in broad sustainable terms: promoting a healthier environment, strengthening the sense of community, and encouraging healthier eating habits.

Recipes from this show: Pickled Green Beans; Yogurt Smoothie

—Rebecca

Various fruits and vegetable have been ripening these past few weeks. Have you had a chance to put any up? A favorite around our household is pears, especially the bartlett variety. Like most other fruit, once ripened, if you can’t eat it all, consider canning or preserving in some fashion. Marge Braker, a retired home economics teacher from Oregon State University Extension Service, shows how easy it is to can pears in this video demonstration. She also includes all the necessary steps in her recipe, canning pears, raw pack.

I think canning pears makes for a nice presentation and ease of use for future recipes such as this pear bread recipe. Here are two additional sites to find out more about the canning process: Canning Across America and Food In Jars.