Our
Mailbox: Trust Potato Coincidence Cost Ear to Ground.
Trust Organic Family Farmers.
Dear WPF.
Know
your farmers, know your food. I would trust my small local farmers
whose farms I have visited above some huge corporate "farm" thousands
of
miles away.
AL
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
Most folks are not able to visit a farm. And some that do don't have
enough background to know which pertinent questions to ask of the
farmer. Our farm has been certified organic for 30 years, long before
2002 when Congress had USDA establish the National Organic Program. I
call organic 'transparent' because the same legal regulations and
standards which all certified organic farmers adhere to, is there for
all eaters and the entire world to see. I have served as a volunteer on
our local organic MOFGA Certification Committee for over 20 years. My
experience there taught me that the assurance to consumers which
organic certification provides is both valuable and necessary. The
words 'natural' and 'local' have no legal nor agreed upon definition.
Therefore, one can find instances where the terms are misused. Despite
what biotech would have us believe GMO products are not 'natural'. In
grocery stores here in northern Maine, I have seen marked as 'local':
sweet corn, squash and apples ground in southern New England and
beyond.
Years ago the organic community invented the
organic certification system to protect its eaters from fraud and to
protect its honest farmers from unfair competition due to an unlevel
playing field. I believe the same need still exists today. To me there
are three important criteria: Organic, family-scale and local. I can
cite examples of local food I would not want to feed my family. And we
do want our food dollars going to other family organic farms, not a Big
Ag corporation who has bought themselves a seat a the organic table.
'Know your farmer' is a good concept but not always feasible, for
example, when one is traveling or when one is new to the good food
world and unequipped to differentiate the nuances. For us organic
certification is part of our commitment
to making organic a permanent fixture in the food landscape for all
time and everyone.
Jim.
Potatoes & Moisture.
Dear WPF.
I'm so used to trying to keep all water away from my stored potatoes, I
have developed a superstition that I should not plant potatoes in the
rain. What's your opinion on that one? I'm greatful for any advice you
may have.
I hope your season is happy and drier than last year! All my best for
your family and farm.
ME
Cape Elizabeth ME
WPF Replies.
Moderation is best of course. Storage potatoes need sufficiently cool
and moist air (38-40ºF and 90% humidity) so that moisture is not pulled
out of the tubers and physiological aging is minimized. Planted seed
potatoes obviously contain moisture in the seed piece but we've seen
rare, extremely dry Springs (1995 comes to mind) where the dry soil
sucks moisture out of the seed pieces and causes shriveling and that
hurts growth.
On the other hand too much water - saturated
Spring soils like Maine has been getting of late - can actually
suffocate potatoes and cause the seed to rot. Since wound healing does
not occur at temperatures below 45ºF - important for callousing over
the cut seed surface - we like to play it safe and let the soil
temperature (taken at 4" soil depth at 7AM) rise to 50ºF before we
plant. Extended cold and wet soil create conditions that can allow
colonization by pathogenic fungi resulting in seed rot.
Greensprouting our seed potatoes also helps us
in this process of protecting our crop. We work for and like fast
sprout emergence because as soon as the potato plants pop up through
the soil surface they benefit form the sun's ray and develop a markedly
improved defense against external parasitic forces out to colonize.
Jim.
Odd Coincidence.
Dear WPF.
Jim,
There's
an article for "Organic Week" in the Scientific American about feeding
the world. Their premise is that Organics can't feed us and supply the
goods we need for the future. I disagree. I think that you would be the
perfect person to give comments on it!
PS
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
I've
heard about the Scientific American piece, but in the midst of
planting, have not read it. Oddly, a similarly themed piece recently
appeared in Nature. Some thoughts.
1.) An article in Harpers ('Let
Them Eat Cash' June 2009) asserts that with current food production
capability the world could feed a population twice what we currently
have.
2.) Our 'modern' farm production
and food system is energy intensive and unsustainable and will
destabilize as energy prices rise.
3.) As an organic farmer our
goal is to produce, with the least environmental impact, the highest
quality food and seed for our family and our customers. researches at
University of Maine and USDA Ag Research Service have documented that
our Wood Prairie Farm yields are at least as high as those found in
conventional production. To our mind, more significant than simplistic
measurement of yield, however, is the high level of nutrient density
found in well-grown organic food. When we're discussing feeding the
world's people over the long term we should use sophisticated
measurements which matter such as nutrition per acre and environmental
impact vs. crude tonnage with environmental impacts externalized.
4.)
If we truly hold foremost
the welfare of the world's bottom 25% poorest and least food secure
citizens, then ahead of the corporate North's expensive proprietary
seed and technology, lies the reality that the organic farming's best
management practices taught and adopted will do far more to empower
those folks to end hunger and gain food sovereignty than all the
unaffordable
inputs from the corporate culture of death.
5.) Organic can feed the world.
Britain's Soil Association conducted an exhaustive review of all
published
research that makes claims about the global productive capacity of
organic agriculture. "Available data on yields suggests that organic
farming does have the potential to produce enough food to feed the
world." Read more below.
Jim.
https://www.pigbusiness.co.uk/pdfs/Soil-Association-Can-Organic-feed-the-World.pdf
Cost of Contamination.
Dear WPF.
Hello,
I am a student and a supporter of organic farming. I am researching the
regulation of Organic farms and their crops concerning GMO seeds and
their contamination. And I have a few questions for you.
What
is the estimated cost, to your knowledge, of the damage of
contamination of organic farms?
How
much will organic farms have to pay to replenish their crops from
contaminates and pulling their contaminated food from the market?
Also
what do you think are the steps that have to be taken to stop this
cross contamination of pure seeds and GMO?
GW
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
I doubt anyone knows the
answers to the first two questions you ask.
1.
Contaminated organic farmers are reluctant to admit contamination
because they fear being pursued for patent infringement by the holder
of the transgenic technology causing the invisible pollution.
2.
Transgenic contamination is of an unrecallable nature. Contamination of
organic seed extinguishes its value as organic seed for the organic
marketplace. The contaminated loss of organic seed is permanent and
beyond financial measure because it represents the loss of
irreplaceable unique locally adapted genetic material.
3.
We must win our OSGATA et al v. Monsanto lawsuit so that family farmers
will not be liable for patent infringement should they become
contaminated by Monsanto seed. Once this protection is in place farmers
suffering economic loss due to contamination may use the courts to try
and recover for damages. The situation at present allows the transgenic
companies to pollute with impunity and the organic community bears the
burden.
It's not fair and we are prepared to fight.
https://www.woodprairiefarm.com/
Jim.
Ear to Ground.
Dear WPF.
Jim
Gerritsen shares the coolest food safety stuff, especially on the
subject of Monsanto. He is an an organic seed grower in northern Maine
and
part of the lawsuit OSGATA vs. Monsanto. Most things I post that are
Monsanto oriented come from Jim. If you want an ear to the ground on
this important subject, Jim is the guy to listen to. Thanks, Jim, for
all you do.
JC
World Wide Web
WPF Replies.
Thanks
for your support.
Jim.
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