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Real Security Begins with Healthy Farms and Clean Water
by Judy Anders

I ask you, the reader, what would real security look like in this land of color-coded Terrorist Alerts, where our national debt is presently over 7 trillion dollars — that’s $24,000 for every citizen of the U.S.— and increasing on an average of $2 billion per day since September 30, 2003? Frightening to think about for the future generations who will have to pay for this excess. What is it that would make your life feel secure? This year’s annual Eco-Farm Conference went a long way toward answering that question through a myriad of perspectives given by gifted presenters. In a complex world with complicated issues, the answer can be exquisitely simple, available to every one of us and it doesn’t even require a change in political positions or religious beliefs! The obviously genuine enjoyment and pleasure of being together and celebrating great friendships and good food is part of a secure world by any definition.

The Eco-Farm Conference, the largest sustainable agriculture conference in the west, was recently held at Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey with over 1200 people participating. The event brought in prominent speakers and hosted workshops on the latest advances in agricultural production techniques, marketing strategies, research, and important issues like food safety. This year’s four-day winter forum is the 24th annual conference put on by the Ecological Farming Association (EFA).

Zea Sonnabend, conference coordinator, says the organization was founded in 1981 through inspiration, friendship and lively discussions among those who were involved in the forefront of organic agriculture — at a time when the general public was unaware of what the word "organic" meant. At that time, and to this day, EFA promotes sustainable agricultural practices which strengthen soils, protects air and water quality, encourages diverse ecosystems and honors the farmers through healthy working conditions and fair prices for the food grown. Organic food, now in the mainstream world-wide, has garnered government recognition and stringent regulation. The organic industry brought in 8 billion dollars in sales last year, with the market growing 20% per year. These statistics have been very attractive to corporate investors.

With such good news, why all the concern about food safety and the environment? An astounding figure passed around at the conference is that 17 percent of all retail sales in the WORLD go to Wal-Mart. What does that mean for us, and for the growers of our food, and why is it of concern? The rapid growth of the organic sector has made small companies into larger ones and larger companies into giants. Quite simply the "Wal-Mart World" symbolizes the trend in corporate consolidation and acquisitions by "Big Food." In the organic meat industry for example, the US-based Tyson Foods, the largest meat company in the world, is testing an organic chicken brand called Nature’s Farm and buying up the organic corn pipeline that is necessary to produce it. The company says the line was created to "address the increasing demand for organic meat and to provide greater product choices for consumers" (Labetti 2002). Though a small line, Nature’s Farm will likely gain prime supermarket space.

Currently, four companies control 80 percent of the U.S. beef packing industry and five companies control 75 percent of the global grain trade. Only two national distributors of natural and organic foods in the United States handle 80 percent of the market. And, realistically, it is probable that the larger the store, the more likely managers will find it too much trouble to deal with individual farmers at their back doors. Concentration in the conventional food industry has created a handful of giant corporations with such enormous buying power that they are able to set prices, limit farmers’ return, and control market access.

Some may say, "Well, this is free trade after all." Crucial questions have been asked and years of research have been done for more than a half-century now about the growth of large-scale, industrial agriculture and what it means for rural towns and communities. With all the consolidation going on, and as farm sizes increase, it has been confirmed that community health takes a dismal turn. Mechanization means that fewer local people are employed, and absentee ownership means that farm families themselves are no longer able to afford living in these towns. The income earned in agriculture is drained off into larger cities to support distant enterprises instead of being circulated among local business establishments, supporting schools, parks, churches, better public services, creating higher employment and more civic participation. It’s no wonder farmers are having a tough time when they receive just 21 cents of your food dollar — the rest going to advertising, distribution, and middlemen. One study that compared the multiplier effects of shopping for fruit and vegetables in supermarkets against shopping at local farmers’ markets or from CSAs, which are memberships in local farms, showed that for every dollar spent locally, it was worth $2.50 more to the community than the amount spent in the supermarket. And notable for the environment is that the trek made by the average fruit or vegetable these days is 1500 miles from field to fork.

So, let’s look at food safety and health. It wasn’t until 1968 that the term Green Revolution was coined by William Gaud, US Agency for International Development. This green revolution was supposed to increase yields by using new crop cultivars, irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides and mechanization. How did it fare?

The rapid increases in yield that were first seen are now greatly diminished while the earth’s population needing to be fed is still on the rise, estimated to be approaching 6.5 billion human beings. The modern practices of using herbicides and pesticides in growing food are becoming less effective over time. Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows a 10-fold increase in both the amount and toxicity of insecticide use in the US from the early 1940s to the 1990s. During the same period, though, crop losses from pests rose from 30 to 37 percent, losses from insects alone increased from 6 to 13 percent, and losses to plant pathogens from 10 to 12 percent, while losses from weeds decreased from about 14 percent to 12 percent. The details of this study emphasize the trend of an increasing proportion of crop output being lost to pests, despite a multi-billion dollar investment in pesticides and herbicides. And this appears to be a global phenomenon. A partial explanation for this paradox is that the industrialization of agriculture and the reliance on agrochemicals has led to changed farming systems that have produced higher yields, but have also led to an increased vulnerability of crops to pests.

Now that we are officially in the "aftermath" of the green revolution, what about the health of the nation’s citizens? David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. and former Surgeon General is quoted as saying about a recently published book (2004) entitled Food Fight: the inside story of the food industry, America’s obesity crisis, and what we can do about it, "We are indeed involved in a Food Fight. It is a fight for the health of America — especially our children." A staggering 65 percent of Americans are overweight. Obesity now surpasses smoking in health-care costs and impact on chronic illness. In 1995 the Institute of Medicine released an insightful report saying that the environment, and not genetics, was responsible for increasing obesity. The World Health Organization agrees. The fact that massive agribusiness companies control a surprising amount of the food chain raises grave concerns about issues such as dwindling genetic diversity in plants and farm animals, resistant strains of bacteria resulting from the overuse of antibiotics, and the corporations’ undue influence on the nation’s nutrition and agriculture policy. Enormous power and influence rest in the hands of a few companies. Their presence in Washington, D.C., is visible and felt in many ways. What crops get subsidized, which commodities get shipped to schools through the National School Lunch Program, what foods get emphasized in the food guide pyramid, and whether soft drinks are permitted in schools are a few places where political influence can affect the national nutrition environment. Succinctly put: business interests conflict with public health.

In the closing plenary session of the conference, third-generation farmer Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA, spoke of Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: how a culture’s food system touches the living world and creates a visible manifestation of it’s paradigms and values. Joel speaks of an agriculture that balances "fragmented, compartmentalized, systematized, Greco-Roman linear reductionist thinking with holistic, connected thinking that marries heritage wisdom with techno-glitzy creativity." After that rousing statement, he asked, "Why would anyone trust the government with our food supply? A government that can’t be trusted to pick our religion can’t be trusted to pick our food. You cannot certify integrity." We are in a time of changing paradigms, and it must be noted that paradigms always exceed their efficiency before collapsing. A paradigm can stop us or make us go. There was a time when the earth was believed to be flat, and that objects heavier than air would never fly — paradigms do change!

When paradigm shifts begin to occur, those who change their paradigms early don’t do it with their head, they do it with their heart. At the heart of the Eco-Farm conference were people who have stoked the fire through all the ups and downs, the successes and failures of the market-driven food economy over the past 30 years. They believe in and work for a just and sustainable future, one that is grounded in vision and practice. To say that I came away inspired is an understatement. The conference had the effect on the participants of being life-affirming deep down to the roots.

And you can bet I’m gonna shop local and get to know where my food comes from and who the farmer is who grows it. As the old paradigm of extractive, consumptive consumerism and its insecurities collapses, and the sustainability revolution takes hold deep in the heart of our community, I’ll meet you there — the experience is worth far more than the effort it takes. And who knows, it could just create the real security we are looking for.

Judy Anders is new to the area and has abundant energy when it comes to strengthening and networking with the local food/farm movement in our county. Any questions, feel free to contact her at judieanders@msn.com.

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