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What if I told you that America's food system is broken? What would you say?
Would you defend it by pointing out the abundance of choices offered in today's average supermarket, estimated to be over 45,000 items? Would you cite that per capita spending on food has dropped significantly over the last 50 years, freeing up incomes to improve quality of life? Would you talk about how American innovation is not only feeding our citizens, but is also feeding the world? Or would you quietly ask what a food system is?
While perhaps it's not "broken," America's industrial food system, which dominates food sales, has developed side effects that are accelerating in severity, especially diet-related health (e.g., obesity, diabetes, asthma, allergies) and environmental (e.g., chemical toxins, soil degradation, carbon emissions) issues that can no longer be ignored.
The food industry's insatiable drive toward cheaper, more convenient products has also disrupted the simple pleasures of cooking, eating and/or sharing meals with family and friends, turning food into an accessory, a lofty drop from once being an intimate part of our daily lives.
The good news is there is an increasingly vocal ground swell of advocates and experts working to reverse the downsides of industrial food, with the high-profile personalities becoming lightning rods for the powerful, entrenched corporate interests being challenged, which commonly label them as "elitist" or "anti-ag." Such claims, both untrue and unfair, are designed to minimize any impact these knowledgeable voices have on public opinion and consumer spending. Look no further than industrial food's aggressive reactions to the Food, Inc. documentary to see it in action.
One thing is clear, we can no longer allow industry to control the dialog, but fighting fire with fire, especially the use of fear to influence consumer behavior, doesn't sit well, and would probably be less effective than other approaches. To that end I've attempted to define the concept of "Pro Food" based on a set of core principles that get at the heart of why I and others are dedicated to driving these principles into mainstream culture through communications and alternative food systems.
PRO FOOD IS...
- Inclusive - Everybody is part of Pro Food, since everyone can gain from its success.
- Pro Farm - Fresh, healthy, and sustainable food starts with the farmers who grow it. Without their dedication, stewardship of the land and tireless labor it is difficult to envision Pro Food getting out of the gate.
- Pro Consumer - Today's conventional food system has invested billions of dollars in constructing a food infrastructure designed to do one thing: sell as much food as possible, as quickly and cheaply as possible. This strategy has been good for bottom lines, bad for waistlines and even worse for personal healthcare costs. Pro Food envisions bringing farm and plate together in innovative retail experiences that go beyond convenience to embrace flavor, taste, seasonal rhythms, community and health.
- Pro Cooking - Where would we be without cooking? Unfortunately for the last few generations, cooking has been left by the wayside in exchange for cheap, convenient substitutes as people became increasingly squeezed for time and energy. In many ways, Pro Food is based in the home kitchen, the best place to ensure we eat sustainably every day.
- Pro Eating - The only thing possibly more important than cooking is eating. And while Pro Food places an emphasis on awakening America's home kitchens, it also recognizes that many institutions (schools, hospitals, corporate cafeterias) and restaurants are doing their part in bringing the same healthy, flavorful and sustainable food on to every plate they serve.
- Community-Oriented - Pro Food recognizes the simple pleasure of bringing people together around food. Information is shared, bonds are strengthened and friendships are made. It also appreciates the economic benefits it can bring to regional food economies. Sustainable food can be imported (in the absence of local options), but increasing demand being met through local channels, there will be incentive for farms and processors to participate, as well as for existing providers to transition to sustainable production. Keeping money circulating longer within regional economies is key to Pro Food efforts.
- Entrepreneurial - Building a meaningful Pro Food presence in a food system dominated by massive conventional players with deeply entrenched interests (and reach) will take a lot of hard work, innovation and old fashioned luck. Fortunately we can leverage America's entrepreneurial spirit in systematically building the ever-broader foundation needed to move Pro Food forward.
What Pro Food ultimately becomes is up to those who recognize and embrace its ideal of healthy, sustainable food systems and make it their own. For it is up to all of us, from farmers to eaters, and everyone else who cares about the food they eat, to carry Pro Food forward and make its vision, its values a reality.
In some very interesting ways, Pro Food draws parallels with the early years of the Internet, when it was still isolated from the mainstream in government and university labs. People, especially entrepreneurs, were starting to eye the Internet as something that could revolutionize communications and collaboration, that could democratize things long centralized. At first, they had no idea what was going to stick, but began applying time, energy and money in search of winning formulas.
This is where I see Pro Food today, which makes it financially exciting for those with solutions to the problems we face. I look forward to joining them and others on this exciting journey.
Every Kitchen Table is a proud supporter of Fight Back Fridays.
34 Comments so far
Show AllThis is nothing compared to whats in store for us when congress passes HR875.WE ARE SCREWED!
Regarding HR875, please read the following from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply:
"Food Safety & Modernizations Act: friend or foe of organic farmers and gardeners?
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
There has been some concern surrounding the “Food Safety Modernization Act” (HR875) several blogs, and YouTube videos have been criticizing the Act as “The Death of Organic Farming” and “…making it illegal to have a backyard garden”. The criticisms site the support of large agribusiness (like Monsanto) and reason to be skeptical of the Act.
We here at Peaceful Valley received several questions and emails with links to various takes on the Act and it’s implications in the organic agriculture industry. While we are not directly involved with any legislation or political movements, the sustainability of the industry and the organic movement at large is obviously of great concern to us… and has been since 1976.
I did my own research and asked for the opinions of industry groups. All of my investigation leads me to the conclusion that The Food Safety Modernization Act contains no language that would put organic farming or gardening at risk.
Many of those who were originally very concerned about this Act have been relieved by the “Myths and Facts about The Food Modernization Act” memo released by Congresswoman DeLauro’s office (see Below).
Some have apologized for causing a “False Alarm”. I would like to say that there is no apology necessary, the uprising of concern and interest is an important element of our democracy. The flurry of questions, emails, calls and concern that we saw from our staff, vendors, customers and peers shows that we are an aware and active community that is not afraid to stand up for what we believe in. For that I would like to applaud the community at large and encourage you all to stay alert and to continue to defend what you believe in!"
For more information go to: http://intheloop.groworganic.com/?tag=hr875
Happy organic farming and gardening! ~Moondoggy
'There's a sucker born every minute.'
Wasn't that P.T. Barnum that said that?
Welcome to the Greatest Show On Earth.
Amerika, where 'freedom' rings loudly even now, hey?
People die and are ripped off, ONLY because of their specific fault, no aggressor exists, the government and the bureaucracy are here to help.
Everything is functioning well...
Amerika will continue to prosper and grow.
ARBEIT MACHT FREI.
OK, I'm not sure what you're saying. You're being facetious, right? I don't get it. Maybe I'm not awake yet. COFFEE!
Could you be a bit more specific? I don't follow. What's your point? In plain English, please.
I'm just a simple man with a high school reading level. I only comprehend plain talk. I wasn't raised in Berlin. Thanks!
Moondoggy~
I don't think you're necessarily a bad guy, in fact, I think you're kinda good. All I'm doing really, is pointing out the pervasiveness of lies upon people.
Not even 1 in 100 will ever learn to run with the wolves, you see. People stay as sheep, even after they've learned a few (wolf) vocalizations. You have to grow fur, develop a keen nose, sharp eyesight, excellent hearing and the ability to run and run and run...
FREEDOM.
your friend,
nedlud
Oh-kaay. But what does any of that have to to with HR875, the Food Safety & Modernizations Act? Are you responding to what I wrote in response to 'badger' or to other things I had previously written somewhere else? I'm confused.
Are you serious?
Yet ANOTHER food ideology that I'm supposed to buy into? What happened - Was "organic" too yesterday? I remember in the 80's when all food was suddenly "natural".
I am extremely suspicious of your cheerleading, your rhetoric, and your immediate jump to brand this "Pro Food" into the next-next thing. Your copy reads like a sales pitch. If this is to benefit all of us, what are you selling?
Most people's diets are dictated by their pocketbooks. Fast food understands this very well, as last year alone Americans' spent over 110 billion dollars at such establishments.
All farming was "sustainable" up until the 20th century. As we stand now, the American Farmer is almost extinct. Perhaps "Pro-Food" (and what's the alternative?) should start at the root of the problem and call itself Pro-Farmer!
Very serious and this is not an ideology. Quite the contrary.
Pro Food is a blueprint for creating consumer demand for less processed and fast foods. By highlighting elements throughout the food chain and tying them to entrepreneurial efforts to create new solutions, it is my hope, as well as many others that I have talked to, that we can begin taking meaningful market share from conventional foods.
The competition, for now, is cheap, convenient food, which is more manufactured than natural. But if you consider the rapid rise of health care costs, soon the combination of food and health expenses will begin eroding disposable incomes, if that isn't already happening.
Tracing the current health care issues back to their source, a majority of the causes are likely diet related, which is why we must begin migrating people to better diets ASAP. Otherwise, the financial downsides will gain momentum and create a whole new set of disastrous consequences.
"Pro Food is a blueprint for creating consumer demand for less processed and fast foods."
I'm all for this. The reason organic food has taken off is because of demand.
I have to add, though, that I am just as concerned about the distribution of food, as I am the quality of it. What sense does it make to grow healthy, organic food if we still have the antiquated and highly wasteful method of shipping food across the country, or even around the world? This cannot last, and it won't!
Yeah, we desperately need healthy food, and we need to re-learn how to eat in this country, but we also need local supplies of healthy, organic food. We need small farms everywhere instead of a few agri-behemoths. When the supply chain breaks down, as it will, Twinkies will look good if we can't get food.
I understand that you're committed but let me point out a few examples from your essay to illustrate my problem:
"core principals"
"embrace the ideal of healthy"
"carry Pro Food forward and make its vision, its values a reality"
"winning formulas"
"joining them and others on this exciting journey"
This is all corporate-speak, close cousin to propaganda. It is a diliberate style of writing and speaking aimed at stripping the meaning from language and replacing it with a "positive feeling". It is poison!
I urge you to humble your vocabulary. Perhaps you should check out the works of Wendell Berry, whom you should be in contact with already.
And for the record - As soon as you shape your ideas into a form, a school of thought or manifesto, then yes, it becomes an ideology.
Thanks for clarifying your point. It was helpful to see how you interpreted specific phrases, and I appreciated your suggestion to look at Wendell Berry's style.
What I am trying to do is form a vision and set of values to support the development of a market built on sustainable food. Stay tuned for future posts on the subject that will be a lot less about the "core principles" and more about how to attract entrepreneurs and the money that supports them in their efforts.
Look forward to your future comments and suggestions.
Cheers,
Rob Smart
Right Maliswan
I am all for growing our own food, eating at home, etc. etc. But, when did food become ideological? Why are there so many "food allergies" being diagnosed? Food production is important. We may find ways to do it better. But, farmers have to buy into the new ideas. The only way to do that is to develop better technologies. You can't eat ideas. Farmer's need better tools.
What I am hearing from farmers and groups well acquainted with farmers is that they will respond first and foremost to demand. As long as industrial food is dominating the retail market, they will continue growing commodity crops and raising animals in CAFOs, since that is what the mechanized system demands.
We must create new, growing retail channels that demand more fresh, edible foods from farmers, e.g., fruits, vegetables, as well as minimally processed foods, e.g., flours, cheeses. As such channels grow, so will consumer demand, which will justify farmers abandoning all or some of their commodity crops in favor of more sustainable foods.
I would say that I'm broken. Broken and broke from trying to raise food--environmentally responsibly, in a way that provides joy and meaning for myself, contributes to health and, receive fair payment for my labor.
signed,
small farmer
Growing food is not the problem, farming is. Farming needs to be abandoned. Sound radical? It is, but it's the only way to save ourselves from a calamity of our own making. Farming is the single most destructive practice that mankind has ever been involved in.
So what is the alternative? Replace the old system of agriculture with the new system of permaculture. How can you feed the masses with small scale permaculture? By doing permaculture everywhere.
With permaculture your productivity increases 5 to 10 fold per acre over agriculture. If practiced widely permaculture would allow much, if not most of our farmlands to return to a wild state so we can save many of the species we're loosing now at the astonishing rate of one species every 6 seconds.
The only problem I can see with permaculture is with plenty of food for everyone, our human population would be allowed increase.
If you have a hard time grasping the permaculture concept, then educate yourself. A good place to start is these 2 videos:
http://tinyurl.com/mspczt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofKTgmW_FAg
It's clear that our present system is unsustainable. It simply cannot continue very much longer. We need to begin to adopt a new way of producing food immediately. And it's not going to be promoted by politicians. So that leaves it up to you and me.
Moondoggy & Ted Markow - count me in as another supporter of permaculture, though not (yet) a practitioner. I attended a one-day seminar on this very topic in 1992, and then someone lent me a copy of Bill Mollison's book "Permaculture: A Practical Guide for a Sustainable Future". I was blown away, and for about a month, I truly felt that I had found my calling! But then, not all things fell into place - so life had to go on.
Moondoggy, I'm not sure that your distnction between "farming" and "permaculture" is all that rigorous. Because, in a sense, even in permaculture, we work with nature, but not passively - there is a bit of active "management". Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, that could be semantics - but I just wanted to point out that organic "farming" could be sustainable and can work largely with nature, too.
I have my doubts about being able to feed the current population with just permaculture alone. So the subject of population needs to be addressed too. While nothing can be done about the people who are already here, future growth rates could and should be brought down - the least that should happen is for the religious bigots to stop meddling in the matter, and let people practice birth control. In the meantime, I truly feel that the available resources (land, water) must be used optimally and equitably - and I have no doubt that a large number of people becoming vegetarians/vegans would allow enough food for everyone on the planet. Any decrease in population is not going to happen in less than a couple of generations - and I happen to believe in sharing what's available in an equitable manner.
Permaculture CANNOT provide food for everyone without addressing the issue of fairness. If we agree that the "excess" human population has to decrease naturally and humanely, then it's easy to see how much land would be available for each person, on average. It's also not difficult to see how much food can be grown in a given plot of land - say 5 acres - for various climate regimes. According to one theory (I'm paraphrasing from Jeremy Rifkin's "Beyond Beef"), the growth in consumption of meat by the aristocrats in Britain led to greater demand for land (of course, industrial production of wool was another factor) for livestock grazing. The "discovery" of the New World relieved the pressure on land for the European colonial powers, and their appetite for beef was partly responsible for the genocide of the natives - which was exacerbated later by the new-found taste for 'marbled beef' of the English aristocrats.
Even today, if you look at the land holdings in the Americas, vast tracts of land are in the hands of a small minority. Those without productive land are either marginalized or driven to desperate attempts to enter other countries illegally.
So, again, without approaching the 'problem' from a standpoint of fairness and equity, 'permaculture' (and even vegetarianism, if misunderstood) could look like fancy ideologies. But fairness can never be an ideology - it's a basic human value.
"Permaculture CANNOT provide food for everyone without addressing the issue of fairness."
Well, I'm not sure if Mollison had fairness in mind when he worked out permaculture principles, though, I think it might be inherent in any design that works with Nature instead of against it.
I really don't look at fairness when I apply permaculture to my life. I know it's important and I try to be fair in everything I do, but if I measure whatever I do by the "fairness" yardstick I think I'd be paralyzed into doing nothing. Not only that, but I can't figure out how living lightly and with less waste is unfair. What is unfair is the system of totalitarian agriculture that destroys soil, creates monocultures, and hoards food. Permaculture is just the opposite. Sounds quite fair to me.
Permaculture really can't be measured against the current food-growing/processing system. It is not intended to feed vast amounts of people, only those involved in it. In that way, maybe Nature isn't fair. Or, maybe it would be fair to teach everyone to live their lives and grow their own food using permaculture principles.
Moondoggy,
Nice to know there's at least one more permie on CD.
While I share your advocacy for permaculture, I see other possibilities for getting us on a more sustainable track. Ultimately however, I think we will all be practicing permaculture in some form or other. We will have no choice.
I don't share your fear of permaculture adding to the population, however. By its design, permaculture uses Nature as its model, so Nature's own checks and balances are used. I mean, when was the last time you saw a fat permie? No, there are no huge surpluses in permaculture. With everyone growing food, there would still not be enough to feed the current population, therefore, it would decrease naturally. Human population has been able to grow exponentially since the advent of modern agriculture. With peak oil, that will come to an end (as will transportation of food), so we will all have to grow our own as well as rely on our neighbors and local small growers.
And yes, that leaves it up to you and me. Imagine that - no voting required! Just add sheet mulching and rainwater.
Thanks Ted. You were the one who turned me onto A Farm For The Future. An excellent documentary. I don't have time for a long reply so I'll close by recommending an excellent feature length film, a masterpiece of cinematography that everyone should watch called HOME.
HOME has been made available by a group of corporate sponsors so it's free. It may be one of the most important films ever produced. It is all about our planet, life, how we came to be, how we are connected to everything else, and how we humans are altering the fragile balance of life on the home planet, the only planet we can be certain harbors life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=channel
You cannot walk away from this film unchanged. And can't we all agree that change is desperately needed at this time in history? If we don't learn to change, the game is over. 4 billion years of evolution is destroyed by one generation of homo sapian sapian, a species only 200,000 years old.
"I don't have time for a long reply so I'll close by recommending an excellent feature length film, a masterpiece of cinematography that everyone should watch called HOME."
Awesome, thanks. I started watching it and will watch all of it later. Gorgeous cinematography! I've already learned some just from watching the first 10 minutes.
Yes, change is needed...and it will come. Change happens whether we instigate it or not. Like time - even sitting still we are part of it.
Don't know if you ever saw the BBC documentary, "From the Heart of the World - The Elder Brother's Warning." Dunno if it's available, but it too is worth watching. If you don't get a chance to watch it, here is their message:
Message from the Kogi:
‘From the beginning in Colombia
everything, everything remained as it
was among us,
the native people;
the same belief, the same mask,
the same dance.
Everything well organised, in order,
A terrace for every animal.
‘Younger brother was permitted in
other places,
other countries.
There was a dividing line, the sea.
‘He said, ‘Younger Brother that side,
Elder Brother this side.
You cannot cross it.’
Because this Colombia was the heart of
The world,
Of the whole universe.
‘But Younger Brother came from
another country
and immediately saw gold
and immediately began to rob.
There were golden images,
golden oracles.
The Mama prophesied with golden
Bowls,
he had a golden tuma,
he had everything
and Younger Brother took it all to
another country.
‘Now the Mama grows sad,
he feels weak.
He says that the earth is decaying.
The earth is losing its strength
Because they have taken away much
petrol,
coal,
many minerals.
‘A human being has much liquid inside.
If the liquid dries up we fall with
weakness.
This same thing can happen to the Earth,
Weakness makes you fall,
weakness.
‘So the earth catches diseases of all
kinds.
The animals die.
The trees dry up.
People fall ill.
Many illnesses will appear
And there will be no cure for them
Why?
‘Because the Younger Brother is among us,
Younger Brother is violating
The basic foundation of the world’s law
A total violation.
Robbing.
Ransacking.
Building highways,
Extracting petrol,
minerals.
‘We tell you,
We the people of this place,
Kogi,
Asario,
Arhuaco:
that is the violation
‘So the Mamas say,
‘please BBC
no one else should come here,
no more ransacking
because the earth wants to collapse,
the earth grows weak,
we must protect it,
we must respect it,
because he does not respect the earth,
because he does not respect it.’
‘Younger Brother thinks,
‘Yes! Here I am! I know much about
the universe!’
But this knowing is learning to destroy
the world,
to destroy everything,
all humanity.
‘The earth feels - they take out petrol, it
feels pain there.
So the earth sends out sickness.
There will be many medicines,
drugs,
but in the end the drugs will not be of
any use.
‘The Mamas say that this tale must be
learnt
by the Younger Brother.’
------
IMO, it is not homo sapiens sapiens who are to blame, it is the Younger Brother. Those of us who have sprung and multiplied since the inception of what Daniel Quinn calls, totalitarian agriculture. We are so far removed from the natural rhythms of the planet that we don't have a clue how to live in a healthy way upon it. We need to relearn it and teach it to each other.
The book "The Ecology Of Eden" describes this method. That is mimicing nature as closely as possible and growing species best suited to that enviroment.
When we try to adapt nature to our needs we BREAK the natural system, thus requiring ever more energy to grow the same amount of food.
Vegetarianism is not the answer The answer is diversity.
Mother nature knows best.
"Vegetarianism is not the answer The answer is diversity."
Agreed. While I'm not a vegetarian, I think eating less meat is part of the solution. Or, if one does eat meat, to eat open-pastured/free-range meat that has been raised humanely and environmentally safe.
As for diversity - amen! Our culture is fixated on monocropping and single-issue solutions. They don't work because Nature relies on diversity.
I hadn't heard of The Ecology of Eden, but will check it out. Thanks!
Ted~
I wrote you a comment over on the Glenn Greenwald, NYT Times piece posted elsewhere here today. It contains some information about Organic Valley. Have you looked at my old comments? Often they appeared after a Jim Goodman article. February, March, April...
nedlud
p.s. I'm very diverse and Organic Valley didn't like that! They didn't like that at all...
Hey Rob? Will you help me?
Hello Small Farmer,
Here's to you and other farmers putting so much on the line to help feed people healthy, sustainable food. I don't think most people understand how much farmers do, and the sacrifices you make for us.
With that said, do have thoughts on what I can do to help you? Perhaps you can send me an email (robert.b.smart(at)gmail.com) so we can find time to talk.
If there is something I can do to help, I will.
Cheers,
Rob Smart
Rob~
Here is one thing I have come with and I am sharing it here. First of all, my e-mail is: nedlud2@hotmail.com
My original and main persecutors were the Organic Valley people. Their farmer hotline number is 1-888-809-9297. Their traditional number is 608-625-2602. Their traditional address is CROPP Cooperative, One Organic Way, La Farge, WI 54639. Their e-mail is organic@organicvalley.coop
I would debate on here (CD) any of their representatives over what they did to me and their general policies and how they administer them. We could discuss it here freely and publicly. Just meet here in various food/organic centered articles that routinely appear, in the comments section. We could do this over a period of time and let all interested viewers observe.
So: I would like to challenge any of their representatives to a public debate right here, for all to see. You can be my go-between by calling, writing or e-mailing them, with this challenge. Just say it is being offered by that one farmer from Minnesota, whose contract they cancelled for being 'hot under the collar' last September.. They'll know just who you are talking about. Virtually everyone there, at Organic Valley knows me. ;)
Anyone else here at CD can also add to this request, by calling or writing Organic Valley. Most likely, they will decline.
your friend,
nedlud
Thank you Rob. My problem is that the entire organic industry has responded to me, a small family farmer with an admitted 'mind of my own' with intimidation tactics and strict demands to stay within the realm of procedure (as defined by the industry and the administrators of that industry). Whenever (and I am talking about an almost ten year history) I experienced some problem, or concern (and these were not small problems, these 'problems' caused me great distress and extra work when I was/am already working TOO hard), I was NEVER treated as individual. Their only attitude toward me was essentially: 'Shut up and do just as we tell you.' My main persecutors were the ones I sold milk to, Organic Valley, Family of Farms. However the whole INDUSTRY seemed to possess that attitude...
...it is a long story and it is filled with what I am going to call 'organic bigotry'. I feel very much like Rose Parks must have felt when she remained in her seat on the bus and insisted on her rights.
My rights have been violated.
If there is one thing I have learned its that there are two sides to every story. What I would ask from you is to spell out in a little more detail on CD what specifically happened. If there are any news reports related to your circumstances, then include them.
Once that is up, then the rest of us can gain a better perspective of what transpired from your perspective, and discuss/decide what we can do to help.
I look forward to learning more.
I already did that. I have outlined my problems with Organic Valley right here on CD. It is in the record, the part I wrote about so far. There is more, but not to bore people with my problems.
Is this the best you can offer?
Pretty lukewarm Rob.
Actions save lives and make differences that count, sitting on fences is what scarecrows do, after awhile, the birds get wise.
Make the call, issue the challenge in my name.
nedlud
Ned,
I think Rob needs a little more detailed info. Perhaps you and he could do so offline, but I would sure like to hear about the details here on CD.
I work in a "natural foods" store and we sell Organic Valley products. While I am under no illusions about the independence of organic foods producers (most are owned by the large ag/food corporations: https://www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html), I am always interested in hearing about what specific companies are up to.
Seems like you wrote Rob off too soon. I know you're pissed and have washed your hands of OV (and the organic food industry as well?). Many of us do not know the inside scoop on what goes on and it would help us to know.
I do agree with Rob in one respect: There are two sides to every story. Is there any way you can detail what happened to you so that we can all understand?
Ted~
I'm not writing him off, bear with me. First of all, I have comments posted previously on this site, outlining some of my problems with Organic Valley, you can go back, find articles (the ones dealing with farming and organics--the last 5-6 months) and you will see comments I've made, especially back in February and March, I think. They are available. Second, I'm challenging Rob here, he does not need the whole story to make a phone call (or even easier, an e-mail) on behalf of myself. I'm a farmer, during my lifetime, I've helped many people out the ditch or snowbank, I didn't NEED to know exactly how they got stuck and what they were doing. Yes I understand this is a little different. But time-after-time do we not all read here on Common Dreams how laborers and small people are adversely affected by large monied interests? Do you honestly think Organic Valley does not operate with the same perverted, monied orientation? I assure you, they do. So the sides are not equal....not equal at all.
C'mon!
your friend,
nedlud
Nedlud,
You need to understand that it is not in my interest, or the interest of building support around the Pro Food framework I'm advocating, to take sides without knowing more.
As a suggestion, since I don't have the time to search for pieces of a given case, why don't you draft a single document regarding your situation with a clear call to action? That will allow people to more easily determine if they want to support your efforts.
Regarding my personal role, I don't envision being a mediator in existing disagreements, since that is what made me craft the piece on Pro Food in the first place.
What I am focusing on is building momentum to make sustainable food an economically viable "industry", by drawing in entrepreneurs (from farming through retail) and the money that follows them.
This may not be what you want to hear, but it is important that I be honest with you and others regarding my interests.
Cheers,
Rob Smart
Do it, Ned! Contact Rob and please, the two of you check back later on CD and let us know what came out of it.
I mean this in all sincerity. Here's a great opportunity for folks to help each other out and teach the rest of us something positive and possibly life-saving.
Rob, I appreciate your willingness to help Ned and also to inform us. This is what democracy and advocacy look like!
Ted
Thank you very much Ted. You are right. Thank you again and I will continue to post both my feelings and, updates. Again, thank you and thank you to all concerned.
love,
nedlud