Archive for December, 2009
Could Industrially Raised Meat Be Illegal?
Dec 12
(From Mark Bittman’s blog, Bitten)
If greenhouse gases are a hazard to human health, as the EPA has declared, and the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act authorizes strict regulatory action on substances if there’s a reasonable basis to conclude that there’s “an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment,” and industrially raised livestock causes an estimated 18 percent of greenhouse gas (some estimates are much higher), could there be a legal case for tougher regulation of animal production?
Don’t hold your breath, but in 1964, when the Surgeon General’s report appeared, no one could have predicted the kind of anti-tobacco legislation we’ve seen since then.
Farmer Profiles – Contrarian Farm, Pittsboro, NC
Dec 09
Contrarian Farm is run by former CCCC Sustainable Agriculture students Brittany Kordick and Dan Shields. I first met Dan during the South Estes Farmers’ Market “Meet your Farmer” event last winter at University Mall. I think I was one of the few people that day who actually wanted to sit through the Powerpoint about how they process rabbits. I started attending the market nearly every week and come summer I made my first venture out to the farm to witness the actual processing of the rabbits. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s focus back on the farm.
Ever wondered which Triangle chefs shopped the farmers’ market?
Dec 09
Well folks at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market were asked that very question, and they’ve put together a list! Take a second and find out if your favorite restaurant is supporting local agriculture.
(I see some of my favorites there – Lantern, Watts Grocery, Glasshalfull, Neal’s Deli….)
Keep Big Ag Out of the White House!
Dec 09
The following is an action alert I received recently from Food Democracy Now:
President Obama has found himself with some strange bedfellows lately.
While on the campaign trail in Iowa, Barack Obama boasted, “We’ll tell ConAgra that it’s not the Department of Agribusiness. We’re going to put the people’s interests ahead of the special interests.”1 Despite that promise, it seems that ConAgra’s friends at Monsanto and CropLife are still finding their way into the USDA.
Last month, President Obama nominated two “Big Ag” power brokers–Roger Beachy and Islam Siddiqui–to key agency positions, putting agribusiness executives in charge of our country’s agricultural research and trade policy. Please join us in telling the President that this isn’t the change we voted for. We don’t want Big Ag running the show any more.
Siddiqui’s confirmation hearing is set for next week. Please help us reach our goal of 50,000 signatures to make a real impact.
Whitted Bowers Farm – NC’s only Certified Biodynamic farm
Dec 08
Last week Rob Bowers of Whitted Bowers Farm in Cedar Grove, NC came to speak to our class about permaculture and biodynamics. Rob and his wife, Cheri Whitted, moved to North Carolina from California with the intention of starting a biodynamic fruit farm and have succeeded in becoming the only Certified Biodynamic farm in North Carolina and one of only two in the entire Southeast.
Doug Jones of Piedmont Biofarm in Chatham Co. Named Farmer of the Year at 24th CFSA Sustainable Ag Conference
Dec 08
I haven’t seen anything on the CFSA website yet, but a tweet from Debbie Roos (of NCSU’s Cooperative Extension & Growing Small Farms) confirms that Doug was indeed chosen as Farmer of the Year this past weekend at the conference in Black Mountain. Congratulations to Doug and to everyone at Piedmont Biofarm!
(Additionally, Toxic Free NC was named non-profit of the year. Congrats!)
Timothy LaSalle – Keynote Speaker at CFSA’s 24th Sustainable Agriculture Conference
Dec 08
This past weekend the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association held their 24th Sustainable Agriculture Conference up in Black Mountain, NC. I wasn’t able to attend, but I hear from Will of Ever Laughter Farm that it was a great success. He raved about the keynote address by Timothy LaSalle of the Rodale Institute and sent along this link to a video of his presentation, entitled How To Take CO2 Out of the Sky, given at Climate and Agriculture Summit in California earlier this year. Enjoy!
How To Take CO2 Out of the Sky, Timothy J LaSalle from CA Climate and Agriculture on Vimeo.
Foodie Karma
Dec 06
Remember that post about my dinner the other night? The one with the local kielbasa? Well, this past summer Sam & Will (of Ever Laughter Farm) hosted a great big farm party. There was food, music, a big bonfire, and many of the guests camped overnight in the fields. After a few too many drinks our friends took the tent and my boyfriend and I ended up falling asleep atop a giant trampoline. We awoke a few short hours later to the sounds of pigs snorting and banging their feed trough and found out that we had been sleeping right next to the pig pen! It wasn’t the most pleasant way to wake up, but I think in the end we came out the winners, as those very pigs who woke us up that morning were part of our delicious local dinner a couple nights ago. Karma!
Food Safety Modernization Act Includes Victories for Sustainable Agriculture
Dec 04
(The following is the body of an e-mail I received a couple days ago regarding current legislation in the US Senate – S.510, the Food Safety Modernization Act)
Your Food Safety Calls Made the Difference
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved a revised version of S. 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act last Wednesday. The many calls received by HELP committee members moved the concerns of family farm value added, sustainable and organic farmers to the forefront of the Committee discussion. While there is still work to be done to clarify the kinds of farms that must register with FDA, the bill voted out of Committee includes a number of substantial victories.
The fresh produce section of the bill requires FDA to coordinate with USDA and the National Organic Program and to create rules that:
• are flexible and appropriate to the scale and diversity of the farm,
• take into consideration conservation and environmental standards established federal conservation, wildlife, and environmental agencies,
• not include requirements that conflict or duplicate organic standards,
• prioritize for implementation rules for crops that have been associated with foodborne illness
In the traceability section, the bill limits recordkeeping requirements for produce farms without processing facilities to information about the initial sale to the first purchaser of the crop.
Senators who were supportive of the concerns of family farm value added producers included Harkin (IA), Enzi (WY), Bennet (CO), Bingaman (NM), Brown (OH), Burr (NC), Franken (MN), Merkley (OR), Hagen (NC), Dodd (CT), Gregg (NH), Murray (WA) and Sanders (VT). Please call them and thank them for their leadership. You can reach their offices by calling the capitol switchboard (202) 224-3121. A switchboard operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.
There is still work to be done on S. 510. A number of other NSAC proposals were not included in the bill. We will continue to push for a narrowing of the definition of a farm “facility” to exempt farms doing value-added processing of low-risk foods and for a national training program for farms and small processors.
Senate floor action is considered likely early next calendar year, although there is a possibility it could reach the floor in December. The House has already passed its companion bill, so once the full Senate takes action the House and Senate will conference to work out the wide ranging differences between the two.
For more information on S.510 – The Food Safety Modernization Act and how you can help protect small family farms and sustainable agriculture, check out the Carolina Farm Stewards Association’s Action Alert
CCCC’s Sustainable Agriculture Program
Dec 03
While I have mentioned my classes in a couple post I recently realized that I’ve yet to give a comprehensive overview of Central Carolina Community College’s (CCCC) Sustainable Agriculture program. As you can probably imagine, it is fairly difficult to find any Sustainable Agriculture programs in higher education, especially outside of the Midwest. CCCC’s program is very well known within North Carolina and throughout the Southeast in general, and students come from across the state to attend.
The class I am currently enrolled in is entitled “Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture”, which also happens to be taught by the program’s director, Robin Kohanowich. We have covered a broad swath of topics including the definition of sustainable agriculture, state and national issues, organics, biodynamics, permaculture, and more. We’ve gotten a tour of CCCC’s student farm and have had guest speakers from local farms and sustainable agriculture advocacy organizations.
CCCC describes the program so:
“As a pioneer in innovative curriculum programs for the community college system, CCCC scored another winning effort with the establishment of its Sustainable Agriculture program in 2002. Developed in partnership with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and with input from the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, the curriculum is about better growing methods.”