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Is organic food worth it for safety?
Is organic food worth it for safety? Here’s what to know!
ORLANDO, Fla. – Is your food safe?
It’s an age-old question and one brought to the forefront again this summer with headlines like these: EPA issues an emergency order for the first time in 40 years to ban a weedkiller than can harm fetuses. Or this one: A substance found in rocket fuel is also found in mac and cheese.
So, can you really avoid toxins at the grocery store? Is paying more for organic food worth it or are you just throwing away your hard-earned cash?
The answer: it’s complicated. Buying organic food will reduce your exposure to synthetic chemicals, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture allows organic-certified food to be grown on hydroponic farms, which some people believe do not have all the benefits you’ve come to expect when buying organic.
“Only in the U.S. is hydroponic allowed to be sold as organic,” said Hugh Kent, who owns the King Grove Organic Blueberry Farm in Eustis. “You can’t do (hydroponic organic farming) in the EU, you can’t do it in South America, you can’t do it anywhere in the world but the U.S.”
Kent’s 200-acre farm has been in his family for more than 100 years. In order to get that coveted green USDA Organic seal, farmers like Kent must follow a long list of strict requirements, including not using most synthetic pesticides.
However, Kent says in the past few years, international agribusinesses have built massive hydroponic farms, looking to cash-in on the organic label without doing all the hard work.
“There’s a big industry growing hydroponic tomatoes in the Netherlands purely for export to the U.S. to be sold as organic. They can’t sell it in the Netherlands or anywhere else in Europe as organic, but they can send it over here and label it as organic,” Kent said.
It’s a topic he regularly speaks out about in podcasts and to farming groups.
“The way that (hydroponic farms work) is they take a piece of land and they compact it and laser level it, which of course makes it unsuitable for growing anything and then they cover it in plastic,” Kent said in a recent podcast on YouTube. “Then you don’t have to use herbicides and now you can call yourself, according to the USDA, a certified organic farm.”
Kent believes hydroponic farms, which produce food in plastic containers without nutrient rich soil, do not provide the same nutritional or environmental benefits that organic consumers have come to expect.
“In a teaspoon of (my soil), there are 8 billion microbes,” Kent said.
“I am here to make sure that when an organic consumer makes that choice, we are here to protect it,” said Jennifer Tucker, the deputy administrator of the National Organic Program at the USDA in Washington D.C.
While the USDA does allow hydroponic farms to be certified as organic, Tucker said they are also regularly inspected and tested for prohibited synthetic chemicals.
“We have a detailed set of protocols that certifiers have to follow. So if there’s a positive result from testing, and I really want to emphasize that that’s rare to find these residues on organic foods but it does happen, and so when it does happen, there is a set of protocols where these certifying agencies need to work with the farms to determine the source of the contamination and then prevent it in the future,” Tucker said. “If it has found to have been an intentional or even an accidental use, it can lead a farm to lose its organic certification because consumers do take this so seriously.”
Kent is hopeful the USDA will one day adopt the recommendations from its own National Organic Standards Board which supports banning hydroponic farms.
“I don’t have a criticism of them as a farming system per se. The criticism is that they shouldn’t be lumped in and hide behind the organic label,” Kent said. “Organics is something that was established by some very dedicated farmers over decades and this is now a growing system which is coming in and basically sleeping in the bed that somebody else made and confusing people.”
Right now, Kent says there’s no way to tell if organic food was grown on a hydroponic farm. It’s not labeled as hydroponic, just organic. However, Kent is part of a group called the Real Organic Project. That organization conducts its own inspections and certifications for traditional organic farms. It has now offered its own Real Organic Farm label to 1,100 farms that meet their requirements in addition to the USDA Organic requirements.
In a statement to News 6 regarding the use of hydroponic farms, the USDA says:
The topic of containers and hydroponics is a real area of interest for the organic community. Certification of hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic regulations and has been since the National Organic Program began. For these products to be labeled as organic, the operation must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent and maintain compliance with the USDA organic regulations.
Several years ago, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) heard significant testimony about hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations. Given the extensive debate on this topic, USDA posted this notice to clarify the status of these systems: Status of Organic Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Aeroponics; National Organic Standards Board Fall 2017 Updates (govdelivery.com).
USDA supports diverse agriculture, farming and growing systems. Hydroponics and container systems are part of a diverse organic industry that supports organic production and supply chain resiliency.
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has not researched the nutritional and environmental benefits of hydroponic farming.
Check out the Florida Foodie podcast. You can find every episode in the media player below:
.If you read these letters or listen to our podcasts, YouTube videos, book club sessions, or farm hacks, please join us.
SUPPORT the Real Organic Project
(a 501c3 non-profit) this giving season. Just do it!!! Donate so we can do it together. And then forward this email to your friends and family.
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In The End, It Will All Work Out
Seth Godin continuously offers us gentle nudges to wake up. I keep a copy of his book What To Do When It's Your Turn in the bathroom.
It can seem that the mission of the Real Organic Project is hopeless. As Seth reminded me, “Dave, you are never going to take down Cargill.” How could a small group of farmers and eaters change the food system of America? To change the food system, we need to change everything.
Now I am getting dizzy.
But there is a nagging whisper gnawing at my feet. We are immersed in a culture where it is “normal” to eat terrible junk food. A system where real food is getting harder to find. Where modern agriculture is killing our planet.
We can either ignore all this and reach for the Doritos, or we can try to change it, to change ourselves.
Real Organic is not trying to fix a few government regulations. We are trying to change how we think, how we live. We are trying to reignite a movement whose work is not yet done. Just begun, in fact.
As we leave 2023, we thank all of you for your support, for participating, for taking the time to read these letters, to watch these videos, to listen to these podcasts. To share these thoughts, and to add your own to them.
When a writer interviewed me last Fall, I was stunned by how much he knew about our food system. I asked him how. He told me he had learned by listening to our podcasts.
We have a lot planned for 2024. We have a virtual symposium being produced for March. We will release interviews this year with Vandana Shiva, Mark Schatzker, Eliot Coleman, Zephyr Teachout, Dan Barber, JM Fortier, Mwatima Jumo, Glenn Elzinga, Tim Wise, Alice Waters, and so many more. Speaking of, we have a new interview with Seth Godin. Together we can take a deep dive into deep organic.
We will continue to connect and certify Real Organic farms across the country. We will champion that which is precious and endangered. Our joint venture with Naturland will start to bring some Real Organic products into the US from the rest of the world.
By the end of the year, we will release our first Real Organic Masterclass.
We will see you at Churchtown in October.
If you appreciate having any of this in your life, please join the Real Friends and donate today. If you have already donated, get a friend to sign up to receive our letters.
The best is yet to come. Love the tension.
Dave
You’ve been hacked.
People in power have taken advantage of glitches in our personalities and errors in our instincts to create an environment where they profit and we come out behind.
Politicians count on our short attention span. Banks know that we’re impulsive, Bosses exert power over us based on our fear of failing. They all fuel a culture that keeps us in hock.
Hack back.
Many powerful organizations fear a truth-teller. They work hard to avoid being confronted by an individual who sees the world as it is and by a person who cares enough to change things.
Most of all they have no plan for dealing with someone motivated enough to walk up the broken escalator.
—Seth Godin in the book What To Do When It’s Your Turn (and it’s always your turn)
If you read these letters or listen to our podcasts, YouTube videos, book club sessions, or farm hacks, please join us.
SUPPORT the Real Organic Project
(a 501c3 non-profit) this giving season. Just do it!!! Donate so we can do it together. And then forward this email to your friends and family.
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
We did it before
When the Real Organic Project started 5 years ago, I thought it would create immediate and powerful change. It was the right people coming together at the right time. Who else could save organic from the USDA except the farmers who brought us the organic movement in the first place? These pioneering farmers were even supported by respected voices such as Paul Hawken, Vandana Shiva, and Michael Pollan.
But I’ve come to realize how wrong (perhaps naive) I was. Even preeminent organic farmers and respected educators are powerless in isolation. It turns out that they need you and me! And they need many many more farmers and eaters to join them. We need to reawaken a movement that has fallen asleep after accomplishing so much in the creation of the Organic Food Production Act.
Our heroes and role models cannot create change alone. Change will only come from daily face-to-face engagement, often with people who don’t yet get it. We all need to have multiple, deep conversations to build a greater shared consciousness around complex issues. Why does healthy soil matter in agriculture? What is real climate-smart agriculture? How much consolidation is too much? We need to enlighten ourselves. one mind at a time.
So we have our work cut out for us. We need to convince family and friends to join the Real Organic movement. Have them begin by listening to our podcast library and subscribing to our Sunday newsletter. Challenge them to start eating one real organic meal a day. Then two. This may be the work of a lifetime or even generations. Good thing for us, the work is joyous and there is no doubt that we are on the right path.
See you in the field,
Linley
"What can you do?
"You can ask the places that you buy food from if they carry real organic food, and that's a big deal. I have practiced this. You go to a store and you ask them if the food they have for sale comes from livestock in confinement or if it is hydroponic. You'll have some very interesting conversations and that becomes your personal song.
"There's been a lot of talk today about 'preaching to the choir.' I say, 'It’s a big choir!' The choir has millions and millions of people in it. There is magic that happens when we start to connect because once you're in the know, there’s no going back. We start to become a choir instead of just one person. If we could ever get that choir to sing in some kind of harmony, we would take over the world. That’s the truth! "
– Dave Chapman, in his speech at Churchtown Dairy.
"When I started as an organic grower 50 years ago, organic was a way of thinking rather than a profit center. It became a profit center when it was taken over by the USDA. So in 2002 I published in Mother Earth News that in my opinion, organic is now dead.
"We need to come up with a meaningful synonym for the highest quality food. Our farm says guaranteed RealOrganic. I have been told that the USDA owns the word organic. No they don’t! Besides, I’m not using the word organic, I’m using a new word, RealOrganic!"
– Eliot Coleman
"It can be different. In the last 10 years, while we were losing real organic in the US, the EU tightened their standards.
"The outcome of all of this integrity in the EU is that in the last year, their organic sales surpassed those of the US. Organic sales in the EU are now a billion dollars ahead of the US.
"We don't have to make weak standards that we don't enforce, in order for organic to grow. The excuse that the USDA uses to cheat on their own standards is that we must make organic really cheap. And the only way we can keep it cheap is by allowing industrial-scale confinement livestock and hydroponics.
"But in the EU, they’re following the standards and organic is growing. Not just the name organic, but the reality of organic."
– Dave Chapman, in his speech at Churchtown Dairy
If you read these letters or listen to our podcasts, please join us.
SUPPORT the Real Organic Project
(a 501c3 non-profit) this giving season. Donate so we can protect organic together. And then forward this email to your friends and family.
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
Our tax dollars are supporting what?
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was recently celebrating the positive impacts of Regenerative Agriculture. He applauded the value of healthy soil and clean water, and their powerful impact on climate.
But when the questions turned to certifying hydroponic in organic, his view took a dramatic right turn.
Vilsack said, “Well, this is a controversial issue. It's sort of like asking me which of my two sons I love the most. The reality is I love them both equally. I think that's been the position historically in terms of hydroponics and organics. It has been included within the organic structure for the last 20 years, and at this point, we'll continue to do so.
"You know, at the end of the day, whether it's hydroponics, whether it's container agriculture, whether it's aeroponics, the idea here at the end of the day is to encourage more sustainable practices.”
Huh?
It certainly is not accurate to say that hydro has been "included within the organic structure for the last 20 years." If it was ever "permitted," it was against the recommendations of the NOSB. And it was a secret hidden from the rest of us.
The notion that these are "sustainable" practices has to call into question the Secretary's definition of "sustainable."
This exchange sums up the USDA attitude toward organic. They support "Regenerative" as long as it remains undefined. For them, "Organic" is just a marketing brand for large corporations. They think it is fine to certify Hydroponic and CAFO operations as organic. Why not?
Actually the USDA doesn’t seem to be committed to regulating anything. They have become addicted to carrots rather than to sticks. Just not organic carrots. Like a lonely Godzilla, the USDA wonders why everyone opposes them. They wish they were more popular.
The confusion in the US around hydro as organic is entirely due to Vilsack’s "lover’s embrace" of hydroponic. And this is clear in a recent announcement Vilsack made about a new funding program.
Out of 185 projects being funded, Vilsack went on to highlight 4 recipients of our tax money. One of them was Merchant’s Garden LLC, a hydroponic and aquaponic farm in Tucson, Arizona.
"The company will use a $250,000 Value-Added Producer Grant to expand marketing and sales of prepackaged salad mixes to help them become a local supplier of organic leafy greens for southern Arizona."
So Vilsack is BRAGGING about giving a hydro greens company out in the desert a quarter million dollars of taxpayer money to promote "organic." Nowhere else in the world would a government certify these practices as Organic.
Join Jim Riddle's campaign to wake up our government. Write to your Congressperson to support his complaint to the National Organic Program.
Once again, another insult, another paper cut. Another nail in the coffin of real organic. The point of this is not about the good people at Merchant’s Garden. They are working to build their business growing fish and greens. The point is that the USDA is willfully redefining organic for the world, and then pretending that this “just happened.” It did not.
Jim Riddle is a longtime champion of the organic movement. He was a blueberry farmer in Minnesota and a leading trainer of trainers for certification. He was the chairperson of the National Organic Standards Board. He was active in gathering signatures from former NOSB members for a letter to Vilsack calling out the destruction of integrity in the National Organic Program. That letter was signed by 43 former NOSB members, a majority of those still alive. Six organic champions, including Jim and I, met with Vilsack to plead with him to do better.
Jim is now sending around a letter calling for people to object to their Congresspeople about this misuse of government funds. It is important that our representatives hear this is not how we want our tax money to be spent.
Please, write a letter to your Congressperson and Senators. Let them know you do not support this flagrant disregard for the organic law. We need them to hear us.
Dave
Official Complaint Submitted to USDA NOP
December 8, 2023
By Jim Riddle
Hillsborough, NH
On Nov. 27, 2023, USDA Sec. Tom Vilsack made a false and misleading market information claim about an operation in a press release, when he stated, "Merchant’s Garden LLC is a hydroponic and aquaponic farm in Tucson, Arizona. The company will use a $250,000 Value-Added Producer Grant to expand marketing and sales of prepackaged salad mixes to help them become a local supplier of organic leafy greens for southern Arizona."
This market information is false and misleading because:
As a "hydroponic and aquaponic" operation, Merchant's Garden LLC does not qualify for organic certification because the Organic Foods Production Act, at 6513(b) requires that all organic crop production operations submit and follow organic plans that, “shall contain provisions designed to foster soil fertility, primarily through the management of the organic content of the soil through proper tillage, crop rotation, and manuring.” Section 6513(g) of OFPA goes on to state, “An organic plan shall not include any production or handling practices that are inconsistent with this chapter.”
Hydroponic and aquaponic operations do not "foster soil fertility"; as required by the OFPA. Further, the National Organic Standards Board, in 2010, by decisive vote, determined that hydroponic and aquaponic operations are inconsistent with organic production and do not qualify for organic certification. In his press release, Sec. Tom Vilsack refers to Merchant's Garden LLC as a "local supplier of organic leafy greens"; This market information from Sec. Vilsack is false and misleading and is contrary to the plain language of the Organic Foods Production Act.
From Complaint File # NOP-INQ-3432
If you read these letters or listen to our podcasts, please join us.
SUPPORT the Real Organic Project
(a 501c3 non-profit) this giving season. Donate so we can protect organic together. And then forward this email to your friends and family.
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Dan Barber | The Power Of Deliciousness
Dave interviews celebrated chef and author Dan Barber at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, where they discuss the potential of getting the masses to understand the value of food production practices above the final product. Dan believes the key lies in exceptional flavor and the innate human drive to pursue pleasure. Dan Barber is the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill in Manhattan and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York's Hudson Valley His book The Third Plate is an exploration of America's relationship with food and agriculture and its overall lack of a defined food culture, which he believes has served other geographies through the intentional incorporation of fertility practices into their cuisines.
To watch a video version of this podcast with access to the full transcript and links relevant to our conversation, please visit:
Watch here: Dan Barber Episode
The Real Organic Project is a farmer-led movement working towards certifying 1,000 farms across the United States this year. Our add-on food label distinguishes soil-grown fruits and vegetables from hydroponically-raised produce, and pasture-raised meat, milk, and eggs from products harvested from animals in horrific confinement (CAFOs - confined animal feeding operations).
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
We are the Organic Movement…
"I wish I had a better message, but I'd like to report to the choir that our church is on fire. Last time I spoke for the Real Organic Project at Dartmouth I reported about organic blueberries as a sick Canary in the coal mine of our corrupted food system. And now almost 5 years later, in the southeastern United States, it's a dead canary. There are many other sick and dying canaries that we will tell you about. It's very difficult to find truly organic soil-grown tomatoes, blueberries, peppers, cucumbers, greens, and herbs. And the list is growing. From my perspective, I see the United States Department of Agriculture as the perpetrator. They're not an Arbiter of competing interests. They're the perpetrator of the situation that we're in."
—Hugh Kent speaking at the "Saving Real Organic" conference
We are recovering a week after the Churchtown conference called "Saving Real Organic." Months of work to prepare for a gathering of our community.
It was… something else.
Tremendous talks were given by farmers I deeply respect. And the pieces of a complicated puzzle came together.
A journalist once asked Paul Hawken if he would sum up his last book in a few sentences. He replied that if he could do that he wouldn’t have needed to write the book. We can’t easily turn our mission into an elevator pitch. We need to go deeper.
And, going deeper, we need to think bigger.
So each speaker brought their stories to the group, and when they were done, a wholeness was revealed. It was not all that needed to be said to be understood, but it was a start.
We will release the talks in the coming months as podcasts/YouTube videos. It won’t be the same as being in the room, exchanging ideas. Together. But it will be something.
For me, the conference was addressing the challenge that we must think bigger. The Real Organic Project started by fighting for reform of a few very important government standards. It has evolved into building a movement to create a new food system.
No movement, no new food system.
Yes, that is way too big, but we must try.
Yesterday, I testified to the National Organic Standards Board. It was virtual, and there were about 120 people listening to each other. They represented the heroes and villains of the organic brand. The vice-president of a Canadian hydro company testified that we should abandon the 3-year transition for hydroponic production because, after all, what was the point if you aren’t growing in the ground? He had a good point, if you leave out the law and the meaning of organic. He managed to tell lie after lie in only three minutes. It was pretty impressive. He even insisted that the coconut husks that his company grew berries in were “soil.” He included Grodan in his definition of soil. Grodan is rockwool, another “substrate” used in hydroponic production. Kind of like fiberglass insulation. Soil, coco coir, rockwool…What’s the difference?
Well.
I’m not even sure he knew he was lying. He knew nothing about organic. He had never read Howard or Balfour, Carson or Coleman. Kirschenmann or Berry. He was just a hired gun working to exploit a new market, and he proudly told us about the 45 acres of hydroponic strawberries grown under glass that his company was selling as organic.
45 acres of hydroponic strawberries grown in Canada.
So there it is. His company works with three lobbying organizations. Organic Trade Association, Organic Produce Association, and Coalition For Sustainable Organics. Those groups represent many billions of dollars in production being certified as organic. They work tirelessly to subvert the laws protecting organic. They talk to the USDA. They have testified to Congress. They have much bigger microphones than any of us, and they won’t be stopped.
So what do we do?
My answer is that we rebuild our organic movement. We will call it Real Organic. We were named by a hydroponic friend who was visiting to learn more about organic. His hydro company was considering putting in a “certified organic” block of peppers. I reminded him that I did not agree with calling that organic. He said, “I have no choice. This is where the market is pushing us. Of course, David. You are REAL organic.” He said it as an apology for his invasion of the organic market. He is a good person. He wasn’t breaking the law, at least as it is interpreted by the USDA.
In my talk at Churchtown, I once again quoted Vincent Stanley: “A sense of agency is more important than optimism.” I listed 6 true things that can guide us to our sense of agency.
We are limited by our fear.
If we aren’t confused, we aren’t paying attention.
No one is coming to save us.
We do not need anyone’s permission to act.
The hour is late. Time is short. We need to act now!
We did it before and we can do it again.
We need an organic movement. So please, join us in spreading the word.
Dave
A packed crowd filled the majestic round barn.
A packed crowd filled the majestic round barn.
"The word agriculture means the care of the land, care of the farm, the care of the soil. 'Agri' is 'field' and 'culture' is the Latin word for 'care of'. So 'care of the soil' is the key and care of the soil is what organic is about.
“Big Ag, or what I call Corp Ag; they know whereof they speak when they refer to themselves as “Ag,” because they have no “culture.” They don’t care for the soi. They mine the soil. And that is the key difference.
“I invited Real Organic because they are setting out to protect, yet again, the idea of organic.”
– Abby Rockefeller opening the "Saving Real Organic" conference
“When I started as an organic grower 50 years ago, organic was a way of thinking rather than a profit center. It became a profit center. It was taken over by all those people. My delight in the intricacies of the natural world, my adventure into an ever deeper appreciation of the soil, plant, animal, nutrition cycle, and how to optimize it, is not acceptable to the homogenized mentality of mass marketing.”
– Eliot Coleman at the Real Organic Churchtown Dairy conference. (First written in 2002.)
"Seth Godin, who is a fan of Real Organic, said, 'A project begins with a protest that ends with: 'We'll be back tomorrow, and we're bringing our friends.'
"And it turns out we have a lot of friends. And that's what the Real Organic Project is."
– Linley Dixon, Co-Director of Real Organic Project
"Don’t be fooled by the word the USDA is using increasingly in all of their promotional material. Integrity. Integrity. You see integrity everywhere across the USDA’s website. It’s become a new favorite word. It’s often in capitals. And what does integrity mean? Of course, it’s the alignment of belief, and communication, and action. It is alignment of what you believe, what you say, what you do. And in an institutional setting, a governmental setting, that would mean for the USDA, what they 'believe' would be the enabling statutes, the National Organic Program, the OFPA; what established organics in this country. That’s what they believe. And what theycommunicate is the kind of thing that you see on their websites; their mission statements. 'Ensure the integrity throughout the world.' I think what we have to do is look at their actions. An individual or an institution isn’t trustworthy if they don’t walk the talk.
"You may say you believe this. You may communicate it. But what are your actions?"
—Hugh Kent at Churchtown
"I invite Real Organic Project and all farmers and communities to not just consider the diversity of our landscapes but the diversity of our movements and how that is very much a measure of success."
– Iriel Edwards from the Real Organic certification team on race in agriculture.
“We’re here today with Real Organic Project because, while I’m a bit snarky, the real truth is we need to make an alliance between good science, good policy, good food, and health.
“And in order to do that, I would say we need to hold the USDA accountable to standards and to IMPROVED standards. We also have to work outside of them until we can get the right people inside.”
—Ben Dobson at Churchtown Dairy.
“I don’t like fighting. I would rather be building the stuff that we want. Coming together like this and NOT giving an inch. That really is how we are going to get there. So we need a Real Regenerative movement. We need a Real Organic movement. We need a REAL Food movement. Like a Real Dairy Barn national movement. We need everything REAL again. Let’s make America REAL again.”
– Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin at Churchtown Dairy
In Zephyr’s book, she had a really interesting description of the activism of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King. They both practiced civil disobedience, but they had a somewhat different intention. For Thoreau, it was really about living a public life that was in alignment with his inner life, and making sure there was integrity there. And for King, it was all of that, but it was also about taking actions that would further a cause of transformation. So he was seeking a public transformation, not just a personal transformation. I think that’s an important difference. The Real Organic Project, you know, all of the farmers could have taken the Thoreauvian path, and said, 'I'm going to take the life I believe in. And I hope that it benefits the world.' But we actually are an attempt to organize ourselves and see if we can change a greater reality."
—Dave Chapman at Churchtown Dairy
"Let's not forget that when the system broke down during COVID, when the folks in Peru, in India, and Mexico either couldn't make the food that we buy or decided to keep it for themselves. People in the city drove out to your farmgate and said, 'Hey feed us. Make us healthy.' They drove out to you and asked for what you produced because they know intuitively, innately, inherently that what they're buying from the supermarket is sketchy, and ultimately the real value in food and agriculture is the community that resides in the lands around them."
– Alan Lewis, Natural Grocers
"Our merger policy, enabling this, in the last 10 years, 500,000 global mergers. I mean, you feel the earth shake under your feet, or we should! At how radical this was, to restructure our economy. We’re talking about politics as if it’s happening on the political page, but when Dow marries DuPont, Shakespeare would be more focused on THAT than on politics. Because that’s the big restructuring of politics. When Bayer and Monsanto merge, that is one of the most important, grotesque marriages in our global political system. And this happens in the business pages where people feel too intimidated to get involved. So this radical, total revolution has then led to a system of radical disempowerment.
"And to be here today to see what the alternative could look like, CAN look like, is so exciting because it is so human and complex and complete. It is not monoculture top-down. It IS a vision of freedom. And I’m blown away with what you’ve been able to accomplish in the last 5 years. But we’ve got a long way to go."
—Zephyr Teachout at Churchtown Dairy
"Food scientists and ad executives get really big fat paychecks to make you think it tastes good, but the truth is it’s bad for us. It’s bad for our communities. It’s bad for our planet. And if you pause to REALLY taste it, you realize that it offers you nothing except a quick dopamine hit from the carefully calibrated levels of salt and fat and sugar and flavor.
“These are simulations for real foods. In the same way that screens are simulations of real experience. And while they can be gratifying and distracting and addictive, they’re never really satisfying.”
—Kristin Kimball at Churchtown
“The cattle are ‘slick’. It means there’s no aberrations on their hides. There’s no bugs. There’s no flies on ‘em. We use no fly control. We’re organic, right? It’s because of the phytochemical richness. Dr. Fred Provenza was out there with me. I said, “Fred, why no bugs?!!’ And he said, ‘Because they’re eating their own medicine. They’re eating it, and it’s coming through their hair. And the flies don’t like it. You’re letting a cow be a cow. You’re letting them make their own nutritional wisdom. It’s not a feedlot. You’re not feeding 'em corn. You’re feeding them 2500 plants.’”
—Glenn Elzinga at Churchtown Dairy
"Now organic is becoming a multibillion-dollar industry around the turn of the century. So now the food industry’s looking at it and saying, ‘Hey, that’s the fastest growing section of food. We’ve got to get part of that pie.'
"Actually they want the whole pie."
—Francis Thicke at the Churchtown Conference
******Get a ticket to the recordings of the Churchtown Dairy conference: Saving Real Organic
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Real Organic: Stories from the Front Lines
Don't miss the opportunity to hear directly from farmers and advocates as the Real Organic Project hosts a pre-conference event at the EcoFarm conference on Tuesday, Jan 17.
Join us in-person or by livestream for "Real Organic: Stories from the Front Lines" with keynote speaker Paul Hawken and twelve dynamic voices, including Cornucopia Board Member Dr. Jennifer Taylor.
Thank You for Supporting Us
Therese Laurdan, our Membership Coordinator, with her arms full of thank you cards to mail.
Cornucopia is here for you! We share your concerns about greenwashing, the treatment of animals, and the integrity of organic food. We know that policy decisions impacting these issues are often made behind the scenes, out of the public eye.
The Cornucopia Institute exists because of organic advocates like you. Thanks to nearly 2,000 of you – generous farmers, consumers, foundation partners, and organic businesses – who donated to support our mission, we raised enough funds to sustain our watchdog programs!
With your help, Cornucopia will continue to be your eyes and ears in the field, providing new and updated resources to help you stay informed.More Than Juice
You might know that Uncle Matt's Organic has the #1 selling brand for organic orange juice and partners with local charitable organizations, but did you know thisindependent organic brand is also hard at work battling the citrus greening disease?
[This article was originally published in the winter issue of The Cultivator,Cornucopia’s quarterly newsletter. Donate today, and we’ll mail you the spring issue, filled with stories you won’t find anywhere else.]
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
What is a Raised Garden Bed?
Wood Framed Box
Built with wood
Most common Cedar or Pressure-Treated Pine
8 to 12 inches deep
4 feet wide, 3 feet if for children
Length usually 8 to 10 feet
For Cedar and Pine Bed Construction:
Construction Lag Screws
Hillman Groups 5/16-inch x 4 or 5-inch in length
Pre-drill both the end and side boards while they are set up
For beds 8-10 inches high, use 2 screws per corner (8 per bed)
The Hillman Construction Lag Screw uses a T30 star-bit driver, washers, galvanized 3/8 inch - 8 per bed
With 8-inch boards, put the screws are 1 1/2 inches from the top and bottom of the board. With 10-12 inch boards, put screws 2 inches from the top and bottom. You can also add a 3rd screw in the middle for 12 inch boards.
Mounded Rows
Mounded soil 8-12 inches high
2-4 feet wide
1-2 foot pathways
Length can be anywhere from 8-100 feet.
The Turner Farm Community Garden Program uses 30-inch beds with 18 pathways.
Solarizing to Develop New Beds on a Grass Field
Solarize grass using translucent or black plastic sheeting, for four to six weeks, during July and August is best. Plastic should be at least 4 mil in weight.
Installation: Dig a shallow trench 4 inches wide and 3-4 inches deep (or an inch or so below the grass roots) around the area to be solarized - when placing the plastic run it to the edge of the trench. Secure the plastic with weights (i.e. bricks, logs, boards…) or garden staples.
Tilling:
Deep tilling can be helpful prior to solarizing to break up compacted heavy soil and expose grass and weed roots to direct sunlight.
Shallow tilling can be beneficial after the plastic has been removed to prepare compacted soil for sowing cover and green manure crops. After solarizing do not deep till because it may expose weed seed.
Follow with a cover crop of Walnut Creek Fall Cover Mix, see page 3 for information on mix composition. If it is too early for a fall cover crop sow Buckwheat, then follow with a fall cover crop.
First-year planting recommendations: Legumes, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and for the fall Winter Squash.
Building a Sheet Compost Bed
Sheet Compost Bed, a variation on a Hugelkultur bed, using existing compost pile debris and/or partially decomposed woodchips (with hoed weeds) from garden pathways. Recommended time late spring/early summer or the fall.
Mark the perimeter of the new garden bed, then dig a trench approximately 4 - 5 inches wide (width of hoe or Maddox) and 4 inches deep (just below the grass root zone). This is to create a buffer to discourage the grass from traveling into the new bed.
Spread out an even layer of coarse material from the compost pile.
Continue with a layer of smaller material, then successive layers of finer material from the compost pile until the bed is 8 to 12 inches deep.
Top bed with finished compost or composted manure. (Optional)
Sow the bed with a Buckwheat cover crop, then cover with a light covering of straw.
When the Buckwheat flowers cut it back at ground level then follow with succession plantings as needed.
In August, cut back the Buckwheat (do not turn) and plant a crop of squash and or bush beans for a fall harvest. Another option would be Hairy Vetch, cut back once flowering - chopped and dropped do not turn in.
In the spring plant a crop of potatoes and/or sweet potatoes, mulch them as needed with straw or leaf mold. Harvesting the potatoes will be the first time you will dig into the bed and will give you an idea of the status of the soil. Your next crop should be determined by the condition of the soil.
Straw Flake Garden Bed
The community garden is a variation of the Turner Farm Community Supported Agriculture model offering participants the opportunity to work in a community-based garden, share the harvest, learn gardening skills, and the option to earn a raised garden bed for their home by participating in the Learn-Grow-Earn program.
This method uses "flakes" of straw over a new or existing garden bed as a form of sheet mulching to smother weeds, retain moisture and to build healthy biologically active soil.
Bales of straw are broken into flakes approximately 2-3 inches thick and laid flat on the soil surface in a grid. The row or bed can be between one to four sections wide.
After laying out the straw flakes bedding plants are planted or seeds sown into the soil between the flakes, or holes can be cut in the flakes and plants or seeds inserted through the straw into the soil. Compost can also be added to each hole.
Please note that when direct sowing seeds, larger vegetable plant varieties such as beans, summer squash, and okra are best suited for this type of garden.
§ Broad Fork for aerating soil.
Composting
If the compost system is maintained over successive years, the windrows will decompose more completely and at a faster rate. Turning the windrow two or three times a year will also facilitate the process. In addition, adding horse or cow manure will facilitate decomposition and improve the nutrient content of the compost.
Do not allow weeds to go to seed and do not put weeds that have gone to seed into the compost windrows.
Create and maintain a small compost windrow or pile in your own garden plot. An advantage of this technique is the gardener can be sure weeds that have gone to seed and diseased plants are not in the compost. The compost can be part of their garden crop rotation plan and can be planted with a vining crop so the space will have a layered (double) use.
Compost Windrows
In late fall, after garden beds have been cleared for winter, turn or re-layer windrows and allow them to overwinter.
If horse and/or cow manure is available turn it into the compost windrows.
New Garden Beds
Allow sheet-composed beds to mature for 6 months with a cover crop of buckwheat.
The buckwheat can be followed with a fall crop of winter squash or bush beans.
Cover beds with straw or leaves during fall and winter.
Tools
For maintaining a pathway, a long handle Stirrup Hoe and/or Low Wheel Cultivator with a Stirrup Hoe or Sweeps/slicing blade attachment is recommended.
Narrow Collinear Hoe Fixed Blade and Collinear Hoe with Replaceable Blade (Johnny’s Select Seeds)
Broad Fork for aerating soil.
Suppliers
Cover Crop Seed
Walnut Creek Seed
www.walnutcreekseeds.com
Fedco Seed
www.fedcoseeds.com
High Mowing Seeds
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/
Tools Low Wheel Cultivator (Wheel Hoe)
Earth Tools
earthtoolsbcs.com
* Also sells Broad Forks
Hoss Tools
www.hosstools.com
Planet Jr.
www.planetjr.net
Books
Jean-Martin Fortier
The Market Gardener
New Society Publishers, 2014
Toby Hemenway
Gaia's Garden
Chelsea Green Publishing, 2001
Amy Stross
The Suburban Micro-Farm
Twisted Creek Press, 2017
www.tenthacrefarm.com
Composting At Home
Composting at Home
Only compost organic materials such as fruit, vegetable scraps, small twigs, yard/garden clippings, and leaves.
Materials not suitable for home compostingMeat, dairy products, oils or greasy cooked foods.
Large tree branches. Small twigs are alright, they can help aerate the compost bin or pile.
Weeds that have gone to seed, sick or diseased plants. This is to prevent the spread of weeds and diseases in your garden. Place these items in a leaf bag or container marked “Yard Waste Only” for pick-up on your City of Cincinnati pick-up day.
Liquids containing non-biodegradable soaps, bleach, or solvents.
After adding green material high in nitrogen (i.e. young weeds, vegetable and fruit scraps or cuttings) layer them with brown materials that are high in carbon (i.e. dead leaves or straw). Layering green and brown material is important to facilitate the composting process and prevent odors.
Once the compost bin or pile is full, the material needs to be moved into an empty bin or new pile area to aerate the pile.
After all materials have decomposed, the composting process is finished. Your compost can now be screened and used in your vegetable garden, flower garden, and landscaping.
Composting Basics
A compost pile is host to a wide variety of beneficial organisms, bacteria, and fungi, as well as insects and worms that a garden needs to thrive. The pile acts as a nursery/habitat for this web of life to grow.
Five ingredients for a healthy compost
Oxygen
Water
Microorganisms
Carbon
Nitrogen
To facilitate organic matter decomposing efficiently in your compost bin or pile, remember the following basics:
Space - A minimum of 3 x 3 x 3 feet.
Food - A mix of carbon (brown material) and nitrogen (green material).
Water - Make sure it stays moist, like a damp sponge.
Oxygen - Aerate, turn, or rotate your compost bin every month or two.
Life - Having the compost pile in contact with the earth allows microorganisms, fungi, worms and beneficial insects to enter the process - this is an important contributor to the decomposition of organic matter and its transformation into humus.
The Three Phases of Composting
In the process of composting, microorganisms break down organic matter and produce carbon dioxide, water, heat, and humus. Composting proceeds through three phases:
Mesophilic: Moderate-temperature phase, lasts for a couple of days. Temperature is under 104 Fahrenheit / 40 Celsius.
Thermophilic: High-temperature phase, can last from a few days to several months. Temperature is over 104 Fahrenheit / 40 Celsius.
Cooling and maturation phase: Several-months
Golden Ratio for Composting
30 Parts 1 Part
Dried Leaves Fresh Grass Clippings
Dried Grass Plant Debris
Clippings Brewed Coffee Grounds
Newspaper Manure
Small Twigs
Straw
Compost’s Role
Adding mature compost to your garden soil is important for three reasons:
It is a source of nitrogen an important nutrient for growing healthy crops.
It provides garden soil with a wide variety of beneficial microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms that are necessary for plants to thrive.
Soils with High Bulk Density (a lot of solid matter, including clay, with little pore space) lead to compaction - a difficult environment for plants to grow. A healthy soil structure consists of a combination of solid matter (mineral and organic) and open-pore space (spaces where air and water infiltrate the soil). Compost is a soil conditioner it adds organic matter to garden soil which increases pore space for plants roots to grow, the storage of water and nutrients as well as creates a healthy environment for microorganisms, bacteria, fungi in addition to beneficial insects and worms.
Preparing Compost for Use in the Garden
Turning Compost
There are differing viewpoints about when, how often, or if to turn compost. Turning compost aerates the pile which facilitates decomposition. As a rule, the more often compost is turned the faster it decomposes. A compost pile will decompose on its own if:
It is not compacted.
It is not saturated with water.
it has a balanced composition of nitrogen (green plant material and food scraps) and carbon (dry leaves, straw) The recommended nitrogen/carbon ratio is 1-part nitrogen to 30 parts carbon. If your compost pile has a higher nitrogen ratio this can be compensated to a certain degree by turning the pile - this introduces air (oxygen) into the pile facilitating decomposition.
Screening Compost
Screening compost is optional. Screening is often done when there is non-organic material in the compost that you would not want in your garden. For example, in some urban community gardens, pieces of concrete, brick, glass and other undesirable material referred to as "urbanite" make it into the compost bin. For safety reasons, it is important to screen these materials out of the compost. Another reason to screen compost is if there are large pieces of undecomposed organic debris such as woodchips or small branches (this debris can be removed and added to another pile in the process) so the finished compost integrated into your garden is uniform which can be beneficial when direct sowing seeds. A simple screen can be built using 1/2-inch hardware cloth and wood construction grade 2x4 inch lumber.
Cover Crops & Mulching
Soil Health & Structure
Healthy soil is at the heart of any garden and building and maintaining soil vitality cannot be overemphasized. Healthy soil consists of an interdependent system of water, minerals, air, decaying plant material hosting a thriving community of microscopic organisms, bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms. Properly putting your garden to bed for winter not only supports but helps this ecosystem to flourish.
Cincinnati soils are "heavy" - high clay content - and this can impede successful vegetable production. Building healthy soil warrants your time and consideration to provide for the necessary improvements. In nature, soil exists as a dynamic regenerating system of water, air, minerals, decaying plant and animal parts, microscopic organisms, insects and worms, bacteria, fungi and rodents. Think of soil as a living being.
Some recommendations for putting your garden to bed
First, weed your garden completely, pull all remaining plant material and move it to the compost pile. Putting the effort into thoroughly weeding the garden in the fall will save you from many, many more hours of weeding in the spring.
Next, shallow turn, clumping, the soil then covering the garden bed with compost and/or organic matter - fall leaves and straw are good for this. Fall leaves that are partially decomposed or shredded work best. An easy way to shred fall leaves is to mow over them with a bagging lawnmower. Then empty the lawnmower’s bag into a container or yard waste bag to transfer to your garden.
Over the winter the compost and/or organic matter further decomposes, in addition, the repetition of the soil freezing, and thawing helps to further break down the material and work it down into the soil. Yes, Mother Nature is our best helper. This process helps integrate the organic matter into our heavy clay soils increasing the soil’s water and nutrient-holding capacity in addition to increasing air pore space. These components contribute to a balanced soil that:
Holds water
Contains nutrients to enliven plant life
Drains well
Recycles plant material and animals in a cycle of life and deat
Compost
Overwinter with Compost
Clump soil, then cover with compost or organic matter i.e., leaves. Compost and/or organic matter further decomposes helping to breakdown heavy clay soils into a healthy garden soil with a water and nutrient-holding capacity in addition to increasing air pore space. Helps replace essential nutrients that have been taken up by past garden crops.
Adding mature compost to your garden soil is important:
It is a source of nitrogen an important nutrient for growing healthy crops.
To provide garden soil a wide variety of beneficial microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, insects, and worms that are necessary for plants to thrive.
Soils with High Bulk Density (a lot of solid matter, including clay, with little pore space) lead to compaction - a difficult environment for plants to grow. A healthy soil structure consists of a combination of solid matter (mineral and organic) and open-pore space (spaces where air and water infiltrate the soil). Compost is a soil conditioner it adds humus to garden soil, which increases pore space for plants roots to grow, the storage of water and nutrients as well as creates a healthy environment for microorganisms, bacteria, fungi in addition to beneficial insects and worms.
Tilling
Use Minimum Tillage. Tilling can be an important part of garden management however it should be done in a thoughtful way and only when needed. Deep tilling disturbs biological layering that occurs in nature. By avoiding, or minimizing this, you allow the action of small organisms living in the soil to do the work for you. In addition, tilling can also turn up weed seeds and encourage their germination. Another problem with repeated deep tilling in southwest Ohio soils is that you can create a “hard pan” layer of compacted soil under the soil surface – the tiller tines over time will create a "hard pan" a compacted layer that makes it impermeable – water, air, and nutrients cannot move beyond this layer and soil can become supersaturated. A tiller is an important tool, with larger home and community gardens where garden beds are 200 square feet or larger. If you are working with a raised wood frame garden bed that is 4x8 to 4x12 feet turning your soil with a shovel and/or spading fork is recommended.
Cover Crops & Green Manures
Green Manure: A crop that is grown and then incorporated into the soil to increase soil fertility and organic matter content.
Cover Crop: A crop grown to protect and enrich the soil, or to control weeds.
- Rodale's All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Resource for Every Gardener
Maintain year-round ground cover:
§ Living ground cover reduces topsoil erosion
§ Ground covers add or replace nutrients to soil (i.e., any legume clover or vetch)
§ Ground covers will suppress weed germination
§ Weed control takes forethought and attention to timing. By planting cover crops between rows of food crops, you can add organic matter to soil, reduce soil erosion and increase diversity of available nutrients, in addition to crowding out weeds that can add to your labor time in the garden
Why Green Manure & Cover Cropping…
Improved soil structure, which follows from green manure/cover cropping, allows better penetration as well as retention of moisture. The greater permeability of the soil does not mean that nutrients are lost through leaching. The growing crop absorbs the nutrients from the soil and holds them in its tissue. Many green manure crops are deep rooted enough to reach well into the subsoil, effectively opening the subsoil if it is heavy (which is often the case in an urban setting), creating a deep, loose soil for improved plant growth.
Turning in Cover Crops & Green Manures
To get the maximum benefit out of Cover & Green Manure Crops (except for grasses and cereal grains like Winter Rye) they should be allowed to grow until 90% of the crop has flowered. You do not want to allow the crop to go to seed and re-sow, but allowing the plants to flower will keep them from growing back after turning them in.
"Cocktail" Garden Cover Crop Mixes
Garden Cover Crop Mixes contain combinations of grasses, buckwheat, peas, clovers, and cereal grains providing high biodiversity for soil improvement. The tender cover crop mixes that dieback over winter are particularly useful for the home and community garden bed - because they winterkill turning them into the soil is much easier and can be done earlier in the spring. Walnut Creek Seed is an excellent source for seed and information on Garden Cover Crop Mixes: www.walnutcreekseeds.com
Buckwheat
SEEDING RATE: 1 ½ Lbs. /1000 sq. ft.
SOW: Late spring and summer
TURN UNDER: Summer to early Fall
Good summer cover crop.
Hairy Vetch
LEGUME
SEEDING RATE: 1 ½ Lbs. /1000 sq. ft.
WHEN TO SOW: Spring/Fall
WHEN TO TURN UNDER: Fall/Spring
Vetch is a very effective overwinter crop. In early spring it can be cut back at ground level, leaving stubble that tomatoes, pepper and eggplants can be planted directly into... The green plant mass that is cut can be laid aside allowed to dry then used as mulch around tomatoes, pepper and eggplants. Vetch can also be turned into the soil as with other green manure and cover crops.
Summer Cover Crop Mix – Walnut Creek Seeds
SEEDING RATE: 1 Lbs. /200 - 300 sq. ft.
SOW: Summer, temperatures over 65 F.
TURN UNDER: Late Summer - Fall
The WCS Garden Summer Mix is a complex cover crop mix designed to protect and rejuvenate fallow ground through the summer for planting of late cool season vegetables or fall cover crop. This mix will prevent erosion, provide organic matter for macro and microorganisms, fix nitrogen and provide for some pollinators. All components are untreated and non-GMO for organic gardeners. Cow Pea, Flax, Oats, Oilseed Radish, Pearl Millet, Sunflower, and Sunn Hemp.
Winter Cover Crop Mix – Walnut Creek Seeds
SEEDING RATE: 1 Lbs. /200 - 300 sq. ft.
SOW: Fall, temperatures over 65 F.
TURN UNDER: Spring or matt of dead plant material can be planted directly into
The WCS Garden Fall Cover Mix is a complex cover crop mix designed to winter kill, leaving a surface mulch in the spring requiring little to no management prior to planting. Ideal for cool season vegetable spaces. This combination will loosen topsoil, protect your soil from winter erosion and nutrient loss, suppress weeds. The surface residue will provide food for soil micro and microorganisms which are crucial for healthy soil. This mix will winter kill in a typical Zone 5 Winter. Cow Pea, Ethiopian Cabbage, Mung Bean, Oats, Oilseed Radish, and Pearl Millet.
Raised Bed Mix – Walnut Creek Seeds
SEEDING RATE: 1 Lbs. /200 - 300 sq. ft.
SOW: Fall, temperatures over 65 F.
TURN UNDER: Spring or matt of dead plant material can be planted directly into
The WCS Garden Raised Bed Mix is a complex cover crop mix designed to provide diverse root structures and organic matter to fortify and amend depleted soils. This mix may be used in all garden types and provides pollinators and beneficial insects with fall and spring blooms. This mix will winter kill in a typical Zone 5 Winter. Buckwheat, Austrian winter Pea, Flax, Oats, Oilseed Radish, and Yellow Mustard.
Winter Rye
SEEDING RATE: 2 Lbs. /1000 sq. ft.
SOW: Fall
TURN UNDER: Spring
Please note: Winter rye is an annual cereal grain. The use of winter rye in a home-raised bed can be difficult to turn in, it may require turning a second time, and two to three weeks for it to die back before you can plant in the spring. For the home and community gardeners winter rye is best used as an overwinter green manure crop to prepare the soil in advance of installing a new garden. Germinates in temperatures between 34- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit.
Should you have additional questions please feel free to contact us:
Peter Huttinger
Turner Farm Community Garden Program, Director
peter@turnerfarm.org
513-328-0100
Seed Sources
The below list is of a few local resources for vegetable seed and cover crop/green manure seed.
With each local business the seed available is listed, however contact them first to confirm availability.
Local
Growing Trade Store Pet & Plant
3840 Spring Grove Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45223
513-541-1321
www.growingtradestore.com
- Vegetable seeds
- Walnut Creek Fall Cocktail Mix (cover crop)
- Hairy Vetch (cover crop)
A. J. Rahn Greenhouses
4944 Gray Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45232
513-541-0672
greenhouses.ajrahn.com
- Cover crop seed in small quantities
Mail Order
Gardens Alive
www.gardensalive.com
- Vegetable seeds
- Cover crops
High Mowing Seed
www.highmowingseeds.com
- Cover crops
Walnut Creek Seed
www.walnutcreekseeds.com
Specialist in cover crop seed
- Cover crops
Gary Hirshberg and the Real Organic Project Free Bonus Session Tonight!
For more information, please read the following newsletter from Linley Nixon, Ph.D and Dave Chapman, Co-Directors of Real Organic Project.
Dear Friend,
Tonight at 6 PM EST we will host a 40-minute bonus session for our Milk & Money symposium. You can watch for free on YouTube using this link:
Milk and Money Bonus Session Link
We will post a portion of our interview with Gary Hirshberg (co-founder of Stonyfield). It was a long, engaging interview, but tonight we will excerpt the parts where Gary describes his Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership.
This is Gary’s brainchild to change the market for organic milk in New England. It is an attempt to recruit eaters to a consortium of small independent labels (like Butterworks, The Milkhouse, Sidehill, and Strafford Creamery) AND market giants like Organic Valley and Stonyfield. Conspicuously missing from that list is Horizon, Danone’s organic brand. Horizon is in the process of dropping 89 organic dairy farms from its producers. That is ALL of their supplier farms in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and a significant number from New York. Horizon will NOT be part of this coalition.
Come tonight and listen to what Gary has to say. This session is only 40 minutes long and is an entertaining conversation. Please ask your friends and community members to attend as well. This is a free event and anyone can watch regardless of if they have purchased a symposium ticket.
If you have any questions feel free to contact ariel@realorganicproject.org
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
Real Organic Symposium: Gary Hirschberg at Milk & Money
The Real Organic Virtual Symposium begins this Sunday, January 30th. For more information, please read the following newsletter from Linley Nixon, Ph.D and Dave Chapman, Co-Directors of Real Organic Project.
“Cows were meant to move about and grass was meant to stay in place, and we have a system that does the opposite.” - Francis Thicke, Real Organic dairy farmer
Dear Friend,
The first session of Milk & Money begins this Sunday at 3 pm EST. It has been a long haul. Integrating 40 interviews into a coherent symposium is challenging. The problems of the organic dairy system are complex. Some would prefer to avoid these conversations altogether. It is just too complicated. There are no quick fixes.
And always we are faced with the question: What do we do? We see the problems, but what do we do?
“They (Horizon) are saying “We want to be able to keep SELLING in your market area. We just don’t want to be SUPPLIED in your market area.” And we consumers need to say, “Hey, wait a second. Keep selling to us, but you’ve got to cycle your money. You’ve got to keep our farms alive.”
- Gary Hirschberg
One of the last people we interviewed for the symposium was Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield, the second-largest organic yogurt company in the country. Gary and I had met before, but we hadn’t talked in years.
Gary put it this way: “As you know, I haven’t been the most enthusiastic champion of the Real Organic Project, but I know we have the same end goals, so I’m delighted to be chatting with you and your folks.” Fine. We both have a healthy caution about each other’s strategies.
Talking with Gary, our differences became clear, but so did the many areas where we agreed. When Gary and Samuel Kaymen began making yogurt in 1983, they were only milking 4 cows. When they sold their herd in 1984 to focus full time on making and selling yogurt, they were milking 19 cows. At that time they were forced to switch to sourcing conventional milk because they simply couldn’t find any organic milk. The organic dairy farms weren’t there yet.
“Organic is an economic proposition. It’s changing the economic paradigm, as we’ve talked about. And there need to be economic consequences for not being a good corporate citizen.”
- Gary Hirshberg
Today, Stonyfield buys milk from 2000 certified organic farms. We've come a long way. That change certainly is a sign of the success of the organic movement. It is a success that Stonyfield has contributed to. We can celebrate the wins of the USDA program and of the industry influence that helped to build such a market system supporting so many organic farms.
At the same time, thousands of organic family dairy farms are now endangered. CAFOs are pushing them out of the market that the family farms created. The market that was meant to challenge CAFOs and confinement. And for this failure, the USDA program and the organic industry must accept responsibility.
The problems we face are systemic, not personal. It is not just that we got a “bad” Secretary of Agriculture. It isn’t just that we have a few “bad” CEOs or lobbyists. If there is an apparently enlightened business leader like Emmanuel Faber, things will improve in that company. But unless those improvements become systemic, they are quickly swept away when the next, less enlightened, CEO comes along.
We need to change the system. Farmers do not exist in a vacuum. We are all part of a web, connected with the stores, processors, truckers, farm suppliers, roads, restaurants, government support programs, laws, and eaters. When we choose to eat differently, we change the system. When we change the system, we change what kind of food is available, who is producing it, and to whom it is available.
We are offering Gary Hirshberg a chance to share his plan to help the organic dairy farms in a special symposium session on Wednesday, Feb 2 at 6 pm EST. This session will feature portions of our recent interview with Gary. He proposes a marketing effort to draw more people in the Northeast to buy regional organic milk. He seeks to grow the organic market by helping to identify the milk that people actually want to buy. In that way, it is a similar strategy to the Real Organic seal.
It is not perfect and it might not work. It is not clear who will verify that the milk sold in this program is actually regional and pasture-based. It might only enable several large organic processors to become even larger. Nonetheless, it is the only plan I have seen that MIGHT actually help these farms that are in such peril. That is why we are sharing our microphone with Gary.
This plan is called the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership. We hope that it works to save some of the farms. If it does, it is the first step. But we can’t stop there. We really do need 1,000 small organic dairy processors instead of 4 or 5 large ones.
When you only have 4 or 5 companies controlling so much of the market, that is considered a monopoly. That means a loss of competition that encourages undue influence and endangers smaller producers. It endangers democracy. We need to build an economic system that encourages diversity just as we do in our soil practices. The current system is failing us. This change won’t happen soon enough to save all 140 farms that lost their contracts. We should have started 10 years ago. But now is better than never.
It is the only way we can thrive.
Please come to Session 1 this Sunday. And then join us for the special session (free to all) on Wednesday night, Feb 2. This will be followed by Session 2 called Protecting Organic on Sunday, Feb 6.
Dave & Linley
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
Kitchen Assistant
The Turner Farm Teaching Kitchen is looking to hire a part-time kitchen assistant with an interest in rustic, heath-focused cuisine. The kitchen assistant will work with the Executive Chef on whatever tasks are required, including but not limited to the preparation, cooking, and presentation of foods, dishwashing, kitchen cleaning, and inventory of food supplies and equipment. Hours vary by week for this position and flexible availability is a must, as the kitchen assistant will be needed during events, cooking classes, and prep days. Nights and weekends are required. This is a hands-on, fast-paced job that requires a passion for farm-to-table and locally-sourced foods. Interest in food presentation is a plus. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter with the subject line “Kitchen Assistant” to info@turnerfarm.org.
Compensation: $14/hr
Chipotle Chicken Sausage with Lemon Garlic Cabbage
Ingredients
1 package Turner Farm Chipotle Chicken Sausage
2 heads of Turner Farm cabbage
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons minced garlic
pinch of crushed red pepper (or however much you like!)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
Cut cabbage into bite-size pieces.
Cut chicken sausage into bite-sized pieces or leave whole.
Heat skillet with about a tablespoon of oil.
Add in chicken sausage and pan sear until browned on all sides.
Transfer chicken sausage to a plate.
Heat skillet with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Sauté cabbage, and add in garlic after 2 minutes. Then add red pepper, salt, and black pepper.
Plate cabbage and squeeze 1/2 lemon juice on top. Top with chicken sausage.
Enjoy!!!
Chef Katy’s Baked Chicken Wings
Ingredients
2lb Turner Farm Chicken Wings
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika (smoked or regular, whichever you prefer!)
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (ground into powder)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Put brown sugar and all spices into a bowl and mix well.
Cut chicken into wings and flats and cut off wing tail if desired.
Pat dry chicken pieces.
Coat in the dry rub (they do not need oil).
Put chicken pieces on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Flip chicken pieces over and put them back into the oven for another 15 minutes. Feel free to leave them in longer if you prefer them more well-done.
Enjoy!!!
Organic Farming Internship 2022
The Turner Farm Garden Crew Internship is a full-time, intensive program designed to educate beginning farmers who are interested in sustainable, organic agriculture. Interns will learn the skills for growing, harvesting, and processing a diversity of high-quality vegetables. They’ll function as part of the garden crew and experience the daily realities of a working organic farm through hands-on training. Throughout the season there will be many educational opportunities including field trips to other local farms, conferences, and on-farm classes taught by our experienced staff, in addition to guest speakers.
Passion for sustainable agriculture and/or local food systems is a must! Farming/gardening experience is encouraged but not required.
Interns will develop production skills including, but not limited to:
Organic farming methods
Seed Starting
Greenhouse management
High Tunnel Growing and season extension
Bed Preparation
Introduction to Horse-Powered Farming
Direct seeding and transplanting
Soil Health
Seasonal varietal selection
Crop Maintenance and weed control
Irrigation systems and tarping
Operating small machinery
Harvesting
Processing vegetables for storage and sale
Introduction to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and distribution
Opportunities to work at the farmers market
Tracking vegetable production and record-keeping
Additional opportunities to learn about: livestock management, outdoor mushroom cultivation, growing microgreens, compost management
Dates: April 1st-October 31st
Hours: 40 hours/week, rain or shine, Monday - Friday with rotating Saturday morning chore responsibilities.
Compensation: $12/hr + $500 credit in our Farm Market + Educational opportunities and classes.
If you're interested in applying for the program, please email the following materials to cheryl@turnerfarm.org
-Cover letter
-Resume
-Turner Farm Internship Questionnaire (see below)
-2-3 professional references
Turner Farm Internship Questionnaire
Are you available for the entire season, April 1 - Oct 31? Please explain any restrictions on your availability in the above time frame.
What kind of knowledge, skills, and experiences are you interested in gaining during your apprenticeship? Please be as specific as possible.
Please outline your current understanding of the differences between conventional and sustainable or organic agriculture. Why are you interested in organic agriculture? What aspects of sustainable or organic agriculture interest you the most?
Please list any books, films, podcasts, or other resources (such as specific farms or farmers themselves) that have influenced your interest in and/or decision to pursue work experience in agriculture.
What attracts you to farm work?
Will you be able to visit the farm prior to making a commitment? An in-person interview with our Crop Production team is required.
Are you comfortable working on a farm that raises animals for meat?
Interviews will be conducted beginning in January of 2022. If you have additional questions about the program please email cheryl@turnerfarm.org
Glorious Grass by Linley Dixon, Ph.D.
Part of our mission at Turner Farm is to demonstrate that local, organic, low-impact food production grows healthy communities and healthy ecosystems and that intensive rotational grazing very much contributes to the health and vitality of both. We recently received the below newsletter from Real Organic Project, and it so wonderfully explained the benefits of thoroughly managed pastures that we had to share it with the Turner Farm community. Keep scrolling to read the important words by Real Organic Project Co-Director Linley Dixon, Ph.D.
“Cows were meant to move about and grass was meant to stay in place, and we have a system that does the opposite.” - Francis Thicke, Real Organic dairy farmer
An acre of properly managed diversified organic pasture yields more nutrition for a cow than an acre of conventional corn. This should shock you. Not only because we have spent billions of dollars breeding corn for high-yielding genetics, AND because we dump on loads of nitrogen fertilizer and pesticides, but ALSO because we burn 50 gallons of oil just to produce an acre of the stuff. Why in the heck are we creating all kinds of environmental problems to grow all of this corn when cows could be better fed on perennial organic pastures? Happier, healthier cows. Soil building fertility. Absolute insanity!
Nature’s solution to maintaining productivity, where rainfall is too low for forests to develop, is the coevolution of grasses and ruminants. Grasses evolved to grow from the base (instead of the tips) and actually increase productivity when a ruminant grazes. A bite from a cow prevents it from producing seeds and instead causes the grass to grow more leaves.
This natural system is what the best organic livestock farmers attempt to mimic, and some would even say improve on. It takes observation, intuition, and an intimate knowledge of place. The farmer must time the ruminant’s first bite at the proper pasture height, before the grass has begun to lignify (toughen on its way to developing seed), and then move the ruminant to new pasture before it takes a second bite (which would affect the ability of the grass to grow back as quickly).
Real Organic certified founders of Sidehill Dairy, Paul Lacinski and Amy Klippenstein.
After the first bite, the long roots of the grass “slough off” (die back), adding carbon captured through photosynthesis to the soil, and the lower lying legumes and forbes in the pasture take advantage of the new light while the grass roots recover. The farmer should then time the second bite (the reintroduction of the herd) perfectly: after the rapid growth that occurs once the grass rebuilds its roots, but before the grass toughens to set seed.
The outcome of this marvelous biological partnership is that grassland shared with well-managed livestock will build more fertility than grassland with no animals. And It will certainly build more fertility than land that is turned over to row crops exported to feed animals elsewhere.
The real art is to match the number of livestock to the number of acres on the farm given the precipitation. When grass is abundant in the spring it might make sense to hay for winter, because the farmer shouldn’t stock more animals than the farm can support in the dry summer. After too much rain, it might make sense to keep the animals off the land so their hooves don’t compact the soil. Ensuring each section has access to shade will allow animals to graze even on the hottest days. The farmer must also adjust the speed at which the livestock are moved based on the weather, speeding up the rotation during hot, dry spells.
Real Organic dairy farmer Patrick McCluskey moving electric fencing. To address the climate crisis, we must return our annual corn and soybean fields back to native perennial grasslands with management intensive grazing.
Properly done, management-intensive grazing on diversified pastures yields more food for a ruminant than corn. So why would we ever go through all the effort to till, plant, fertilize, cultivate, spray, harvest, and ship corn to cattle in confinement when we could simply let them graze perennial pastures instead?
The answer is politics.
Only humans can get something so simple so wrong. Someone is making a lot of money.
Of course, the money from farming corn instead of grass goes to the “Big 4”, the four largest companies that sell seed and the chemicals that go with them: Bayer-Monsanto, DowDuPont/Corteva, ChemChina-Syngenta, BASF. (Recent consolidation in the chemical/seed industry brought the “Big 6” down to the “Big 4).
The other “Big 4” are the meat processors that also profit from and lobby for America’s dependence on corn. They are Cargill, Tyson, JBS, and the National Beef Packing Co.
The answer always comes back to politics. Unless we change the system, we lose. The corn farmer is paid less for the corn than the cost of production. But the farmer gets a second check, from the government to make up for this loss. It is cheaper for farmers to sell corn into the machine and then buy it back than it is to grow it for their own animals. Our tax dollars might as well go straight into the pockets of the “Big 4” seed/chemical and processing companies. Well, actually, they do.
We must do better. We must be smarter and overcome the irresponsible policies that got us into so many catastrophic environmental calamities. Eat only what my family calls “happy meat” from intelligent farmers and better yet, educate your friends, and actively work to break one system and build another.
To hear more from our friends at Real Organic Project, sign up for their weekly newsletter here.
Livestock Program Assistant
Job Description
The Livestock Program Assistant will assist with the care for the diverse livestock at Turner Farm, a regenerative, pasture-based operation. Livestock under care includes a flock of roughly 150 sheep, 35 head of cattle, 20 seasonal pigs, 250 laying hens, 2000 meat chickens, and any other livestock that might be added to the farm operation over time. This is a part-time, permanent position with a current schedule of 8 hour days Sunday-Tuesday
Responsibilities
The Livestock Program Assistant will be a part of the team responsible for the day-to-day husbandry activities required to keep all of the livestock on Turner Farm healthy and productive. These include but are not limited to:
· Feeding, watering, and administering any medicines prescribed at the direction of the Livestock Program Manager
· Rotating animals as needed across various pastures and paddocks using a combination of electrified net fencing, and multi-strand poly wire fences
· Cleaning stalls and other areas occupied by livestock
· Collecting eggs
· Assisting in sheep shearing and other husbandry activities
· Assisting in arranging for the humane transporting of livestock
· Assist with pasture improvement projects like mowing fields, seeding pastures, etc.
· Occasionally come in during emergency cases (animals escape their pen, etc.)
Job Requirements
Education and Training
No specialized education or training is required for this position. In-depth training on soil health, management-intensive grazing, holistic planned grazing, and other regenerative practices will be offered in-house and utilized.
Technical Requirements
A willingness to learn is required. Respect and caution around large animals is necessary. The ability to lift 70 lbs. is required.
Experience
Experience on a diversified livestock farm is ideal.
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Livestock & Pastures Manager Danny Losekamp at danny@turnerfarm.org. Thank you!
Livestock Program Intern
Job Description
The Livestock Program Intern will assist in caring for the diverse livestock at Turner Farm, a regenerative, pasture-based operation. Livestock currently under care include a flock of roughly 150 sheep, 35 head of cattle, 20 seasonal pigs, 250 laying hens, 2000 meat chickens, and any other livestock that might be added to the farm operation over time. This is a part-time, year-long position with a current schedule of weekends and alternating Fridays or Mondays.
Responsibilities
The Livestock Program Intern will be a part of the team responsible for the day-to-day husbandry activities required to keep all of the livestock on Turner Farm healthy and productive. These include but are not limited to:
· Feeding, watering and administering any medicines prescribed at the direction of the Livestock Program Manager
· Rotating animals as needed across various pastures and paddocks using a combination of electrified net fencing, and multi-strand poly wire fences
· Cleaning stalls and other areas occupied by livestock
· Collecting eggs
· Assisting in sheep shearing and other husbandry activities
· Assisting in arranging for the humane transporting of livestock
· Assist with pasture improvement projects like mowing fields, seeding pastures, etc.
· Occasionally come in during in emergency cases (animals escape their pen, etc.)
Job Requirements
Education and Training
No specialized education or training is required for this position. In-depth training on soil health, management-intensive grazing, holistic planned grazing, and other regenerative practices will be offered in-house and utilized.
Technical Requirements
A willingness to learn is required. Respect and caution around large animals is necessary. The ability to lift 70 lbs. is required.
Experience
No experience needed but ideal candidates will have a desire to run their own livestock operation in the near future or find permanent employment in the field.
To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to Livestock & Pastures Manager Danny Losekamp at danny@turnerfarm.org. Thank you!
Bookkeeper
Turner Farm is seeking a qualified individual with strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and bookkeeping experience. Experience with Quickbooks is a plus.
Job Description
The Bookkeeper will be responsible for the day-to-day, monthly, quarterly, and annual financial record-keeping for Turner Farm. The position also manages payroll, the employee health insurance and retirement plan, pays the farm’s expenses, and credits all incoming payments from the farm and outside market sales. This individual will provide assistance to the Executive Director and work closely with Farm Managers. Clerical duties will be required. For more information and to apply, please send a resume and cover letter to info@turnerfarm.org.