A reader writes:

I was reading the Scarecrow Chronicles and read Jeri’s entry about the Greens and Browns, and I just had to send an email thanking her for her thoughts. I whole heartedly agree with her opinion of the authors words who wrote that letter.

While reading that letter, I kept getting an uncomfortable feeling about what was being said, but couldn’t really put a finger on what was bugging me. And Jeri just coined it!!

We as humans need to be tolerant of everyone!! And tolerance is not a one way street! I also feel that so many people in this country feel divided, that putting more fuel on the “thems verses us” is NOT going to get anyones agenda moved forward!

I look forward to my magazine every other month and am so glad that I get to read everyone’s perspective! I always “take what I want and leave the rest”, and know that everyone’s voice is important. Even if it’s different than what I believe. ~ S.H. from California

I’ve long held that industry and government have co-opted the concerns of people who want to live as healthy as they can. First, the USDA, at the behest of big agri-business eviscerated the term “organic” so that it doesn’t mean what consumers believe it means. For instance, organic producers are allowed to spread anti-biotic contaminated manure from CAFOs on certified organic land, even though there is plenty of research to show that there is significant uptake of anti-biotics and other industrial chemicals in the crops grown on land where imported, conventional manure has been applied. Most consumers have no idea. They just want to do what’s right.

Now, besides industry and government, we are seeing an almost evangelical type of dogma evolving among those who consider themselves “green.” The writer of the letter was struggling with whether or not she had sinned against her greeness by attending a wedding in Hawaii, and enjoying herself. This is the same sort of self-loathing that religious zealots (and dieters) engage in: am I holy enough? Have I committed a sin? Did I eat too much? Along with this comes extreme self-debasement.

The author resorted to the same tactics as religious fanatics and fat people: she justified her beliefs and actions by condemning someone else–the “Browns.” Fat people, especially women, do the same thing. I know. When we enter a room, we immediately look to see who’s fatter than us. It’s a dangerous and limiting way to identify ourselves.

It seems to me, no matter what your agenda is, the environment or the budget, the simple solution to both is to consume less, not to consume politically correct things. I know people who feel good when they buy “environmentally friendly” products, but they dont’ stop to think that they may not need the product in the first place. It’s simply a way to feel better, just like fat people who buy packages of fat-free fudge because it makes them feel like they’re doing the right thing.

People are shocked to learn that I have been part of the “organic” movement for decades (I’m fond of telling people that I was “green” long before the Gore and Moore show happened on the scene). While I am an advocate for small-scale sustainable farming, I’m decidedly not “green” in my ideology. This has gotten me in hot water more than once. People assume just because we own an organic farm, we have certain political leanings. They take great umbrage when they learn I’m not the ideologue they would like me to be (not that I’m an ideologue, just that I’m not their sort of ideologue).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Jerri

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August 31, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042

Largest Organic Factory Farm Operator
Once Again Accused of Illegal Activity

Family Dairy Farmers Appeal to Obama Administration for Swift Enforcement

WASHINGTON, DC: Aurora Dairy, based in Boulder, Colorado, the nation’s largest organic dairy producer, is once again facing allegations of improprieties. Aurora had previously been found in “willful” violation of multiple federal organic standards by USDA investigators in 2007.

This week an organic industry watchdog, The Cornucopia Institute, filed a formal legal complaint with the USDA in Washington alleging that one of the five industrial-scale dairies operated by Aurora, its High Plains dairy near Kersey, Colorado, is failing to graze their dairy cattle as required by the federal organic standards.

Family dairy farmers have recently appealed directly to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack for swift enforcement action in response to giant corporations “gaming the system” and squeezing them out of business. They claim they are being placed at a competitive disadvantage. A national surplus of organic milk – largely created by factory farm dairies – and magnified by a soft economy – has been driving down prices paid to farmers.

“Here we have an industry where 1800 family farmers, and the reputable organic brands they supply, are continuing to have their economic survival imperiled by this $100 million scofflaw that has been allowed to continue in operation,” said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for Cornucopia.

Aurora’s milk is sold to many of the nation’s largest grocery chains, including Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Costco and others, for their cheap store brand label organic milk.

Aurora is allegedly primarily confining their dairy cows in giant barns and pens instead of being allowed to graze on fresh forage, and exhibit their natural instinctive behaviors, as the federal law mandates. When the cows are let outside they often only have access to substandard crops that are planted on an annual basis, and wither in the desert-like heat, instead of more hardy perennials that stand up to continual grazing throughout the growing season.

In response to a previous legal complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute, in 2006, career staff at the USDA found that Aurora was in violation of 14 tenets of the organic regulations including confining their cattle to feedlots, instead of grazing, and bringing thousands of illegal conventional cows into their organic operation.

“Although investigators found that Aurora had perpetrated the greatest scandal in the history of the organic industry, Bush administration officials, who ran the USDA at the time, let the giant corporation off with minor adjustments to one of their five operations and placed them on a one-year probation,” Kastel added. In addition to being subject to decertification, the dairy could have faced millions of dollars in penalties.

Cornucopia had filed a subsequent complaint in 2007, outlining evidence that Aurora’s High Plains dairy was violating the law. At that point the Bush administration, through the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Services, informed the farm policy research group that their concerns would be investigated and integrated into Aurora’s one-year probation monitoring.

“After recently scrutinizing USDA documents, obtained through a freedom of information request (FOIA), we are refiling these serious charges now, including making additional first-hand witness testimony available, because there is no evidence that the Department followed through with their commitment to investigate what Aurora has represented as a model pasture-based dairy,” said Will Fantle, research director of The Cornucopia Institute.

The controversy surrounding the legality of operating giant factory farms, each milking 2000-7000 cows, principally owned by Aurora or Dean Foods for their Horizon brand, has come to a head this year as competitors in the marketplace have been forced to lower prices paid to family-scale farmers, institute cut backs on production or even cancel their contracts with some dairy producers.

“This is an unmitigated disaster for many family farmers who are now facing no market for their organic milk and possibly losing their farms because of the softening economy and the overload of milk coming from these giant factory farms,” said Kathie Arnold of Truxton, NY, an organic dairy farmer milking 130 cows.

Meanwhile, USDA Secretary Vilsack recently met in Wisconsin with organic family farmers and their advocates who appealed to the new Obama administration to “cleanup the mess they inherited” at the USDA’s National Organic Program.

Farmers were heartened by the Secretary’s commitment to ramp-up enforcement at the National Organic Program and appoint officials there who will share the values of organic community participants. “We are focusing on rules that will level the playing field so that small and medium-size producers have a fair shot,” Vilsack said, and added: “I commit to you that we will enforce the [current] rules.”

The Bush administration received wide criticism in the organic industry for not only letting Aurora Dairy off the hook without any substantive penalties but also for their lax approach to investigating alleged improprieties by industry giant Dean Foods and its Horizon label. A large percentage of the Horizon milk comes from concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. In 2006 the largest dairy operation supplying Horizon, with 10,000-cows, was decertified, but according to FOIA documents the 8000-head, corporate-owned Horizon dairy in Idaho has never been investigated.

“It is inexcusable that the past administration did not protect the vast majority of ethical dairy marketers and the family farmers we partner with,” said Ned Mac Arthur, President of Pennsylvania-based Natural Dairy Products Corp., bottler of Natural by Nature brand organic milk. “We are now placing our hope and trust in the new Obama/Vilsack administration at the USDA.”

“The good news that we continue to tell organic consumers is that based on our in-depth industry research 90% of all namebrand organic dairy products on the market are produced with true integrity, Kastel affirmed. “No matter where someone lives in this country there are many wonderful brands of organic milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and ice cream that conform to not only the letter of the law but the spirit of what has made organics such a successful and fast-growing segment of our nations’ food supply.”

###

MORE:

A copy of the formal legal complaint alleging inadequate access to pasture at Aurora’s High Plains dairy, near Kearney, Colorado can be found at:

http://www.cornucopia.org/Aurora/AuroraHighPlainsComplaint_8-2009.pdf

Photos of the High Plains dairy, and other factory farms owned by Aurora and Dean Foods, can be viewed in the photo gallery on the Cornucopia website: www.cornucopia.org

A 10 minute video, produced by documentarian Greta Wing Miller, of USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack’s appearance, listening to organic farmers heartfelt appeals for enforcement help, and his powerful on-point response, can be accessed in the video gallery on The Cornucopia Institute website: www.cornucopia.org

Organic consumers recognizing that they had been defrauded when buying the milk produced by Aurora have taken the matter into their own hands by suing the giant dairy manufacturer and a number of major retailers that sell their milk, including Wal-Mart, Target, Costco and Safeway. Aurora is the largest private-label organic milk supplier in the United States. The class-action consumer fraud litigation is still embroiled in federal court.

“Our initial investigations, including photography, satellite imagery, and interviews with dairy industry professionals who visited the facility, indicate that this giant farm is not grazing their cattle or providing pasture in accordance with federal law,” stated Will Fantle, research director at Cornucopia. “Although they have some pasture, the number of cows per acre does not meet legal precedents, and the quality of the pasture, grown in the semiarid conditions of Colorado, also does not meet legal definitions-this corporation is continuing to ‘game the system’ and needs to be brought to justice.”

Cornucopia also asked the USDA to reopen investigations against the two NOP accredited certifiers associated with Aurora. The complaint alleges that the illegal activities identified by The Cornucopia Institute and the USDA at Aurora were overt and should have been uncovered by the certifiers, and the state of Colorado’s organic program and Quality Assurance International (QAI), if they had been fulfilling their oversight responsibilities.

USDA staff had previously recommended suspending the State of Colorado’s right to certify organic livestock facilities. Like Aurora itself the USDA entered into a consent agreement with the state of Colorado demanding improved staff training and understanding of organic livestock certification requirements.

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I’m sure just yet if I find it amusing, insulting, annoying, or all three. After reading a post about canning tomatoes, someone posted this in a group I belong to on LinkedIn:

Urgent! Jerri, This is NOT a safe and approved method to can tomatoes. Research in food safety shows that it is vital to add bottled lemon juice to each jar before processing to ensure the correct level of acidity for safe water bath canning. Add 1 Tablespoon per pint – 2 Tablespoons per quart. The processing time is for under 1,000 feet elevation. For altitudes 1,000 to 3,000 feet add 5 minutes processing time, for 3,001 to 6,000 feet add 10 minutes, for 6,001 to 8,000 feet add 15 minutes and from 8,001 to 10,000 feet add 20 minutes.

These are instructions from an earlier time before we understood that tomatoes vary greatly in their acidity. Variety, soil fertility, weather conditions and ripeness all factor into PH levels in tomatoes.
Please use only the most recently approved methods. They can be found at The National Center for Home Food Preservation.
[http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Euga%2Eedu*3nchfp*3publications*3publications_usda%2Ehtml/sYEi?_t=tracking_disc ]

Here’s the thing. The instructions are from an earlier time, and they work just fine. Not an approved method? Not approved by who?

Why is it urgent? Are rural folk dropping dead because they ate canned-tomatoes without lemon juice? Geez, maybe we should start digging graves before winter gets here, what with low-acid tomatoes and swine flu and all.

I don’t put lemon juice or anything else besides salt in my tomatoes. But, readers be advised that the government-approved way is to add lemon juice. There, I said it. But I don’t do it. If I drop dead tomorrow, you’ll know why.

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Finally, high-speed Internet is coming to rural America, and to hear the Obama Administration tell it, not a minute too soon. Rural America has fallen into a communication abyss, but don’t worry the Government is here to help, and it’s only going to cost 4 billion dollars.

In a press release dated July 1, 2009, the USDA announced that Vice-President Biden will be passing out money like candy on a tour to celebrate broadband coming to rural America. We’re saved!!! There’s just one teeny little problem: we already have high-speed Internet access in rural America. Have for years.

Our farm is one mile out of town, and we are the last place that can get DSL. But because I’m a professional blogger, writer, and Web developer, I need to have constant access to high-speed Internet. So, in addition to my land-based high-speed service, I have an AT&T broadband card. Others in my area choose high-speed satellite. It’s not we don’t have access to modern communication technology; the problem isn’t even the cost. The truth be told, it doesn’t cost me any more for my AT&T broadband card than it does for my DSL. When I talk to my friends and relatives who live in urban areas, they tell me their DSL and AT&T broadband access cost exactly the same as mine. We also agree that DSL is more reliable than wireless broadband and satellite access. So why do we need to spend 4 billion to solve a problem that doesn’t exist?

I’ll concede that broadband and satellite Internet access present problems: dropped service on cloudy days, interrupted service during peak access times, and intermittent slow connections. Yes, these do affect the online experience of rural users, but news flash people, even DSL users report slow connections and dropped service. It happens, not because of where we live, but because of poor technology. And that’s where the Government comes in; they’re going to improve rural communications technology so our service is as unreliable as it is in urban areas. (I think it’s supposed to be considered an upgrade.)  According to Vice President Biden:

Today’s announcement is a first step toward realizing President Obama’s vision of a nationwide 21st century communications infrastructure – one that encourages economic growth, enhances America’s global competitiveness, and helps address many of America’s most pressing challenges.

There it is in a nut shell folks: this isn’t about improving communications technology; it’s about fulfilling President Obama’s vision. Not once does the Vice President mention the benefits to rural America, because it isn’t about us either. Rural broadband is a myth, the sanguine longing of Utopian elitists who believe rural people are ignorant. Once again, a Government program aimed at rural America won’t benefit us, but should bolster the political careers of more than a few political types in D.C, and at only 4 billion, it’s a steal. Someone’s getting robbed alright.

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Hello NAIS fighters,
Please spread the news of this protest far and wide.  Email it to your entire contact list, call on your neighbors and let them know that there are people standing up for their right to farm as they wish without big brother constantly looking over their shoulder, and by all means contact your local newspaper editor and give them a copy of this press release.  If you have time, make the trip down to Jefferson City, MO and meet some of these fine people.  Illinois Independent Consumers and Farmers Association is sending six representatives down there to take part in this peaceful protest.  We could arrange some sort of group transportation if there are any of you who want to travel to Jefferson City, MO but are limited financially.

Feel free to contact me by phone about any of this.

Thanks,

C.J. Cordell II

WICFA – President

(715) 418-0424

cj@wicfa.org

www.wicfa.org

Press Release

Contact;  Paul Hamby  816 632 0602

For immediate release

June 5, 2009 Jefferson City, Missouri………….

Farmers, Ranchers and Consumers will hold a protest of the NAIS – National Animal ID System on Tuesday June 9 from 8 am to 12 noon. The protest will run concurrently with the USDA NAIS listening session at Truman Hotel & Conference Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.   More than a dozen organizations have signed on in support of the peaceful protest and will have members attending to speak out against NAIS.  The USDA has been pushing for mandatory NAIS, originally calling for mandatory in January of 2008 and with enforcements in January of 2009, but has delayed implementation due to huge public outcry against the program.   USDA is now asking for public input on how to overcome objections to the program.    Bob Parker, a southern Missouri farmer, has toured the state speaking out against NAIS,   “The USDA does not want to accept that the people are against this program.  They are asking how to make it more palatable. Our message to USDA is to end NAIS now.”

NAIS is a three phase program designed by the USDA and the Nat’l Institute for Animal Agriculture to advance guidelines for international trade through an agency of the World Trade Organization called the OIE.  NAIS will tag and track movements of 33 species of animals worldwide.  Phase 1 requires livestock owners to obtain a GPS linked Premise ID number for their property.  Phase 2 requires all animals be identified with an international ID device.  Phase 3 requires electronic reporting of movements on or off a premises to effectuate 48 hour trace-back to the premises of origin of any and every animal. Each phase is predicated upon the preceding phase.  There can be no NAIS animal ID without a NAIS premises ID.

Opposition to NAIS is strongest from independent cattlemen, small farmers and hobbyists.

Doreen Hannes  is a researcher, author and public speaker whose family has a small farm and raises much of their own food.  She states, “The design of NAIS is effectively a license to farm. This program would cost us at least $4,000 the first year. There is no method for growers to recoup the cost of the program, and the implementation of NAIS will be the destruction of the family farm and rural America. The cost to freedom is simply immeasurable.”

“The Missouri Libertarian Party has worked with farmers and ranchers in Missouri for years to prevent implementation of the burdensome regulations of the National Animal Identification System being forced on them by the USDA”, Glenn Nielsen, Missouri Libertarian Party Chair.

Paul Hamby, NW Missouri coordinator for Campaign for Liberty, states  “NAIS will put an undue burden on non-electric Amish farmers,  small hobby farmers, 4-H and FFA members while providing no benefit to them.  NAIS will not make our food supply safer.  I am against this international livestock ID program run by the same federal government who just bought General Motors. ”

The following organizations are sending members to Jefferson City to speak against NAIS on June 9.
R-CALF USA,  Missouri Campaign for Liberty,  Arkansas Animal Producers Association,
International Dairy Goat Registry,  Missouri Independent Consumers and Farmers Organization,
Illinois Independent Consumers and Farmers Organization,  Ozarks Property Rights Congress,
Missouri First, Inc.,  Liberty Restoration Project,  Legislators Against Real ID,  Missouri Libertarian Party,
Missouri Constitution Party, Missouri Rural Crises Center,  Citizens for Private Property, Douglas County Citizens for Liberty.

For interviews or talk radio guests call,

Doreen Hannes 417 349 9625/417 962 0030

Bob Parker 417 257 8711

Ray Cunio 314 223 6925

Paul Hamby 816 632 0602

Updates and links to organizations listed above www.missouriansagainstnais.com

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