Sampler Platter

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 06:00:00 AM PDT

• What happens when a cropduster gets too close to an organic farm? Nothing good.

• Wanna take some action against NAIS? Click on the link and send an email to the USDA.

• Why are artisan producers so important? Read this article on a local salumi company and you'll begin to understand. From the age, breed, and feed of the pigs to the lack of nitrates to the unique recipes, Knight Salumi produces a product that just cannot be obtained through our corporate food system.

• "Three wise men" made a pilgrimage to DC last week: Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, and Fred Kirschanmann. Here's a Q&A with the trio. I sure hope the politicians who met with them valued their input.

• Organics grew 118% (by acreage) worldwide between 2000 and 2007. Organics are still less than 1% of global agriculture, however. 97% of spending on organics occurs in the U.S. and E.U. I think this is probably only looking at CERTIFIED organics - who knows how much uncertified land is managed organically in developing countries by people who never converted to industrial techniques.

• ACTION: Re-examine our trade agreements. The TRADE Act looks like a great bill to support.

• A Pennsylvania school board didn't want to hear the consequences of allowing a CAFO to locate near where the school buses are parked. You can see the presentation they WOULD have seen at the link.

• Here's a great article on bogus "local" campaigns by major corporations who are anything but.

• Hillary Clinton thinks Indian farmer suicides are due to a need for loans. Well, sort of. If you want to take a really shallow view of it, then yes. But there's a lot more to the story than just that, and I doubt Hillary wants to "go there" because it might involve questioning free trade and industrial agriculture.

• Food stamps are getting easier to use at farmers' markets, says the NYT. GOOD. This is a very hot topic near where I live. We had no markets that took food stamps a little over a year ago. Now we have several, and it really wasn't that difficult to set up (so I'm told). Yet, most markets around here STILL don't take food stamps, because those in charge haven't taken the steps to do so (and presumably either haven't thought about it or don't want to).

• What's going on in California's Central Valley? Well, it's not good. As the water dried up, so did the paychecks. This article calls Fresno "California's Detroit."

• A new study smacks down Monsanto. From the abstract:

  Chronic health effects are increasing in the world such as cancers, hormonal, reproductive, nervous, or immune diseases, even in young people. During regulatory toxicological subchronic tests to prevent these on mammalian health, prior commercialization of chemicals, including pesticides and drugs, or GMOs, some statistically significant findings may be revealed. This discussion is about the need to investigate the relevant criteria to consider those as biologically significant. The sex differences and the non linear dose or time related effects should be considered in contrast to the claims of a Monsanto-supported expert panel about a GMO, the MON 863 Bt maize, but also for pesticides or drugs, in particular to reveal hormone-dependent diseases and first signs of toxicities.

American Farmer Suicides

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jun 05, 2009 at 15:17:40 PM PDT

According to the Denver Post fourteen Colorado farmers and ranchers killed themselves in 2008 - double the number of farmer suicides in 2004. And a national crisis hotline network for agricultural workers saw a 20% spike in calls this May compared with May 2008. As noted above, the problem is particularly severe in dairy:

"The increase in calls really started with the change in dairy prices, as they fell last fall," said Mike Rosmann, a clinical psychologist and farmer who heads the Iowa-based Sowing the Seeds of Hope help line serving farmers in seven Midwestern states. "We're starting to see the stress mount. It's a nationwide problem."

The article goes on to say that rural Americans have less access to health insurance and counseling services than those who live in cities. The LA Times also covered the issue, as California is now the nation's #1 dairy state and two CA dairy farmers have killed themselves in the past six months:

Through much of last year, the average milk price hovered around $17 per 100 pounds -- although consumers purchase milk by the gallon, the industry measures by pounds. The bottom fell out of the market when the economy tanked last fall. Prices now hover around $10, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Farmers generally need at least $16, and often more, per 100 pounds to break even, depending on their debt, feed requirements and other factors.

Unfortunately, the Times does not adequately cover the cause of the dairy crisis, which it attributes to a simple matter of oversupply. I recommend reading the statement by Iowa dairy farmer Francis Thicke for a deeper understanding of factors contributing to the crisis.

BBC Reports on Farmer Suicides in Punjab, India

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Apr 13, 2009 at 12:00:00 PM PDT

That man's younger brother may also commit suicide. He farms 2 acres of land and he's got a debt equal to $15,000. He's only 35. Currently, his wife is watching him around the clock to make sure he doesn't kill himself.

Each year before the harvest, the small farmers of Punjab, who make up nearly 85% of the state's farming community, borrow from local rural moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates to meet production costs, including fertilisers and electricity for irrigation.

Defaulting on payment increases the rates of interest and a farmer is publicly humiliated in the local panchayat (self-governing rural body) if he fails to pay up.

According to the article, 200,000 farmers have killed themselves in India since 1997 - mostly in a handful of states. As our Monsanto friends pointed out, the immediate cause of death was frequently debt:

Amarjit Singh, another small farmer from Barnala whose father committed suicide a few years back, says: "My father could not read or write, so he could not calculate the amount of loan he had incurred.

"Once it reached a staggering sum, he was publicly threatened by the moneylender and committed suicide.

"If I am asked to pay my father's debt, I will also have to commit suicide," says Amarjit, who has also taken on loans to meet rising production costs.

However, debt alone cannot be blamed. What caused the debt? Lack of credit and lack of education, clearly. But what else? Trade liberalization and industrialized farming techniques. The former led to lower prices, the latter to increased costs.