Subject: A Call For a New Food Movement (fwd)

From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 14:56:03 -0400 (EDT)

http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london   InterGarden   
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Onward toward a new New Food Movement, wider use of permaculture methods
and more LOCALLY & CSA - GROWN FOOD!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 12:29:54 -0700
From: sal <[email-masked]>
Reply-To: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked],
    Organic Gardening Discussion List <[email-masked]>,
    Multiple recipients of list OGL <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked],
Subject: Fwd: A Call For a New Food Movement
>Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 13:22:23 -0400
>From: BILL DUESING <[email-masked]>
>Subject: A Call For a New Food Movement
>To: SANET-mg <[email-masked]>
>Subject: A Call For a New Food Movement
>Date: April 29, 1998
>From: Paul Fleckenstein <[email-masked]> and [email-masked]

>Beyond Organic
>Rejecting National Organic Standards and A Call For a New Food Movement

>By Michael Colby

>The U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) unseemly foray into the world
>of organic agriculture became official last December with the release of
>its National Organic Standards, a dismal and dumbed down 600 -plus page
>document that has one ultimate purpose: the further industrialization of
>organic agriculture. This USDA power grab set off an unprecedented amount
>of hand-wringing in the safe food and sustainable agriculture communities
>that, unfortunately, focused almost exclusively on how to incrementally
>modify a set of standards that are rotten to the core. Lost amid the flurry
>of "action alerts" demanding that we all "politely and unemotionally" beg
>the USDA to do a little bit better, was any contemplation of the fact that
>so much of the organic-related "movement" has been co-opted by traditional
>market forces and largely reduced to just another business in the nearly
>single-minded pursuit of profits.

>From the beginning, going back to Senator Patrick Leahys original call for
>federal organic standards in 1990, Food & Water has been implacably opposed
>to the very concept of adopting national standards for a form of
>agriculture that has long celebrated its its decentralized roots in the
>local and regional. To attempt to apply a one size fits all strategy to a
>form of agriculture that strives to be sensitive to localized social and
>ecological conditions is misguided and absurd.

>With the very nature of these new standards being grounded in corporate
>attempts to nationalize, globalize and centralize organic food production,
>they cannot be "fixed" as so many people and organizations have mistakenly
>convinced themselves. Instead, we must seize this opportunity and the
>energy it has created to wholeheartedly reject the USDAs corrupt and
>crippling organic standards and begin creating the vision for a new food
>movement that encompasses the social and ecological ideals that are forever
>beyond the grasp of federal bureaucracies.

>Here Come The Feds
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>To understand just how ridiculous the USDAs meddling in organics actually
>is, you can wade through the massive tome of regulations, or, better yet,
>just consider what Secretary Dan Glickman of the USDA had to say before
>unveiling the new standards to an eager press corps: "I want to make it
>clear that these (organic) rules are not about creating a category of
>agriculture that is safer than any other."

>It doesnt get any clearer than that.

>As an agency that has had nothing but disdain for organic agriculture, the
>motives behind the UDSAs new commitment to getting its fingers in the
>organic pie and ensuring that its standards are as low as possible are
>obvious: to pave the way for the pure commodification and centralization of
>organics. As multinational agribusiness corporations increasingly seek an
>entry into the booming organics market, they need plenty of regulatory
>cover, particularly when they get around to "taking organics global."

>Many in the mainstream have deluded themselves into believing that such
>growth in the production and consumption of organic food products is
>nothing but positive, regardless of whether the results of such growth mean
>the same kind of industrialization and centralization that has been so
>socially and ecologically unjust and destructive to rural cultures. Food &
>Water finds nothing redeeming in the fact that H.J. Heinz now owns Earths
>Best Baby Foods, M&M-Mars owns Seeds of Change, and Whole Foods is running
>roughshod over a once thriving cooperative food movement.

>If the question is whether or not H.J. Heinz. M&M-Mars, and Whole Foods
>should use toxic pesticides, the answer is obviously "no", they should not.
>And if we had a federal government and a democracy that truly reflected the
>will of the people, policies outlawing the use of those poisons would be in
>place. 

>But we must go deeper than that. In the pursuit of sane and sustainable
>food systems, we must take into account factors that go so far beyond the
>simple list of what chemicals a farmer can and cannot use in all 50 states.
>Rather, in addition to banning toxic pesticides, we must demand that our
>food supply does not become another weapon used for the benefit of the
>multinational corporations against the best interests of individuals,
>communities, the land, and the environment. Issues of scale, economic
>concentration, transportation, resource conservation, animal welfare,
>farmer and farm-worker justice, and environmental stewardship, as well as a
>much needed emphasis on local production and consumption, must be the
>centerpieces of a real and politicized food movement.

>Unfortunately, the sad truth is that organic agriculture and the emaciated
>movement that surrounds it have been cleansed of many of their original
>radical roots in favor of being mere businesses. The conservative produce
>trade publication "The Packer" provided the best analysis of the new
>organic standards:

>"Is organics a movement or a business?" asked The Packers Larry Waterfield
>in an editorial shortly after the organic standards announcement. "Well, it
>used to be a movement towards environmentally friendly food production, now
>its a business." And its the business side of organic agriculture that
>seems delighted with the prospects of an organic Twinky or Pepsi-Cola;
>whatever it takes for almighty growth, it contends. But its a fixation on
>the growth imperative that is inherently destructive.

>The industrialization of organics through national standards promotes
>anonymous consumption, not knowing or even caring--who produced the food or
>where it was produced. And its this kind of thinking that has hijack the
>mainstream organic food industry. Just take a look at the shiny,
>neon-supercenters in nearly every suburban neighborhood featuring "health
>food" and the same old message that your happiness is only the next
>purchase away.

>As for where the food was grown, how the farmworkers were treated, the
>enormous amounts of fossil fuels used to produce and transport food on that
>scale, and any connection or support for the struggling local farmers, we
>are seduced into not worrying about it. God forbid that the happy organic
>shopping experience be interrupted by a bit of reality.

>Chasing Their Tails (Again)
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Perhaps the most distressing aspect of the USDAs organic standards were
>the pathetic responses that permeated the activist community. Almost
>without exception, groups went into a frenzy and issued one action alert
>after another calling for the lowest of the lowest common denominator of
>activism: call or write the the USDA and beg them to make it a little
>better. Worse, many of the action alerts counseled people to be "polite,
>and unemotional" when communicating with the USDA. Its apparently not
>enough for them to be under the organic-hating boot of the USDA, but they
>also want to be content and compliant about it too.

>Most of the action alerts sent out by activist groups centered around the
>USDAs potential inclusion of irradiation , sewage sludge, and
>genetic-engineering in the standards. But to get lost in the undertow of
>wrangling about irradiation, sludge, and genetic engineering is to fall for
>these red-herring issues meant to distract us from the realization that the
>entire concept of "national organic standards" is destructive. It puts us
>in the demeaning position of begging for insignificant changes to something
>we shouldnt be asking for in the first place.

>Food & Waters initial reaction to the news that irradiation may be
>included in the National Organic Standards was a not too facetious
>statement that "they deserve each other". In the peculiar reasoning of the
>USDA, it makes sense that irradiation would be included in any attempt to
>industrialize organics. Putting organic agriculture on the well-greased
>path of unchecked growth and corporate concentration inevitably means the
>organic industry will get bigger, and as a result, dirtier and less
>accountable. But with nuclear waste powered irradiation units waiting at
>the end of the line for organically produced commodities--Presto!--the
>problem of dirty organics will be "solved". Sadly, that is Glickmans and
>the USDAs great "vision" for the future of organics.

>It doesnt even help to contact the USDA and tell them to "get out" of
>organics; they dont understand that language. The USDA is a bureaucracy
>that maintains its existence through such programs. At a gathering of
>organic farmers in Vermont last February, USDA officials heard hundreds of
>comments demanding that the USDA "get out" of organics. One of the USDAs
>officials on hand, Grace Gershuny, the author of the first draft of the
>standards, arrogantly responded in a newspaper article that "there were
>practically no helpful comments on anything' since 'most of the comments
>focused on we dont want it, get rid of it and are not substantive about
>what should be".

>Creating The New Movement
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>The USDA is here to stay with organics and it appears from our perspective
>that were faced with two distinct possibilities: beg and whine for the
>standards to be a little bit better, or get on with the necessary work of
>building real food security.

>It seems obvious that when the ideals of a movement become the fodder for
>federal bureaucracies, its time to move on. When the so-called food
>revolution, formerly known as organic agriculture, becomes just another
>opportunity for economic expansion, devoid of any of its political roots,
>it ceases to be a revolution. Just as the word "natural" has been so
>disturbingly devalued and rendered meaningless , "organic" is on the same
>path.

>To adequately attack the industrialization of organic agriculture and begin
>to re-envision the "next food movement" we need to first abandon the notion
>that anything of substance can be accomplished through overly simplified
>actions. Calls to our legislators, letters to our federal agencies, and
>meetings with our representatives might make some of us feel warm and fuzzy
>about democracys theories, but in the long run, it merely gives
>credibility to the corruption.

>Simple actions inevitably lead to false solutions, as evidenced by the
>decades of foot dragging and deceitful acts of congress to address the
>problems of unnecessarily applying toxic pesticides to our food supply.
>Sure, the industrial-congressional partnership can point to laws with names
>like "The Food Quality Protection Act" but what have they actually done
>besides distracting us all and giving corporate barons plenty of time to
>take their money and run. 

>We need to challenge basic assumptions of a purely market-based food
>system. that is incapable of comprehending all of its destructive
>tendencies. A cheap organic carrot shipped in from South America may make a
>Vermonter feel pretty good about his or her own health, but what about the
>related issues regarding scale, transportation, and resource conservation?
>And if were at all serious about "saving the family farm" shouldnt we
>start by rooting our diets in the foods produced locally?

>Ultimately, combating an industrial food supply--organic or not--is about
>challenging the anonymity of consumption, the destructive notion that
>suggests that we dont have to care where anything came from or who
>produced it as long as its cheap and available. The more that we strive to
>shorten the distance between ourselves and our food supply, the less
>anonymous it becomes and the more direct accountability there is between
>producer and consumer.

>The ultimate certifier for the manner in which food products are produced
>should not be a monolithic federal government, but rather a mutually
>trusting and celebrated relationship between the producer and the consumer,
>the community, or, at the very least, local or regional certifiers,  with
>an understanding of localized social, ecological, and economic needs. In
>other words, what we should be striving for is assurance of familiarity.

>No, these are not "simple" actions you can take. Producing your own food,
>getting "to know:" your farmer, visiting farmers markets, being actively
>involved in meaningful co-ops, or being diligent in shunning a monopolized
>food supply is certainly not easy. But its necessary if our goal is to not
>only fundamentally change a very destructive food system, but the
>underlying culture that makes it all possible. 

>Be assured: you wont find Food & Water playing in the regulatory quicksand
>of attempting to modify the USDAs National Organic Standards. Because its
>now time to shed such incrementalism and begin to create a destiny the
>public can get excited about. And it all has to start with the realization
>that what we thought was an organic "movement" is now dead; it has sadly
>been co-opted by market forces, federal bureaucracy, and a culture
>hell-bent on false convenience.
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
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