Organic alfalfa. Photo: Melanie Conner

–by Kelly Sanderbeck, Development Director & Story Catcher

In my mind, the purpose for government is to look out for the good of its people as a whole, and to take on issues that industry cannot make a profit from, or is not interested in. As far as food safety is concerned, Americans seem to be left on our own. No wonder more of us want to know our farmers and directly where our food comes from. The USDA is paving the way for MORE pesticides, not less. GMO alfalfa is approved, without any protections for organic farmers. And antibiotic-resistant bacteria is widely present in meat. “Pork is four times more likely to be carrying deadly MRSA than the average American, pointing to our food system and industrial farming as an avenue for MRSA to continue to spread,” said David Wallinga, MD, of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

You know things need to change when even the heads of major corporations are calling for more regulation. Seems the only method to adjust food safety policies for the majority may be through the courts because the FDA’s hands are tied by lack of funding while industry lobbyists with seemingly-unlimited dollars abound. Unfortunately, further studies indicate GM foods could harm our DNA for generations, all because they are not required to be tested for safety. And, because this is an election year, corporations and big money will spread their voices far and wide.

“While the food industry digs in to fight public health regulations, the food movement will continue to attract support from those willing to promote a healthier and more sustainable food system,” says Marion Nestle in her 2012 Food Politics predictions. Luckily, new farmers keep cropping up to replace the current aging population, more of us are becoming creative local eaters, our local public schools are starting to provide healthy lunches with the input of local chefs and, amazingly, we’re tending to eat less meat! Progress, one forkful at a time…

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.  Now, put foundations under them.”

-Henry David Thoreau

In December the PCC Farmland Trust board adopted a 2012-2015 -strategic plan.  The plan retains and reaffirms the existing mission:  to conserve farmland for organic and sustainable farming. However, it also directs the organization to conserve farmland in concentration, and to promote agricultural  corridors in the most threatened farming areas, in Western WA.  These agricultural corridors, with increased organic and sustainable farming, could provide environmental and economic benefits to the broader community, while also promoting the primary goal – more organic food production in the urban fringe.  Over the next three years, the Farmland Trust will endeavor to conserve in concentration, but also study the results–direct and derivative.  Throughout this same period PCC Farmland Trust will also expand our work to build public and farm community awareness of the value of farmland conservation for organic food production.

To read the full PCC Farmland Trust strategic plan, click here.  (PDF)

March 10th, 2012; 10am – 1:30pm

Sturgeon Farm, Orting, WA

FREE. Registration at Brown Paper Tickets.

Hosts: FarmLink/Cascade Harvest Coalition and PCC Farmland Trust, in partnership with the Trust for Public Land. This event is sponsored by the WSDA/USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.

On Saturday, March 10th, PCC Farmland Trust and Cascade Harvest Coalition (CHC) will host an Open House in Pierce County, where landowners and farmers seeking land will have an opportunity to connect through CHC’s Washington FarmLink program, and learn more about PCC Farmland Trust’s work to preserve and maintain working organic farmlands.

One of the biggest threats to farmland preservation is the conversion of farmland at the time of sale. At the same time, one of the chief obstacles faced by new farming businesses is the high price of land. PCC Farmland Trust works to keep high-value farmland protected and in organic production, by lowering the price of land through agricultural conservation easements, and identifying farmers to purchase or lease the underlying farm property. Our goal is to ensure that farmland is protected for organic farming forever, and that farmers are able to own and work the land productively.

This open house will showcase great farmland available now for new farming businesses in the Puyallup River Valley: the Sturgeon Farm, a 102 acre property available for purchase near Orting, and an adjacent 27 acres available for purchase or lease. In addition, land seekers and landowners will have the opportunity to network during the open house, with a simple “speed dating” activity.

We will have sandwiches and drinks available. Please feel free to bring a side, salad, or snack to share. Please bring appropriate footwear for touring the farm and outerwear for weather. We’ll be outside.

This event is FREE, but please visit Brown Paper Tickets to register.

To learn more about the WA FarmLink Program, click here.

On this March 24th tour of  Camelot Downs Farm led by Gary Fisher, we’ll learn all about the sustainable innovation taking place on the farm, and meet the colonial breed animals, including the newest baby lambs. This tour is a first come, first served opportunity with a limited number of participants.

-by Kelly Sanderbeck, Development Director & Story Catcher

Even though our government continues to shy away from protecting its people by continuing to allow the over-use of antibiotics in farming, at least research organizations are proactively banding together to illuminate agriculture as a solution to some of our problems.  The Rodale Institute continues to put out studies which show organic farming as a way to combat global warming, and other parties are beginning to fit the puzzle pieces together to show that agriculture can beneficially affect climate change.

And the new farmers keep coming!  “Generation Organic” are highly educated and highly motivated – and invested in farming that focuses on local, sustainable and chemical-free. Brian Bates, who plans to work at a farm in northern Michigan after he graduates from Penn State, says “It was born out of a concern for the environment. I spent the first two years of college with one question in mind – basically, how can I have the greatest impact in my life in the world. And the thing that I kept coming back to, that everyone connected to, was food.”  Closer to home, Viva Farms in Mount Vernon is doing just that – growing the next generation of farmers!

Speaking of students, it turns out we really can have healthy food in schools for kids, if costs aren’t increased by adding unnecessary processing. Several economists have even evaluated a “Fat Tax” to address our country’s obesity problem!

Finally, for all the best seasonal local food, don’t forget to visit your farmers market –especially in the winter.  “Our sales at the winter market even out our income over the year, eliminating some of the highs and lows of our financial situation,” said Skip Paul, a farmer at Wishing Stone Farm in Little Compton, Rhode Island.

“Rodale (Institute) concludes that farming must move away from using unsustainable, increasingly unaffordable, petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides and turn to ‘organic, regenerative farming systems that sustain and improve the health of the world population, our soil, and our environment.’”  from  The Atlantic, “Organic Can Feed the World,” 12/5/2011

2) Bayern donates $1 for every case sold of Dopple at PCC Natural Markets in December

3) Lindeman’s donates $1 for every case of Lambic sold at PCC Natural Markets in December

4) Radeberger USA donates $1 per case of Clausthaler sold at PCC Natural Markets in December

5) Big Sky donates $1 per case sold at PCC Natural Markets in December

The Farm Bill That Wasn’t

After missing their original November 1 deadline, the House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders continued to work on hammering out a deal on what might have become the 2011 Farm Bill.  Things really heated up the week before Thanksgiving when the new farm bill deal appeared imminent.  Friday November 18^th came and went, however, with the bill drafters still waiting on a final budget scoring on the bill from the Congressional Budget Office, delaying its official unveiling.

The Agriculture Committee leaders intended to send the bill to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the “Super Committee”) for inclusion in the big government-wide deficit reduction bill, however it became clear the Super Committee would not succeed in producing a budget bill for consideration by the full House and Senate in December.

With the Super Committee process now dead, the Agriculture Committee leadership on Monday decided to simply scrap the deal they had nearly reached and issue no details, no summary, no budget score, and no bill.  Instead, House Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Senate Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) issued a simple statement, saying:

“House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders developed a bipartisan, bicameral proposal for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction that would save $23 billion.  However, the Joint Select Committee’s failure to reach a deal on an overall deficit reduction package effectively ends this effort.  We are pleased we were able to work in a bipartisan way with committee members and agriculture stakeholders to generate sound ideas to cut spending by tens of billions while maintaining key priorities to grow the country’s agriculture economy.  We will continue the process of reauthorizing the farm bill in the coming months, and will do so with the same bipartisan spirit that has historically defined the work of our committees.”

What’s Next for the Farm Bill?

There are many scenarios with respect to what might become of the next Farm Bill.  The wildest one, and most unlikely of the lot, is that it would still happen in 2011.

Scenarios for 2012 include two variations on taking it up early in 2012 and finishing it by summer, before nearly all attention focuses solely on the elections.  Variation one would pick up where things left off, with the draft deal from last week serving as the initial draft that would then be open to amendment.  Variation two would start the whole process over from scratch.  And of course there would be combination approaches in which some pieces would start over, but others would start from where things left off.

Under either of those variations, there could be a continuation of the goal of cutting total farm bill spending by $23 billion over ten years, or that number could change.  Also under either variation, there could be a return to more normal legislative process, with hearings, subcommittee and full committee markups, and floor amendments and floor votes, or there could be a continuation of a less open process, especially if there is a new deficit reduction budget deal that emerges in the meantime.

At least four things tend to weigh toward a one-year extension of the existing farm bill and delay work on the new one until 2013.  Two are budgetary and two are political.

First, the overall budget situation is confusing and without knowing how much to cut, the Agriculture Committees could start down the wrong path and turn out to be out of sync with a long-term deficit reduction deal.  Second, if a reduced-cost farm bill is written and becomes law in 2012, but sequestration is allowed to move ahead as per current law, then the new farm bill would be cut a second time barely before the ink has dried on the actual farm bill.  A 2013 Farm Bill, on the other hand, would have the advantage of being able to revise the shape of the automatic cuts before they go into effect permanently.

Third, it is an election year and legislative time will be short, with interruptions for primaries and campaigning.  Fourth, for those Agriculture Committee Republicans who may assume their party will regain control of the Senate in the November election, there is also a strong incentive to wait a year.

There are also strong countervailing forces to the 2013 scenario.  It is probably safe to say that at this particular point in time, no one really knows under which scenario the farm bill debate will play out.  It may take time for the dust to settle and new strategies to emerge. Stay tuned!

Learn more at: sustainableagriculture.net

-by Kelly Sanderbeck, Development Director & Story Catcher

There seems to be increasing hope for the 2012 Farm Bill to be more transparent and negotiable. And although it’s easy to dwell on the uphill battle we’re fighting for clean and local food, this movement will eventually gain its momentum, with fits and starts and individual steps. The ripples are cascading in ponds throughout the world, and will eventually override the ocean of moneyed interests who want to stomp the voices of the majority.  It’s our time to take daily small steps, to express gratitude for those on the “front lines”, and be here for the collective culmination of our actions over time.

Details are long down the road, but discussion around compensating farmers for contamination by biotech crops is a small win for the rights of farmers. And yet another study has just been released where organic agriculture proves just as productive as chemical agriculture.

PCC Farmland Trust and our farmers received a national feature in Grist  this month– looking at our model of saving farmland, assisting farmers, partnering with environmentalists on climate change and–bottom line–securing local food for our local communities.

Despite the dismal economy, more families are choosing to buy organic than ever before, highlighting priorities on how people choose to spend their limited money.  And when you put all the pieces together–including energy supply and cost, water supply, etc.–national security equals food security. Do we really want to be dependent on China for our food?  “Our food supply isn’t guaranteed, but it’s more likely to provide us with security if we focus more on regional agriculture and less on trade,” says Mark Bittman about local food.  “But there’s something far more important to fear:  that when imports stop we won’t have the food to replace them, nor the farmers to grow that food.”

The recent Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture looks to apply a “triple win” with “interventions that would increase yields [poverty reduction and food security], make yields more resilient in the face of extremes [adaptation], and make the farm a solution to the climate change problem rather than part of the problem [mitigation].”

And as the public moves to explore options other than mainstream banks, so too are farmers looking to private investors and nonprofit banks to invest in them, our “food entrepreneurs“.

“It is my job to make sure the ewes and lambs have the tools they need in order to produce for us.  Sounds simple. But in practice it is time-consuming. I do need luck.  Lots of it. I continue to do it because I love the challenge and the best part for me is that our sheep allow me to be their Shepherd.”   –Jeff Rogers, Aspen Hollow Sheep Station

“Thanks to anyone who’s started a small farm in the last five years, and anyone who’s supported one; anyone who cooks, and especially anyone who teaches others to cook. In these realms, let’s thank FoodCorps, SlowFood USA and Cooking Matters, all doing great work. As are millions of individuals. Bless you.”   –Mark Bittman, NY Times, 11/19/11