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Regional Farm & Food Project September 2007 News If harvest season is the high point of your year, these 11 news stories should interest you! 11 news stories...
+ C A L E N D A R & C L A S S I F I E D S * * * 1. Indian Ladder Farms Hosts Local Food Festival Sept 16 Celebrate the harvest season at the Capital District's fabulous Indian Ladder Farms' Local Food Festival on Sunday, September 16th, 2007, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, featuring delicious food grown and produced in the greater Albany area. Chocolatiers, cheese makers, brewers, beekeepers, farmers, vintners and more will be offering samples of their goods and will have merchandise for sale. Bring the whole family! Laura Ten Eyck, fourth generation orchardist at Indian Ladder Farms, says “We’re looking forward to musicians performing at the Festival. We also have chefs doing cooking demonstrations and artisans, such as potters and weavers, plying their craft.” Alpacas and llamas, horse-drawn carriage rides, pony-rides, farm animals, and pick-your-own apples will be part of the fun. The event is co-sponsored by the Regional Farm and Food Project. For more information and directions to the farm, check out our website at www.indianladderfarms.com or call (518) 765-2956. 2. Annual 100 Mile Diet Challenge Launched in Albany It's time for the 2nd Annual 100 Mile Diet Challenge. Already, 45 people have signed up for the Challenge, an adventurous group! We will be eating only food grown or raised within 100 miles of the Capital District for the month of September, making exceptions for anything we can't live without (tea, coffee, chocolate...). Last year, 76 people signed up for the Challenge and we're hoping for an even bigger response this year. If you think eating fresh healthy food, conserving energy, supporting the local economy and preserving open space is important, then eating locally grown food is a simple way to show your support. Check out the Times Union Eat Local blog (http://blogs.timesunion.com/eatlocal/) where we'll be posting our trials and tribulations, joys and discoveries, while on the 100 Mile Diet. SAVE THE DATE: 100-Mile Diet Celebration Dinner October 8th at the Pump Station in Albany! Come join us at http://100milechallenge.com! 3. Tell the USDA What You Think of Pharma Crops USDA 's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement for GMO Regulation: AHPIS will take comments on the Draft EIS until September 11, 2007. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) offers a range of options on ten issues central to the new rules. One of the most important issues in the draft EIS (Issue 4) discusses the regulation of "pharma" crops engineered to produce pharmaceutical and industrial chemicals in food crops. Despite its demonstrated inability to adequately protect the food supply from contamination in the past, the USDA's preferred option for future pharma/industrial crop regulation would essentially maintain the status quo. Instead, USDA should adopt "Alternative 4 for Issue 4", which would ban outdoor production of "pharma" food crops. For a more in-depth analysis of the risks to the food supply from outdoor production of pharma/industrial food crops, see the UCS policy paper and supporting documents: www.ProtectOurFood.org. For those without the time or inclination to do formal comments, you may simply send a form letter via: http://ucsaction.org/campaign/8_24_07_pharma_crops. You may submit your comments addressing the Draft EIS by either of the following 2 methods:
Also, please spread the word on this: GM ALFALFA HOTLINE Conventional and organic farmers who raise or plan to raise alfalfa can now call a toll-free number at the USDA to determine if nearby fields are planted with GM alfalfa. The USDA is providing a list of states and counties in which Roundup Ready alfalfa is grown as part of a court order which vacated USDA's 2005 decision to deregulate RR alfalfa. The toll-free line can be accessed by calling 1-866-724-6408. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/alfalfa.shtml 4. Farm Aid Caravan Travels Across New York FARM AID SHOWCASES FAMILY FARM AGRICULTURE AND GOOD FOOD ACROSS NEW YORK Farm Aid’s Upstate-Downstate Food and Farm Caravan to tour NY farms Beginning at the great New York State Fair in Syracuse and culminating with its annual benefit concert, Farm Aid’s Upstate–Downstate Food and Farm Caravan will crisscross the state visiting farms in the Rochester, Ithaca, Albany and the Hudson Valley areas to showcase the latest innovations on family farms across New York. The caravan will highlight cutting-edge community efforts and state-supported programs that strengthen the state’s agriculture and help more people gain access to good food grown on family farms. The caravan will gather fresh farm food along the way to feed the artists and crew at Farm Aid’s first New York concert event, Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival at Randall’s Island in New York City on Sunday, September 9. Tickets for Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling (212) 307-7171, (631) 888-9000 or (203) 624-0033. Ticket prices are $52 for general admission, $102 for reserved seats and $302 for VIP reserved seats. The VIP package includes catering in an exclusive area and other amenities. Farm Aid Upstate – Downstate Food and Farm Caravan Schedule of Events: Sept. 3 — Caravan Kick-Off
Sept. 4 — Building a Local, Sustainable Food System for All
Sept. 5 — The Family Farm Food Chain
Sept. 6 — Growing New Markets for New York Farmers
Sept. 7 — Community Efforts to Strengthen Local
The following groups are participating in Farm Aid 2007: A HOMEGROWN Festival: NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Capital District Community Gardens, City Harvest, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, NY Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups, Regional Farm & Food Project, Farmers Market Federation of New York, Foodlink, NY Farm Link, NY Farm Net, The Glynwood Center, Hunger Action Network of New York, Cornell Small Farms Program, New York Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaign, A. Ooms and Sons, Kingbird Farm, Chatham Keep Farming, MacDonald Farm, Cornell University Farm to School Program, Evans Creamery, Hawthorne Valley Farm, Norwich Meadows Farm, Rochester Public Market, Sustainable Tompkins and Watershed Agricultural Council. Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant family-farm centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family-farmed food. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the current system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms. 5. A Big Harvest Isn't Necessarily Better by Jennifer Wilkins Farmers harvest more bushels of corn, pecks of apples and tons of broccoli from an acre of land today than they thought possible decades ago. But impressive yield increases come at a price: less nutritious crops. This is the main conclusion of a report due out this week from The Organic Center, "Still No Free Lunch: Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply Suffers at the Hand of Higher Yields" And if you think organic foods are more nutritious, you just might be right. Thanks to widespread use of agricultural inputs -- from fertilizer to water, pesticides, sophisticated machinery and diesel fuel -- per acre yield of most major grains, fruits and vegetables doubled or tripled since the 1950s. As yield increased, however, essential nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, selenium, have undergone double-digit percentage drops in many foods. In some foods, there is less nutrition per serving or calorie consumed today. Report author Brian Halweil, Worldwatch Institute senior researcher and Organic Center advisory board member, likens this decline to inflation: "We have more food, but it's worth less in terms of nutritional value." With little notice among consumers, policymakers or scientists, Halweil notes, "American agriculture's single-minded focus on increasing yields created a blind spot where incremental erosion in the nutritional quality of our food has occurred." The report suggests a two-fold reason: the particular and limited varieties chosen by farmers, and production practices. Several studies cited used side-by-side comparisons of contemporary plant varieties with historic ones, using similar production practices and levels of inputs, like nitrogen fertilizer. These studies found that newer varieties contain 10 to 25 percent less iron, zinc, protein, calcium, vitamin C and other nutrients. Another study in the report shows that tomato varieties chosen for their greater size and weight at harvest time, have lower concentrations of vitamin C, levels of lycopene (a naturally occurring anti-cancer phytochemical), and beta-carotene. Research on the impact of agricultural practices on nutrient content can show benefits from organic methods. "Although organic farming results in lower yields in many cases," the report states, "studies show that it also tends to produce crops with higher concentrations of micronutrients, phytochemicals, and other health-promoting compounds. The increases range from a few percent to sometimes 20 percent or more for certain minerals, and on average, about 30 percent in the case of antioxidants." In a 10-year study, researchers at University of California in Davis compared levels of flavonoids -- a class of antioxidants that, when consumed in foods, lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers -- in organic versus conventionally grown tomatoes. They found flavonoids levels were 79 to 97 percent higher in organic tomatoes. While this is one vegetable, it's important: The only vegetable Americans eat more of is potatoes. This apparent nutritional superiority may stem from healthier soils often found in organic systems. According to Chuck Benbrook, chief scientist at The Organic Center, "Organic sources of soil nutrients, like manure or cover crops, offer more balanced mixtures of nutrients, and tend to release nutrients more gradually. Plants develop more robust root systems that more aggressively absorb nutrients from the soil, and produce crops with higher concentrations of valuable nutrients and phytochemicals." The report concedes, "Nutritional advantages will vary depending on the crop, soil quality, and growing conditions, and there will be some cases where conventional crops have higher nutritional quality than nearby organic crops." During this harvest season, spend a portion of your food budget on locally grown organic foods. Add your voice to groups calling for increased funding in the 2007 Farm Bill for research into organic agriculture and other agricultural innovations that will enhance nutritional quality while maintaining yields. In short let's encourage policy-makers to develop policies that make nutrition and public health a top priority for agriculture. To read the report, go to http://www. organic-center.org. Jennifer Wilkins studies the connection between health and the food and agriculture system in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. Her e-mail address is jlw15@cornell.edu. All Times Union materials copyright 1996-2007, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany, N.Y. 6. Apple vs. Snack Cake Battle to the Death for the Farm Bill For your amusement, a 3-minute video comedy about the Farm Bill battle between fresh whole foods and junk food: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEarhyioYI For more information: http://foodbattle.org/ 7. Albany Times Union "Eat Local" Blog There's a feast waiting in our backyards, in the colorful farms along the gray two-lanes we travel on weekend country drives. From rich goat's milk cheeses to the bounty of fruits and vegetables grown in fertile Capital Region soils, this is the place to talk about supporting our farming neighbors and eating close to home. Jennifer Gish, an Albany Times Union writer who has written many articles on local farms and local food, has started a blog where people can read and post publicly: http://blogs.timesunion.com/eatlocal/. 8. The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet & What We Can Do to Replace Them A book by Susan Allport A nutritional whodunit that takes readers from Greenland to Africa to Israel, The Queen of Fats gives a fascinating account of how we have become deficient in a nutrient that is essential for good health: the fatty acids known as omega-3s. Writing with intelligence and passion, Susan Allport tells the story of these vital fats, which are abundant in greens and fish, among other foods. She describes how scientists came to understand the role of omega-3s in our diet, why commercial processing has removed them from the food we eat, and what the tremendous consequences have been for our health. In many Western countries, epidemics of inflammatory diseases and metabolic disorders have been traced to omega-3 deficiencies. The Queen of Fats provides information for every consumer who wants to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and obesity and to improve brain function and overall health. This important and compelling investigation into the discovery, science, and politics of omega-3s will transform our thinking about what we should be eating.
"I recommend this book highly to anyone who works in the oilseed industry, as well as to medical professionals and government officials who deal with any aspect of the complex worlds of agricultural economics and health care." George Liepa, professor of nutrition at Eastern Michigan Univeristy, Inform Magazine "The Queens of Fats is a fascinating nutritional detective story delivering a big surprise: how one of the most important changes to the diet wrought by industrialization of food went unnoticed. But if Allport is right, the disappearance of omega-3s from the Western diet is the key to understanding why that diet is making us so sick."--Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals "A riveting tale of omega-3s and their role in thwarting chronic disease, and a timely warning to the world about the imbalance of essential fats in our food supply. I reveled in the twists and turns of nutrition history as Allport uncovers the ways food processing carries hefty health risks, as well as benefits."- Sharron Dalton, professor of nutrition in New York University's Department of Nutrition and Food Studies 9. Real Estate Developer Receives Subsidies Bigger than Entire Federal Budget for Organic Agriculture The Feed: How to Add Oomph to ‘Organic’ THE organic industry has gone wild in the last decade, but you wouldn’t know it at the Department of Agriculture. Despite year after year of double-digit growth, organics receive a pittance in financing and staff attention at the department, which is responsible for writing regulations about organics and making sure that they are upheld. The National Organic Program, which regulates the industry, has just nine staff members and an annual budget of $1.5 million. A Florida real estate developer named Maurice Wilder received more than that in farm subsidies in 2005, some $1,754,916, to be exact, according to a subsidy database maintained by the Environmental Working Group. Other parts of the Department of Agriculture spend roughly $28 million or so a year on organic research, data collection and farmer assistance. It may sound significant, but the department spent far more than that, $37 million, subsidizing farmers who grew dry peas in 2005. (The farm value of dry peas is about $83 million a year. Consumers spend more than $14 billion a year on organic food, up from $3.6 billion in 1997.) It’s not entirely surprising that organics are such a low priority at the department and in Congress. Both the agency and farm-state members of Congress are reliable cheerleaders for industrialized agriculture, and Big Ag has often viewed organics with suspicion, if not outright disdain. But the Department of Agriculture is crucial to the future success of organics, which depends on the credibility of the U.S.D.A. organic seal. If you are shelling out $6 for a gallon of organic milk, you deserve to feel confident that the cows that produced the milk weren’t shot full of growth hormones or fed soybeans sprayed with pesticide. Lately, however, the credibility of organic products has been under nearly constant attack. Hoping to cash in on the organic trend, all sorts of entrepreneurs, overseas farmers and conventional food companies have jumped into the business and are pushing the definitions of organic into new and questionable territory. What began as a label for produce and dairy products is now being slapped on frozen dinners and macaroni and cheese, and the National Organic Program is constantly being asked to define standards for other commodities like fish and yeast. As organic processed foods have proliferated, companies have pushed the Department of Agriculture to approve the use of non-organic ingredients like food colorings, hops and sausage casings. Huge organic dairies have been built to replicate the low-cost methods of conventional factory farms, but in doing so, some have skirted an organic rule that requires that cows have access to pasture. Most important, perhaps, as demand for organic foods has outstripped supply, an increasing amount is being imported from overseas, particularly China, where regulatory oversight clearly has some problems. No one knows exactly how many organic products are being imported to the United States because, amazingly, the federal government doesn’t keep track. But everyone agrees that the amount is increasing. The National Organic Program doesn’t try to verify the authenticity of organics by itself, but instead relies on a network of third-party certifiers who are required to inspect organic farms and food companies and submit periodic reports. That still leaves the organic program’s staff with plenty to do. It must write new regulations and shepherd them through the bureaucratic maze at the Department of Agriculture, work with the organic advisory board, review the accreditation of certifiers and help to investigate complaints. With just nine employees, one of whom performs clerical duties, the National Organic Program would be lucky to effectively oversee the organic industry in Vermont, let alone the rest of the world. “It’s a joke,” said George L. Siemon, who is chief executive of Organic Valley, a Wisconsin-based farmers’ cooperative, and is a former member of the National Organic Standards Board, an advisory board for the National Organic Program. “This is a pitiful amount of money, and we are running into all kinds of trouble.” Mr. Siemon cited a rash of bad publicity about organics that has suggested that companies were trying to bend the organic rules. One problem with such a small staff, he said, is that regulations take years to complete because so much work is stacked up. New pasture requirements for livestock, for instance, have been languishing for years. As for the increase in organic imports from China, Mr. Siemon said: “Maybe everything is great and maybe it’s not. But it would be great if the U.S.D.A. had done a lot more work over there to find out what’s going on.” Caren Wilcox, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, an industry group, agreed that the National Organic Program needed far more funding. Noting the double-digit growth of organics in the United States, Ms. Wilcox said in an e-mail message, “We need to be sure that N.O.P.’s resources are sufficient to keep up with that growth.” She said in an interview that she felt “comfortable with their work on oversight, but I would feel more comfortable if they weren’t so stretched. They definitely need more.” Kenneth C. Clayton, an associate administrator at the Department of Agriculture who oversees the National Organic Program, declined to comment specifically on the budget. But, he said: “Any additional resources we can get will be helpful. We have lots of work to do.” The Bush administration’s proposed budget for 2008 calls for a major increase in funds for the National Organic Program, pushing its overall budget to about $2.7 million. The House version of the farm bill, passed late last month, authorizes more than $60 million a year in funding for various organic programs, including research and help for farmers who convert to organic methods. Realistically, though, there’s little chance that $60 million will be spent each year because only a fraction of the money is mandatory spending. Whether organic foods are healthier than conventional products is open to debate. But that doesn’t mean Congress should give short shrift to research and regulation of organics. The growing popularity of organic products helps small farmers stay in business. They’re also better for the environment and help ease farmers away from crops that require government subsidies. Besides, voters like organic food better than dry peas. http://www.nytimes.com 10. USDA Supports the Industrialization of Almond Farms Under pressure from industrial agriculture lobbyists, the USDA has quietly approved a new regulation that will effectively end distribution of raw almonds, while putting many family farmers out of business. The rule requires pasteurization of almonds, including organic, yet allows those same almonds to continue to be labeled as "raw". Nutritionists point out that raw, organic almonds are far superior, in terms of nutrition, than pasteurized almonds. One of the FDA-recommended pasteurization methods requires the use of propylene oxide, which is classified as a "possible human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and is banned in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. Organic and family-scale almond farmers are protesting the proposed rule, saying it will effectively put them out of business, since the minimum price for the pasteurization equipment is $500,000. The USDA claims pasteurization is necessary, since there have been two food contamination incidents with raw almonds since 2001. But both of these incidents, in fact, were the result of blatant mismanagement on large industrial-scale almond farms. Take action now to demand that the FDA re-open this proposed rule to public comments: http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5227.cfm 11. Fairy Barn Mother Lets Farmers Go on Vacation A Baby Sitter For The Herd EAST HADDAM - The woman who calls herself the Fairy Barnmother wakes at dawn, slips into well-worn dungarees and mud-caked boots and hops aboard her new pickup truck to visit the farm animals. But unlike most farmers, she does not own many of the animals that she will feed, clean and comfort. Cathy Kerkes is a professional critter sitter, someone who travels from barn to barn to care for other people's livestock and pets. "I've got animals of my own, so I know how hard it can be," Kerkes said as she tossed hay bales to sheep on a recent Saturday morning. "You may love them, you may even need them to pay your bills, but animals can really tie you down. That's where I come in." This 38-year-old animal lover fills a niche that falls somewhere between pet-sitting, which usually involves feeding and cleaning up after someone's pets, and farm-sitting, in which a farmer works someone else's fields or animals while they are away or sick. Kerkes launched her business in 2005 as a sideline to a full-time job at a local feed store. She started by taking care of friends' horses, then expanded to an assortment of other animals, ranging from a customer's flock of wild birds to sheep, chickens and goats. Connecticut is flooded with pet sitters eager to take a bite out of the national $2.9 billion-a-year pet grooming and boarding industry, but according to the state Department of Agriculture, Connecticut has no professional farm sitters. The owners of Connecticut's large farms have employees who manage the operation when they are sick or traveling, while small and mid-size farmers rely on family and neighbors or just don't go anywhere at all, said Steve Reviczky, executive director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau, a nongovernmental association of farmers. "I know some dairy farmers who've never taken a vacation," said Reviczky, the owner of a small dairy farm. "If you grow crops, maybe you take a trip in winter, but people who raise animals are on call 24 hours a day, every day. That's farm life." In years past, farmers could count on their families or neighbors to care for their crops or herds when they could not, but in today's world, a farmer is much less likely to have a relative, friend or neighbor who even knows how to run a farm, Reviczky said. Preston dairy farmers Gerry and Deborah Grabarek will be taking their first real vacation together in years this fall, but they will have to sell off their milking herd to do it. Nobody is left around town who knows how to run a dairy farm, Deborah said. Most farming families are willing to sacrifice some freedoms, but some crumble under the seemingly unending workload. Ellen Greist is filing for divorce from her husband, who owns an organic farm in North Haven that never allowed the couple time to get away. "He doesn't leave the farm," Greist said by e-mail. "However, I did." Kerkes has a dozen regular customers who use her services while they travel for work on scheduled weekends away, which is about all Kerkes can handle. Another two dozen customers use Kerkes during their annual vacations. On a recent weekend, Carol Martin hired Kerkes to watch her sheep while she attended a sheep-shearing convention. Martin spins the thick wool from these animals into a fine yarn that she turns into handmade sweaters and sells. "I've got to go to trade shows to support my business, but the sheep are my business, so I have to know I'm leaving them in good hands," Martin said. "Plus, when you work from home it can take over your life if you let it. Cathy lets me get away sometimes." Kerkes has no official critter-sitting credentials, just her own experience growing up in a house full of animals, a few years spent working at a dog kennel, and what she has picked up from caring for her own animals, which now number about 20. Her clients say Kerkes knows when a horse is lonely and needs to listen to local country radio, when it is suffering from a mild allergic reaction and needs a common over-the-counter drug, or when she should call a vet for immediate attention. She also pays attention to the animals' individual needs, much as an owner would. She knows, for example, that the two cute-as-pie ponies at Amy Napolitano's Just-Mi-Farm in East Haddam will bully Onyx, the big horse in the next stall, and steal his food if she lets them. "I could hire a kid to throw grain and drop hay for my horses, but are they going to know that they need to protect my rescue horse, even though he's twice the size of the little ponies?" Napolitano asked. "Cathy's got a real way with animals." Kerkes said she has known since childhood that she would grow up to work with animals. The idea for this job came when she realized how difficult it was to find somebody to care for her own animals when her family wanted to take a vacation. So she spread the word among local horse people that she would be willing to watch their animals for a small fee, usually about $20 a day. Business took off fast, and soon her husband, Michael, was kicking around business names for his wife's sideline job. He thought up the Fairy Barnmother idea, which fits Kerkes, who is a charming mixture of little-girl giggles and hard-core country. On this day she's dressed in a shirt and hat adorned with a winged horse sporting a dress, barn boots and a magic wand. "For me, it's more than a business, it's a little girl's wish come true," Kerkes said. To prove her point, she slides up her pants leg and shows off a tattoo of the fairy horse on her ankle. "I mean, I am the Fairy Barnmother, down to the bone. It's who I am." http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-barnmother0826.artaug26,0,1060289.story + C A L E N D A R & C L A S S I F I E D S
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