creating a local 'good practices' farm directory

[Guest guest]

hi all,

first, apologies to those of you on both lists i'm posting this to. i really

need as many suggestions as possible so am reaching out to as many

like-minded people as i can.

my friend and i will probably be taking over leadership of our regional

price foundation chapter here in southern maine. my biggest short term goal

is to create a directory of local farms that practice sustainable

agriculture, pasture their animals, treat them humanely, etc. if i can

create a directory and help educate people on why they should get their food

from these small local farms and NOT support the factory farms and

monocultural agribusiness conglomerate, i feel i will have done the most

important thing i can as chapter co-president.

at our chapter meeting last night i was reminded how everything about food

is political, and the foundation rightly is involved in the politics of

food. we watched a video (that was not from the price foundation, btw)

called " 'Global Banquet: The Politics of Food. " It was an excellent expose

of how the current trade policies that have been put forth by the government

for the last 4 decades or so, has put in place a system where large

agribusiness and factory farms (now controlled by a handful of mega

corporations) are supported a subsidized (while they destroy our land and

[my own note] fill our bellies with nutrient-deficient foods) and

consequently, small farmers worldwide are being put out of business by being

undercut by imported foods that are cheaper. small farmers from various

locations around the world were interviewed and described how imports (from

these corporations) has put them out of business. many can no longer feed

their own families and migrate to cities for low paying jobs, or end up

panhandling. in one farming community (in peru, i think), the farmers were

told to stop growing beans, which they had lived on for generations and sold

locally to others who lived on them, and told to grow only chili peppers,

because, apparently, there was a market for chili peppers somewhere at that

time (in america, perhaps). so, one farmer wanted to know what he was

supposed to feed his own children, since they couldn't live on chili

peppers...? local activists were also interviewed and were very articulate

at explaining what was happening to the small farms in their countries as a

result of the current trade policies.

as i mentioned, the small farms worldwide, where the farmers know their

soil, know their livestock, harvest and re-plant the best of their seeds

annually, learned from their parents all the intricacies and tricks of the

trade of farming for *nutrition* (as opposed to profit), and many of whom

had/have a sacred connection to the land from which they draw their life,

are being driven to desperation or forced to find other work because they

cannot compete with the lower prices of the imported foods with which they

compete. the documentary was careful to make the point that trade in and of

itself is not bad by any means, only the way it is currently being

practiced. it made the point that, by supporting factory farms and large

agri-businesses in this country, by buying *their* products, *we* are all

responsible for the loss of small sustainable farms worldwide that are being

put out of business by these corporations and the politicians that allow and

perpetuate these policies. what the documentary didn't describe was exactly

what these policies are, although they mentioned some basics. but i'd like

to get a better idea of the specifics.

one really disturbing part of the documentary was the glimpse they showed

into factory farming. they showed a chicken factory farm where chickens were

stacked up in cages, 3 to a cage. the camera focused on one particular cage

where one of the chickens had a bare back stripped of feathers because the

other two kept jumping on him and pecking him. they were all agitated and

obviously the cages were too small for 3 birds. none of them looked very

healthy, of course. then they showed calves in their dark boxes (veal

calves, presumably) then they showed a pig in some small dark pen. a man

with a long stick came in and starting hitting the pig who was trying to run

away and squealing, but he kept slipping and falling. i tend to be sensitive

about these things so i had to close my eyes at this point. when i opened

them again, the pig had fallen and couldn't get up (i think he was ill) and

the farm worker, leaned down, grabbed his ear and dragged him across the

floor by his ear (presumable to be killed...) all the while the pig was

struggling and squealing. i knew conditions in factory farms were pretty

hellacious, but *seeing* some of the conditions/treatment is so much more

powerful than reading about it. i told myself i would never knowingly buy

factory farmed animal products again. i also had a nightmare about the pig

scene, except in my dream, the person was picking up a golden retriever

puppy by the ear (but it was a really big and fat puppy - kind of

pig-shaped). i'm not sure i'll ever forget that pig's misery and fear (and i

imagine what he experienced is probably experienced by many, many other

factory-farmed animals regularly). makes me a bit more sympathetic to

veganism! But, i'm at peace with *humanely* raised and killed animals, which

brings me back to my point and questions.

i wanted to mention the video a) because i think it's worth seeing and it

reminded me of the reasons that i work so hard to get my meat and vegetables

from local farms that raise their animals humanely on a natural diet (or

even semi-natural). over the last year or so i've called a number of farms

and asked them about their animal husbandry, including what they eat, how

they maintain their soil, and things like that. i get most or all of my

animal products from some of these farms. but now what i'd like to do, is do

a more systemic search for area farmers that have husbandry and agricultural

practices that have all or many of these 'good practices' so that i can put

together a directory to make it easier for others to get their foods from

small local farms. the first thing i need, is a list of appropriate

questions to ask the farmers. i could use help with this. what i've been

asking so far is:

livestock

1) what do they eat?

--a) if they eat both grains and grass (which is often the case), what ratio

of grass to grains?

-- in the case of hay, is it hay silage?

--c) with corn, is it corn or corn silage?

2) how do you maintain your soil?

3) are they given antibiotics, hormones, vaccines, dewormers or other drugs?

4) where are they butchered? (one local farm ships to pennsylvania! for

slaughter)

5) can i visit your farm?

any other questions i should ask? and, as important, what are good answers?

i usually look for grass-or forage-fed livestock, with farms that use

compost or manure to maintain soil. but i don't know much about soil

fertility, so this might not be a good answer..?

i'd like to have some sort of rating system where i can evaluate farms based

on all the variables. it's rare that we find local farms that do 100%

pasture feeding with no drugs used whatsoever and are experts in soil

fertility (although i could be wrong on #3, because *i* don't know enough

about soil fertility to know if *they* do!) so it's not like only *perfect*

farms would be in our listing. in fact, most or all of them probably provide

healthier, more nutritious and more humanely raised livestock than *any*

factory farm! but i would like to have some scale to rate them by,

especially for consumers who don't know much about the issues of sustainable

farming, the nutritional benefits of pasture feeding, etc. the rating system

would just be something to get a rough idea of which farms provide the

healthiest and most humane foods. so any help with this would be

appreciated.

secondly, i'm not sure what to ask produce farmers! i generally look for

great-looking, great-tasting organic produce, but i'm not sure what else to

look for in produce, other than soil fertility. but what specific questions

should i ask about the fertility?

any other suggestions on how i can put together a useful directory of local

farms to help people move away from buying foods from the corporate 'farms'

and to support their local small farmer with 'good' husbandry/agricultural

practices?

phew! long post. if you've read this far - you rock!

TIA.

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...

[Guest guest]

Suze, what a wonderful idea. There are so many variables, and having a

system to help people evaluate their animal products would go a long way. A

couple things I might add: the breed of the animals (based on recent

discussions). Also, freshness of things, like eggs. I always hesitate to use

raw eggs because I don't know how long they've been sitting on grocery

shelves.

Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Daphne (in CA)

>

> i'd like to have some sort of rating system where i can evaluate farms

based

> on all the variables. it's rare that we find local farms that do 100%

> pasture feeding with no drugs used whatsoever and are experts in soil

> fertility (although i could be wrong on #3, because *i* don't know enough

> about soil fertility to know if *they* do!) so it's not like only *perfect*

> farms would be in our listing. in fact, most or all of them probably provide

> healthier, more nutritious and more humanely raised livestock than *any*

> factory farm! but i would like to have some scale to rate them by,

> especially for consumers who don't know much about the issues of

sustainable

> farming, the nutritional benefits of pasture feeding, etc. the rating system

> would just be something to get a rough idea of which farms provide the

> healthiest and most humane foods. so any help with this would be

> appreciated.

>

[Guest guest]

>>>>>>>>Suze, what a wonderful idea. There are so many variables, and

having a

system to help people evaluate their animal products would go a long way. A

couple things I might add: the breed of the animals (based on recent

discussions). Also, freshness of things, like eggs. I always hesitate to

use

raw eggs because I don't know how long they've been sitting on grocery

shelves.

********oh hey, thanks Daphne! i forgot about asking about breed. i'll add

that to my list. as far as freshness, i'm thinking customers will be going

directly to the farm to get their food, or get it at local farmer's markets,

but now that you mention it, some of these local foods are available in our

natural foods stores, as well. i don't think the farmers have any control

over freshness once they deliver to the stores though, although i think a

delivery date would be very useful. i also look for some kind of dating

system when i buy eggs from the market.

>>>Let me know if I can do anything to help.

*****well thanks!

Suze Fisher

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg/

mailto:s.fisher22@...

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