When the Government Owns a Word: A Myth That Prevents Local Food Economies

When the Government Owns a Word

A Myth that Prevents Local Food Economies

 

Extra Eggs

 

You raise eggs for your family, but find that it is more than you can eat in the summer.  You want to feed your family the best, and you raise your chickens organically.  A friend suggests that you put some at her farmer’s market booth.  You say no, because someone sells organic eggs just two booths down from her and you will have to undervalue them.  Instead, you decide to give a few away, preserve the rest, and butcher the excess chickens.  They are costing you a lot in feed, after all, and you just don’t need that many. 


Seeds and Starts


Your twelve year old is rather proud of her garden efforts this year, and you see a budding entrepreneur as she discusses her roadside stand profits.  You work her through the math of seeds and equipment, explain the losses of things like garden-raiding deer and Freak Storms, and then help her make the sign for the table she’s placing in the front yard.  Sure, she will make some sales and she will learn a few things along the way—but if her organic produce is truly organic and people are haggling over the price (yes, even with a 12 year old) based on the last supermarket sale—you cannot help but feel like your daughter was somehow cheated by the system. 


Organic Carrots


Farmers used to call it organic if they did not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides.  How did you know if there was truth to the claim?  Well, I suppose, in an era where a person’s word meant something, you were just going to have to believe it—or not.  Joel Salatin talks about this time in American Farming in Everything I Want to do is Illegal, and I highly recommend this book to any budding twelve-year-old agro-prenuers , and to the person who enjoys a good glass of milk now and again.  Some well-meaning farmers thought that a label would do some good to hold the value of their truly-organic foods, and so the government regulated a word. 


Imperial Acquisition


Regulating a word, in essence, means owning it.  I remember a conversation more than five years ago with a chicken farmer.  We were standing under the hot southern sun, his accent was thick and his countenance was cheerful.  My children were gleefully shoving some cookies into their mouths one booth over, and this farmer and I just talked.  He said, “My chickens are the ‘O’ word, but I’m not certified.  So they are not—and I am not telling you they are, if you know what I mean…”  It was so cryptic, the message within a message that implied he did not want the part-time “job” of compliance paperwork.  He was not an occupational full-time farmer in the traditional sense of the word.   In fact, he lived in town, he was not even a “homesteader” by some standards.  He was just a guy growing great local food and willing to share it.  As he sacrificed a steamy North Carolina Saturday to casual browsers, he felt compelled to explain his methods and yet acted as though he were under a gag order in the attempt. 


Soul Food Farm


Was he under this myth, the myth that he must be certified to say that his livestock was organic?  Well, I never saw the man’s financial records; but he very well may have been gagged not by the regulation, but by the myth.  The myth is that the casual food grower is bound by a certification process so expensive, so paperwork- driven and cumbersome, that the casual food grower cannot use the word organic under any circumstances unless first submitting to this process. 


Here is the truth:  If your gross sales are less than $5,000 in a single year and you abide by all federal and local regulations, and you follow the USDA organic guidelines . . . then you may use the word “organic!”  Don’t you feel free now?  Go ahead, plant a few extra rows in your garden, build that bigger chicken coop this summer, raise an extra pig   Sign up for a booth at the local farmer’s market. 


You must research your local regulations and you must abide by the USDA Organic policies.  Chances are, you are already abiding by them anyway .  Spend an hour or two reading up, and then run out to your sign with a paintbrush in hand—and write the “O” word on top, you are ORGANIC! 

 

Let me help you get started with your reading:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5099113

 

http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/community-blogs/small-business-matters/producing-and-selling-organic-food-products-f

 

Over the $5,000 mark?

 Did you know there is a program to potentially reimburse you up to 75% of the certification fee? 

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateQ&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPCostSharing&description=Organic%20Cost%20Share%20Program&acct=nopgeninfo

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/

 

Recently, in the GMO debate (“Joe vs. Joel”), Joel Salatin argued vehemently against government control over a word’s definition.  He talked about how we hand over the power when we do that.  He did, I must point out, also recommend the purchase of organic foods as a way to ensure you are not getting the GMO foods of the modern day food system.  Is this an inconsistency?  I would not guess Joel Salatin to be immune to them, but I am not entirely sure that it is an inconsistency.  One might say that on principle we could rebel against the notion of certification; but on the other hand, sometimes we have to work within the system to change it.  I will let you decide. 

Keep Farming,

Chaya


 


Addendum: This comment was posted to our facebook page.  I want to share the reader’s concerns & my response with you.  And if you have comments too, please post them below, we would love to hear them!

Donna said:  It is really more complicated than you think. I have even heard you cannot have a can of oil on your farm to be organic, no pesticides, no fertilizer–and I have heard your soil has to be tested to show there is no fertilizer. Your animals cannot eat anything but “organic” feed, etc. It’s also more that the “word” they own, for instance I cannot sell my eggs off farm without a license.

Our response: So much of that is by local standards. Your local County Extension Agency can give you the most reliable information. Sometimes, selling things off the farm directly falls under the purview of “operating a business” and “business license” requirements…there, the farmer’s market & local CSA will provide an umbrella to do that (and provide the customers, too!). You can indeed use pesticides & fertilizers but they must be ones approved by the Organic certification boards, and you have to provide 3 years’ worth of documentation about what has been applied to the land. As for the USDA regulations on organic livestock production (including feed), they cannot have been given antibiotics or growth hormone, and their feed must be certified organic (which is 95% organic).  See this link: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do…


 

Disclosure: Please ensure that you follow all local, state, and federal laws regarding claims for produce or food products.

 

 

Proviso:

 

Nothing in this blog constitutes medical or legal advice.  You should consult your own physician before making any dietary changes.  Statements in this blog may or may not be congruent with current USDA or FDA guidance.




 

 

 

 

Photos:

All photos, unless otherwise stated, are property of Pantry Paratus.  Feel free to pin or share them in reference to this blog post.  Thank you.

Imperial Acquisition: Stéfan via photopin cc

Soul Food Farm: Christy McDonald via photopin cc

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