Biofertilizer Research
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Farmer-Mentor Experience
Steps to Comply with FSMA
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Volume 26 | Number 4
Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service
July | August 2018
Farmers develop model for producing poultry in regenerative system
By Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin
A story without background is like an chickens from the intense, direct sun. uncooked drumstick. You can imagine Chickens are good teachers—we learned everything about it, but you can’t taste that they are jungle fowl purely by it. So, let me put some flavor into what I observing them in this habitat. am about to share with you. I went on to finish elementary and As a child growing up in Guatemala middle school, and then received a scholin a family of 13 kids, one of my daily arship to the National Central School chores was collecting eggs from the of Agriculture next to Guatemala City. few chickens my mother kept around. All of my studies in the next 20 years, Although I was born in the dry corridor from Guatemala to Augsburg University of Eastern Guatemala, we moved to the in Minneapolis to my scientific and northern rainforest when I was 4. Our business management training, pales in internal migration was part of the setcomparison to the mind-blowing knowltling of the northern rainforest region. edge, wisdom and practical experience My father and one of his brothers had I gained during those early years in gone exploring and found unoccupied Guatemala using simple observation and forest areas where we could settle. There listening skills. was no one there to challenge our land In 2017, I wrote In the Shadow of claim—at least not for another 40 years Green Man, where you can find the when the land had to be registered and real flavor behind the work I currently title acquired. do with two amazing organizations, Chickens graze on sprouted grains under a hazelnut canopy at Finca Mirasol in Northfield, Minnesota. The first thing everyone did when Main Street Project and Regeneration Photo by Wil Crombie they resettled in this region was clear International. the old-growth forest, burn it and plant Poultry as Entry Point to Systems Change behavior the way my mother and other women in beans, corn, and squash. We were no exception. our village did. As a child, I was eager to learn A few years later the land would not produce The challenges we face around the diminished everything my mother knew, from how to find anything, and we would leave some of it fallow. nutritional value of the food that dominates today’s In a couple of years, we would clear it again, burn the nests in the thick grass and bushes to how to market are the result of a system engineered not manage the thick layers of leaves dropped on the the debris, and plant. We were not only permafor the purpose of delivering nourishment, but for nently hungry, but also overworked, barefoot, dirt ground below where the chickens roamed, prothe purpose of making money by taking advantage tected by the thick canopy provided by orange and of the fact that people need to eat every day. To poor, and frustrated. Chickens and eggs were gold because they were banana trees, and other food crops. The canopy change this, we need to transition from producing was critical to ensuring that we did not lose the our only available regular source of protein. I’ve food products to delivering nourishment, yet to encounter anyone who understands chicken birds to aerial predators. It also protected the To Regenerative Poultry on page 6
After USDA halts organic check-off proposal, groups look for alternatives By Audrey Alwell
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The USDA terminated the proposed rule for an organic check-off program in May due to a “lack of consensus within the industry in support for the proposed program.” The agency’s unexpected move shocked the program’s proponents, while opponents breathed sighs of relief. The question left on the table now is how to fund the research and promotion of organic that both sides agree are needed. “If there was ever a need for an organic check-off, it is now,” said Laura Batcha, CEO of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), which put
forward the “GRO Organic” proposal. “A check-off would raise critical funds to spend on research to make organic farmers successful, technical services to accelerate the adoption of organic practices, and consumer education and promotion of the organic brand.” The proposed check-off would have allowed the organic sector to “speak to the American consumer in a strong and unified voice,” Batcha added. Clearly disappointed with the USDA’s halt of the proposed rule, which she called “stunning and unacceptable,” Batcha said OTA is beginning to reassess ways forward. “As we face the reality, once again, that government is not willing to keep pace, our hope is that critics will join with us to find creative and constructive solutions on how to advance organic,” she said. Jim Riddle, an organic “elder” and vocal opponent of the GRO Organic proposal, is eager to be part of planning an alternative. He is dusting off a few of the suggestions he made during the initial exploration of an organic check-off program. “I really like the idea of having a ‘checkout checkoff’ where shoppers are asked to round up their grocery totals to the nearest dollar, with the proceeds going to support organic research and promotion,” Riddle said. “Consumers and retailers need to help support organic programs—it can’t all be funded by organic farmers and processors.” The termination of the current check-off proposal doesn’t prevent submissions of new proposals. In fact, the USDA has said the termination “allows USDA to engage fully with all interested
parties to discuss and consider the future needs of the industry.” Riddle said he sees the USDA’s rejection as “an opportunity to reunite the organic community.” The Organic Farmers Association (OFA), which Riddle recently helped found, plans to poll its members on what alternatives they would support. The group’s director, Kate Mendenhall, said she wants to be sure any alternative includes the voice and vision of organic farmers. “Seventy-one percent of all certified organic operations in the U.S. are farmers,” Mendenhall said. “Farmers far outnumber processors, and the majority (over 75%) of these farmers operate small or mid-size farms. They developed this thriving organic market, and they deserve to help lead its future.” Some creative solutions for funding organic research and promotion already exist, at least on a smaller scale. Organic Valley developed Farmers Advocating for Organic—a grant program funded entirely by voluntary contributions from its farmers—when the 2002 Farm Bill provided organic farmers an exemption from national research and promotion orders. The grant program funds research, education, and advocacy projects that “protect and promote the organic industry and the livelihood of organic farmers.” Nonprofits and research institutions may apply for grants from $5,000 to $50,000. Another solution already in development is the Organic Voices initiative, which is a coalition of about 30 companies, including Organic Valley, To Organic Check-Off on page 8