----- Original Message ----- From: "Resonant Info" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Biodynamic Food and Farming Discussion" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 8:07 AM Subject: Lloyd Re: Dornachian reactions?
Hi Graeme> - just a few comments - I also have stuff to do! > Yes, his approach is of course better than commercial growers'. What > does his stuff taste like? I wouldn't buy it. My partner and i went > down there to have a look and get a few vegies - but the smell of > urea, the blue nitrogen puffed leaves Given the above comment of yours I find it difficult to believe that he can produce without in crop chemicals? Either that or he has been extremely luck to date! > As to consumers. There are kids in their twenties whose only > experience of "fresh" food is the plastic wrapped chilled and watered > commercially grown stuff in the supermarket. They can't smell, taste > or even touch half of it before they buy it. They never in their > lives picked an apple or dug up a carrot. They don't know what real > food really tastes like, looks like or how it is grown. This is not > just a mistake, but the result of what may as well have been > conditoning/education program that has been going on for years. I really dont know what you do about this, we have been 'consumers' of alternative medicine for twenty years and despite the fact that we dont eat near as much good food as we should, our little family has enjoyed much better health than most, on top of which we have been taught (or learnt) how to look after our selves when things do go off course. We have close family members who we cannot get interested in alternatives, they remain locked in the conventional doctor knows best mindset, it is really frustrating when you see someone you care for being slowly poisoned by a well meaning doctor - long term medication for a simple problem that my naturapath friend could have fixed easily- and I could not do a damn thing about it. Nutritionally we have the grey haired doctor lady yapping on the tv about how there is no proven difference in favour of organic food - very careful to appear not to be biased - (just like the farmers associations when they promote GM) - I get mad every time I see her face - but she is an authority figure - a 'qualified Nutritionist' - and has science to back up those opinions. > Now, starting from that point, how can u expect such people to be > able to judge good food, ask the right questions of the grower, > figure out what is good practise in agriculture? Certification IS a > paternalistic, cotton wool approach. But what practical alternative > is there for the time being. We need something to get us out of this > dead end. I agree! and if certification does nothing else other than guarantee a more or less chemical free source of fruit and vegetables, then its a worthwhile excercise - trouble is its being hi-jacked by the big boys and in another five years or so organic will be shipped all over the world out of season, shrink wrapped, pre packed, ethylene ripened, irradiated, adulterated, --- and how will a consumer know if it started out organic or not? (good article on this in the latest acres USA magazine) > That is a problem > of education and my hope is that certifiers are contributing to the > re-education of the public. > If I am wrong about the education thing, then why are people still > buying supermarket food? For the same reasons they eat at mcdonalds and drive too fast - most people have yet to figure out that they can eat better, live longer and have more time to do the stuff they dont have time for. > > Okay, I do agree about organic certification not conveying much - > even BD certification here is no guarantee of quality. Go and try > some supermarket food - it tastes a LOT better than much of the > organically certified food I can buy at twice the price. Happily I have not found this to be the case, we dont have access to a lot of organic produce but what I have had in the last year or two has been better taste than the chemical version most times. Maybe I have become a more discerning buyer (probably so) > Finally, growers who are anti certification fall into 3 groups, in my > experience: > 1). Those that don't need it, they have their regular customers who > know them and trust them and they are doing fine > 2). Those that think it costs too much/can't afford it/resent the > certifiers taking money > 3) Those who are excluded by the certifiers. Either because their > management just isn't de rigeur. e.g. "Live without Roundup? Are u > joking?" or their practises or skills don't meet the demands of the > certifiers. (Who wants to join a club that wouldn't have you?) > > The first one is fine, but isn't really an argument against > certification. The second doesn't recognise the economic realities > of running a bureaucracy, and the third is where a lot of the > arguments on this list come from, as far as I can tell. Man you dont miss a trick do you! Ok I am a number three. A choice I make on economic grounds - some of my eco farming tactics are not certifiable, I've not tried to change the rules, but while ever NASA continues to certify putrified anearobic feedlot poop as a "Grade A organic input" I believe I am entitled to remain suspicious about the value of certification (quality wise). I guess the point I am trying to make is that returning to a healthy and viable way of production should be our first focus, getting our farm soils, water and atmosphere back into balance the best way we can will bring us to where we can easily choose certification if its of benefit. I see the two as separate. We cannot legislate for good health or common sense or honesty. Cheers Lloyd Charles _______________________________________________ BDNow mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can unsubscribe or change your options at: http://lists.envirolink.org/mailman/listinfo/bdnow
