> Who is going to pay for the USDA National Organic Program? Is that your
> question? The only people that pay for anything, the consumer. The consumer
> could stop at the certifiers, but they only make their expenses and profits
> from the farmer and handler, and the farm and handling operation applicant
> only make money from the consumer. And the consumers only make money working
> their jobs. The issue is not who pays, but the distribution of net profits.
> If being certified organic does not work out to an increased net profit or
> benefit to an applicant in some way, they should exclude the use of the word
> "organic" from their business plan.
How can you say something like this?
Sal is a farmer running a small operation, not a 1000 acre farm.
You seem to forget that. You're telling him that if he still
can't make a profit after paying all the excessive fees and doing
all the record keeping currently imposed on him he should abandon using
the organic label. This just doesn't fly.
> If one does not have a business plan,
> one probably should limit investing in businesses for which quality
> assurance to the consumer is not necessary or is very simple. Organic
> farming is not
A truly amazing statement. Quality control is what
Sal's organic farm is all about. Don't you remember? he grows ORGANIC
fruit. Piles of fees paid and records kept are not an improvement on
the grower building a relationship with his customers based on trust,
an open relationship that allows the customer to learn enough about the
grower and his operation to make an informed decision to do or not
business with him. Now we have the 3rd party-county-state-federal agencies
telling the public that no grower can be trusted unless he has
_their_ label telling them that he grows organically.
Certification is fine as long as it is made affordable by _all_ farmers,
small and large. Developing a plan for small growers that requires fees
and record keeping that fits the business plans and budgets of such
operations would help achieve this goal.
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Lawrence F. London, Jr. - InterGarden - Venaura Farm
mailto:london@sunSITE.unc.edu - mailto:llondon@bellsouth.net
http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden
http://sunSITE.unc.edu/InterGarden/permaculture.html
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