Organic Food
steve bonney (sbonney@iquest.net)
Wed, 12 Nov 1997 23:22:19 -0500 (EST)
Certified organic or not, where do any of us gain by building a
reliance on IMPORTED food? In Indiana, a few of us are very committed to
organic food grown locally by people we know or know about through our
networks. We nurture local production, processing and marketing. Having
anything less than that is unsatisfactory to me.
Seventy five percent of my personal food supply is food grown
without antibiotics, hormones, growth promoters, and pesticides by farmers
in Indiana. It is still not local enough for me. I drove a seven hour round
trip to get pastured pork from a small slaughter facility, but I was the
farmer's first direct customer and I wanted him to experience first hand the
advantages of direct marketing. I have driven four hour round trips to get
pastured chickens, because we wanted to ensure that the farmer's entree into
this production had a successful marketing component.
My organic milk still comes from Wisconsin and sometimes Colorado,
but you can be sure that at first opportunity, I will encourage and assist
an Indiana dairy farmer to market organic milk directly.
Last year, I combed the Midwest for organic cranberries to no avail.
Ever since, I have encouraged several farmers to begin production, and I
expect that it may be two or three years before I can purchase local,
organic cranberries, but it will be a happy day when I do.
Imported food does not provide jobs for my neighbors, it harms small
farm income, it does nothing to build community, it exports money, and even
certification does not guarantee that it is chemical free.
Last week, I purchased fresh organic persimmons and blue cornmeal
from a farmer after a meeting that we both attended. And it was a cash
transaction. Now that is the freedom that I will fight for.
Best,
Steve
Steve Bonney
Sustainable Earth, Inc.
Indiana Sustainable Agriculture Association
100 Georgton Ct.
W. Lafayette IN 47906
ph. (765) 463-9366
fax (765) 497-0164
email sbonney@iquest.net
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