Ann Clark. Equally eloquent - Rachel Carson was an inspiration who had a
tremendous impact.
I think we all learn, the hard way unfortunately, that we can't expect that
the almighty dollar will not sway the weak and ambitious no matter how
righteous they might have been. Bottom line is patronize those who share
your beliefs, if they change then change your buying habits. I say write a
dear John letter to our once beloved Johnny's. Write letters to your
politicians. And, most importanly change your buying habits - money talks,
refuse to purchase Johnny's seeds and products and the products carried by
Johnny's. Those of us that produce organic products need to also inform
our client base - we collectively have the greatest amount of influence by
advocating that GE and GMO are not to be tolerated and that we will not
bend to the call of frankenstein agricultural practices.
Rachel Carson had her greatest impact not on the politicians or on the
petrochemical companies but on the public - she made people aware of the
hazards of pesticides many who raised their voices and altered their
purchasing practices. But, let's realize that she was a voice in the
wilderness although she inspired change we are now producing more potent
and dangerous agro chemicals than ever before. We, those that refuse to
get caught up in the nonsense of unnatural agricultural practices, owe
Rachel Carson a debt of gratitude and we need to do as she did and not
bend. Johnny's, unfortunately, has lost this customer and likely many of
the Johnny's customers who frequent this farm. GE will make its inroads
but it will ultimately lose the battle because the spirit and strength of
Rachel Carson lives on.
Gord Hawkes
Log Cabin Orchard
Osgoode, Ontario
Canada
----------
> From: Sprinkraft@aol.com
> To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: This and That
> Date: Saturday, February 20, 1999 12:22 AM
>
> Yo,
>
> On the Johnnie's-Stokes seed deal- we are probably barking up the wrong
tree.
> My first experience with this kind of commercial irony was expecting
Whole
> Foods Market Inc, ( 1.4 Billion sales annually, publically traded,
Austin, TX,
> HQ) to act like my little local Wheatsville Coop. Reality Check.Whole
Foods
> CEO John Mackey and John Johnston of Johnnies are business people who
mined a
> nice deep niche. They sell organic food and sell seed to organic farmers.
They
> can sell whatever they want.
>
> By such caginess, Johnnie is keeping all his bets on the table. I figure
he is
> not in a position to know all that there is to know about GMOs-but he is
> getting there. He made a tactical error by not commiting. We make an
error by
> thinking he is obligated to commit just because he uses the word
"organic" a
> few times in his catalogue. Don't go hunting strawberries in a parking
lot.
>
> When I enter the sanctified portals of Whole Foods Market, I am usualy
greeted
> by about 15 linear feet of conventional apples selling at 30% higher than
the
> same apples down at Albertson's. Go Mackey, Go. Hype that empty promise
all
> the way to the bank. Don't go hunting Ghandi in a whorehouse.
>
> Figuratively speaking.
>
> If we feel cheated because those who we have given tons of cash to do not
cop
> to the GMO fiasco, drop them. I will try, but we are getting surrounded.
I
> have been burned and abused so many times by Whole Foods that I will not
shop
> there again. I may plead with the Team Leader to let me post an anti-GMO
> broadside at the info booth, but those people are living in Stepford
City.
> Their tactics in store location are legendary. They usually move in and
pick
> off a coop, then fire the union workers. The weird thing is the
management
> says they have empowered all the minions to make decisions, but the
minions
> walk around with rearview mirrors firmly on their heads because someone
higher
> up may be coming down the aisle.
>
> I sold certified organic produce to Whole Foods by freight from 1987-90
and
> directly delivered from 1990-95. Then they said I was too big and had to
get
> in line behind the semi-trucks. Later.
>
> I bought seed from Johnnie's from 1983 to 1997. But now where do I go.
Nobody
> does green commerce like Johnny, except Territorial, Seeds of Change,
Garden
> City, Peace Seeds,Peaceful Valley, FEDCO.....Will they have the
prohibitions
> on GMOs that we expect of Johnny? I think some will. Johnny was
instrumental
> in growing up the small market organic farmer system, offering not just
unique
> seeds for the gourmet trade but 5 gallon sprayers and Earthway seeders
and
> Coleman hoes. I wrote last year that his market may implode if he don't
do
> right. We'll see.
>
> Consolidation is king in this trade. The players are becoming fewer and
fewer.
> Asgrow? That's spelled, MONSANTO, now. And remember, just because it
comes in
> a pack from Pure As The Driven Snow, Inc, that doesn't mean they didn't
dip
> the seed out of some barrel from Valmorin, Peto, Takii or Sakata, all of
whom
> are GMOing the devil out of the genomes. End of rant.
>
> If you want more videos, use "bullfrog films" as a search term on the
engine.
> Also, write to fred@acresusa.com and ask Fred Walters to send you his
"Video
> Theater" listing of videos to buy. ACRES runs a nonstop theater at our
> conferences, and the suppliers contact info is on the Menu. And if you
want
> hard-hittin' organic advocacy and straight shootin' antiGMO info
delivered to
> your home, susbcribe. End of advertisment.
>
> How about an organic farmer seed cooperative? Grown for and sown by
organic
> farmers. Farmers Cooperative Genome Project and OFMA are on the trail of
that
> one, along with many other orgs.
>
> Steve Sprinkel
> Headed to Ames, Iowa
>
>
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail