I do, however, agree that more should be done for growers in the three year
transitional period. A commodity group for organic and transitional growers should
be started. Maybe a logo (like the "Grown in North Carolina" logo of the tractor
and rows forming the state) could be developed for organic and transitionally
produced commodities saying "Organically produced in North Carolina."
Public education is the key. Our research has shown that organic amendments when
correctly applied yield vegetables as well in the first year as synthetic
fertilizers do, with lower plant disease.
By the way, I live right down the road from Wellspring in Raleigh, and one of the
growers that has been at _every_ organic/sustainable workshop or field day I've
been involved with has his picture on the wall in the Produce Department. His name
is Alex (something, can't remember his last name right now). I do notice a large
amount of North Carolina seasonal produce in Wellspring, such as blueberries,
strawberries, cantaloupes, and watermelons. I also see alot of produce from
out-of-town/overseas! Tomatoes from Holland, and Strawberries from Chile
(especially in winter).
There is definitely a market for these commodities, especially in urban areas.
Rural NC may be less likely to be amenable to organic produce in the local Piggly
Wiggly, especially when placed right next to conventionally/industrially produced
vegetables that cost less simply because of volume produced. (that's my opinion,
not any hard fact or research)
"Lawrence F. London, Jr." wrote:
> Lawrence F. London, Jr. -+|+- Venaura Farm
> london@metalab.unc.edu lflondon@worldnet.att.net
> http://metalab.unc.edu/london, /permaculture, /ecolandtech
> EcoLandTech -+|+- InterGarden -+|+- Permaculture
>
> Offshoot of the WF thread:
>
> > Ditto - same thing in Austin during the Texas Organic Growers annual meeting.
>
> Why isn't there a North Carolina Natural Growers .....
>
> instead of a proliferation of "non-profits" :-) :-) :-)
> claiming to support the market grower and small farmer, that rely on
> grants, donations and membership fees for survival, and, of course, money
> >from the few "organic" farmers in the state willing to shell out a chunk
> of their hard earned income to pay for the 3rd party certification - in
> the face of loss of market share, lowered prices, increased competition
> >from out-of-area companies.
>
> We have needed this for a long time and need it even more now. I wish a
> few of us could figure out a way to get a real organization for North
> Carolina natural growers started. This would accomodate the organic but
> non-certified grower who would rely on building credibility and faith
> amongst consumers who buy from him through csa, local green market,
> farmers market, direct sales, coop or even brokerage service. Those
> wanting organic certification would be accomodated as well.
> Grow locally - sell locally. We are losing growers, farmland and market
> share here in NC and We need to do something real to shore up small
> farming as a lifestyle and way of making a living here and all over the US.
>
> Eric Kindberg came to NC a few years ago and outlined a very effective
> plan for accomplishing much of the above. We need to followup on this
> now.
>
> Why are there so few posts originating from North Carolina in this forum?
>
> Eric:
> -----
> Ascend the stage. Give us an update on your ideas, a plan for the next
> millenium for small growers in NC ....and elsewhere.
-- Russ Bulluck Ph.D. Candidate Department of Plant Pathology North Carolina State University PO Box 7616 Raleigh, NC 27695-7616http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/plantpath/Personnel/Students/webpage.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person, and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil economy that it must be studied. --Sir E. John Russell The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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