Bounty!

Apples, blueberries (a fortune but worth it!), potatoes, green beans, beets, broccoli, lettuce, rice, and bread... all local, all ethical. Good eats!

Policy Brief One: Science and Technology

The first policy brief I wrote for my Food Policy class... topic was "Science and Technology". Just wrote the second, "Food Problems in a Developing Country" about collective action in Boliva, will post it when I get it back.

GMOs: Discovering the Risk

In the last few decades, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have taken the world by storm. GMOs have been hailed as the solution to world hunger. The truth of the matter is we just don’t know enough about the effects of GE products. Too many questions have been left unanswered, and the profit-driven producers of these agricultural products use incorrect claims to make it seem as if GE is the only answer, and that the world population needs GMOs. While they are about different aspects of GMOs, all of the articles examined argue that not enough is known about the long-term negative effects these crops could have on our society and ecosystems. Genetic pollution and genetic drift are a great example of virtually uncontrollable results of using GMOs.

Most arguments in favor of using genetically engineered plants are based on claims that they will increase agricultural productivity, increase food security, and reduce the use of chemical inputs (Altieri and Rosset, 155). However, it has generally been found that current GM crops are not designed with poor small farmers in mind and fail to increase yields. Altieri and Rosset write that there are risks involved, many yet undiscovered. They also believe that there are better “agro-ecological alternatives” available. The article cites the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGAIR) as assuming that “hunger is due to a gap between food production and human population density or growth rate”, which Altieri and Rosset say is simply not so. The first of their ten reasons biotechnology is not the answer is that there is enough food available in the world to feed each person 4.3 pounds a day (Altieri and Rosset, 156).

A breakdown of their ten reasons “Why Biotechnology Will Not Ensure Food Security, Protect the Environment and Reduce Poverty in the Developing World”:

1) Enough food is available to feed 4.3 lbs/person/day

2) Innovations are profit-driven rather than need-driven

3) Increased price of inputs gives slower returns to the farmer

4) Recent trials have shown GE seeds do not increase yield of crops

5) Potential risks

-allergens/toxins

-alter metabolisms

-reduce nutritional quality/value

6) Transgenic crops follow the pesticide paradigm

7) Not enough testing done

8) Unanswered ecological questions

9) Private sector largely in charge

10) Much of the food can be produced by small local farmers

Their seventh and eighth reasons point to the fact that there is simply not enough known about these products to warrant they are safe for use. Agribusiness lobbyists have pushed the issue; “In the United States, private sector pressure led the White House to decree ‘no substantial difference’ between altered and normal seeds, thus evading normal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing… the FDA’s own scientists do not agree with this determination” (Altieri and Rosset, 157). Also, “the funds for research on environmental risk assessment are very limited” (Altieri and Rosset, 158).

David Moeller makes a different but related argument in his article “GMO Liability Threats for Farmers: Legal Issues Surrounding the Planting of Genetically Modified Crops”. Moeller focuses on the legal risks of using or not using GMOs, especially considering intellectual property (IP) rights and patenting of genes by companies like Monsanto.

Non-GMO growers can take action against their neighbors for genetic drift and pollution. Moeller explains, “The tort claim of trespass to land arises when someone intentionally enters another person’s land and causes damage. This claim could arise in a GMO context if a farmer and/or seed company knew that genetic traits from a GMO crop would enter a neighbor’s property and genetic drift in fact occurs, causing harm to the neighbor’s crop. The farmer and/or seed company could then be liable for any resulting harms caused by the GMO crop” (Moeller, 3).

On the other hand, farmers who do use GMO seed could be targeted for IP infringement. Monsanto, for example, has brought suits against farmers in a number of states for genetic drift to other farms. Moeller explains the hardship to farmers in these situations, since “Whether or not farmers violated Monsanto’s intellectual property rights, the still must raise a defense in court ringing up thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees” (Moeller, 6).

Farmers are only just beginning to realize the full scope of the complex legal issues that arise from GMOs, whether or not they choose to plant them. Clearly genetic drift is a large problem when using this technology, both to the legal rights of farmers and to the ecosystem outside of agriculture.

The Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) focused on Agricultural Biotechnology in The State of Food and Agriculture 2003-2004. Scientists agree that gene flow happens, but don’t agree on whether or not it matters. The report argues, “management and genetic methods are being developed to minimize the possibility of gene flow”, and concedes that “The complete isolation of crops grown on a commercial scale, either GM or non-GM, is not currently practical although gene flow can be minimized…” (FAO, “Gene Flow”). The only management strategies suggested in the report are avoiding planting of transgenic crops in “centres of biodiversity”, planting buffer zones of non-GM crop around the perimeters, and altering the flowering periods to avoid cross-pollination (FAO, “Gene Flow”). While these ideas are worthwhile, the question then follows: who will make sure that farmers take these precautions?

These three articles all focus on different aspects of GM technology, but all agree that there are potential risks to all parties involved: the farmer, the farm, and the environment as a whole. While I think there are several compelling arguments against GMOs, gene pollution and the risks to biodiversity and farmers’ rights stand out. With so little research done about long-term effects of this technology, scientists cannot say with any substantial degree of certainty that GM crops are safe. While there are ways to limit the adverse effects of GMOs on surrounding areas, there is no regulatory body to oversee their implementation or to educate farmers on how to avoid legal recourse.

Works Cited

Altieri, Miguel A., and Peter Rosset. "Ten Reasons Why Biotechnology Will Not Ensure Food Security, Protect the Environment and Reduce Poverty in the Developing World." AgBioForum 2.3&4 (1999): 155-62. Web. .

Moeller, David R. GMO Liability Threats for Farmers: Legal Issues Surrounding the Planting of Genetically Modified Crops. Tech. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Nov. 2001. Web. .

The State of Food and Agriculture 2003-04 [agricultural Biotechnology : Meeting the Needs of the Poor]. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2004. Web. .

Lots going on!

ALRIGHT. Here are some important crunchy developments here on my campus and in my life.

In no particular order

-Last night I went to a screening of Eating Alaska, and excellent non-bummer of a film about trying to eat locally in a place like Sitka, Alaska. Ellen Frankenstein, the filmmaker, did some Q&A after and is absolutely delightful. Earlier the morning, I got to see a lecture by her commercial fisherman husband, Spencer. He was really amazing as well- he has spent about a year of his life underwater! My food policy professor is close friends with them and it was great to see their enthusiasm that we were all interested in making a food change on campus.

-KFC (Knox Food Coalition) has refocused and we are doing some cool things. We are currently doing precedent research on other schools like us and have been organizing a series of talks called "Improve Your Food IQ!". So far they have been pretty successful!

-It's Earth Week! Lots of things going on around campus this whole week. I'm exciting to be playing a set at the festival on Saturday. Local farmers are also going to do a mini-market on campus, with the full farmers market to start up for the year within walking distance of cmpus in a few weeks!

-Food Policy class has been awesome. We just finished reading The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin. Excellent book. I thought I knew everything about Monsanto, but there was more to learn! Worth a read, and there is also a documentary companion, which I have yet to see.

-We've been writing policy briefs, which I will be posting. We have to write 5 over the course of the term. My first one is not very well written, so bear with me. But they are improving as I get feedback from my professor. Hopefully you will learn something by reading them (or even skimming them!).

FUN RANDOM THINGS

-I am now singing tenor in my a cappella group. It's a lot of fun. We didn't have enough tenors so our student director and I both joined up with the guys. Pretty fun to try something new.

- I am ADDICTED to this card game, which is known by several names, some offensive. But it is a fun game!

The weather has been rotten, so no good photos to share right now.

Young Farmers Conference... AND MORE!!!

Oh my, so many adventures I haven't blogged in over a week cause I've been so overwhelmed by all the awesome stuff I've been doing! First was last Thursday and Friday- the Young Farmers Conference at Stone Barns!!! An older crowd than myself (the 25-35 range...) which was fun because I got to meet a bunch of people who are a few years ahead of me in the game. The first morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed- EVERYONE seemed to know EVERYONE! But then I found Dina, who runs The Hickories, where I interned my senior year of high school. We had even signed up for the same first workshop. Relief! She introduced me to a bunch of people and it was fun to catch up with her.

Young Farmers socializing in the hay barn!

I went to a bunch of awesome workshops, ranging from specialty crop production to farm-to-school initiatives. It got me so pumped about all the possibilities of farming! Got lots of good resources and ideas!

The greenhouse is GREEN!

The greenhouse was in full swing, with greens and chard and all sorts of green things! Beautiful to see!

Packing up christmas trees with Dad over the weekend at the Bit of Earth

Then on to Vermont to cut down a bunch of balsams. Good hard work!

Food Matters!

Last night I went to a meeting at The Center to plan a "protest" of a Tea Party Rally being held in Galesburg on Thursday. We, a group of community members and Knox students, are going to go and have thoughtful dialogue with the people at the rally. And some people might dress as members of the "Mad" Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland....

It made me feel empowered to be involved in the community outside the "Knox Bubble". But the evening only got better! It turns out they show movies at The Center most Sunday nights, and since I already had my homework done, I decided to stay. Good choice!!! The movie was Food Matters, and awesome documentary about nutrition and the "sickness" industry. Good things that often get pushed aside. The trailer makes it seem more sinister than necessary, but the movie is definitely worth a watch. I often think of "alternative healing" as a bunch of hippie kooks, but the people in this movie are just talking about eating well and eating what our bodies really want and need to stay healthy and heal themselves. It all makes a lot of sense, but as they say, health isn't as profitable as sickness.

Afterwards I was talking with a few people, including the president of our eco-club on campus. We met a Galesburg resident who has some training in bike repair and would love to teach some Knox students! So now we're working on coming up with a meeting time to start a bike repair group! Good stuff.

Enough activism, food politics, and bike talk to get me through the week!

Vandana Shiva

List of food/nature heroes: Vandana Shiva, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, the list could go on and on. Well, last night, I got to meet one of them- Vandana Shiva! She is an amazing ecofeminist from India who has done absolutely wonderful work and stood up against forces like Monsanto. If I turn out anything like her, I would be ecstatic!
Yesterday I got an email that she was speaking at Western Illinois University and that a group of students and professors were going if people wanted to join. So my friend Emelye and I changed our days schedules inside out and went! We sat 5th row in a huuuuuge lecture hall full of semi-apathetic students and were riveted. She is eloquent and knows SO much about food politics and ACTUAL solutions. She and her organizations have sued Monsanto to keep some GMO varieties out of India, started lots of seed banks to protect biodiversity of India's food crops from extinction, and worked towards a new world food future.
After she spoke, she did a question and answer session. Plenty of questions were obvious ones from people who are somewhat food ignorant (and luckily their eyes were being opened- one man asked if organic meant no pesticides were being used!). Some were pretty excellent. After getting my courage up and literally being pushed by some friends, I got up to the mic and asked her what advice she had for young farmers looking to get into sustainable agriculture in a country that works against us. She said dedication was very important, that young farmers must be passionate. She also suggested that young farmers try to work together to get land, since it is so expensive. Also working and getting experience at an organic farm is good. I got to look one of my personal heroes in the eye and have her speak directly to me!

Luckily I thought to grab my copy of Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed and bring it with me, so I got it signed afterwards! Hopefully it will be worth millions someday after she heads a worldwide overhaul of our broken food system and becomes a figure like Gandhi. Too bad I would never sell it! Made a few connections with people I talked to, pretty awesome night.
She also talked a bit about farmer suicide in India, which is becoming a growing problem. She spoke about how farmers get into so much debt that they can't pay any of it back, and when representatives of Monsanto or other agribusiness come to seize their farms, they loose their very important connection to their land. They turn to the pesticides that got them there- they drink pesticide to kill themselves. There was a world news article about suicide in India in todays New York Times, but it hardly scratched the surface about what is going on. Hopefully we can bring some light to the real casualties of GMO crops and agribusiness!

Stone Barns

My mom and I went to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture yesterday.

As an aspiring farmer, many things made me smile!

The AMAZING greenhouse

The beginnings of chard

Lil' tractors

Chickens lookin' at me funny (with something dividing us)

Making friends with smiling sheep dogs

Lettuce stripes

greeeeen baby bok choy after a long winter

and honey bees!!!

Oh, Michael Pollan...

... how I love you.

"To my eye, there are few sights in nature quite as stirring as a fresh row of vegetable seedlings rising like a green city on the spring ground. I love the on-off digital rhythm of new green plant and black turned loam, the geometrical ordering of bounded earth that is the vegetable garden in May- before the plagues, before the rampancy, before the daunting complexities of summer. The sublimities of wilderness have their place, okay, and their legions of American poets, God knows, but I want to speak a word here for the satisfaction of the human earth. I'd call it the Agricultural Sublime if that didn't sound too much like an oxymoron."

-From Botany of Desire

I'm starting to get sick of winter. I've always been a spring girl, maybe because I was born in early March, just when you start to see the grass peeking out and little buds starting to think about popping out. I can't wait to see that ridiculously bright green of renewal- I think the green of seedlings always looks extra bright because it is a sight for sore eyes.

My sister Lindsey calls Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck". I think my family has accepted that good, organic food costs more. But apparently, at Whole Foods, you're paying for a whole lot of nothing.

This video is crazy! Whole Foods imports much of their produce from China.

Really all I want is to ingest things that I either grew myself or were grown by someone I directly know. Why is that so hard!!? It seems we live in a toxic food environment!

This seals the deal, I am going to attempt to grow veggies in my dorm. Stay tuned.

(Special thanks to my sister in law Dawnita for sending me this video!)

Our first lady!

I knew I liked Michelle Obama! She has started a campaign to fight childhood obesity, and it actually involves dealing with the food situation they are faced with! You can read an excellent article here from Grist. By bringing together several agencies OTHER than the USDA, hopefully we will get some good dialogue going and keep Monsanto and its special interests out of the equation for once!

If we think that general obesity is bad, imagine being a kid who honestly can't make informed decisions about nutrition and exercise. Say all you want about obese adults and their poor choices, the honest truth is that kids are being robbed of the chance to lead healthy lives by being fed food poor in nutrition- and also being robbed of the chance to know and understand their food and where it is coming from. Childhood obesity is on the rise- and there is overwhelming evidence that the damage often cannot be undone.

So hopefully Michelle Obama can get some good work done on improving the nutrition of America's children. It's a step in the right direction towards fixing our relationship with food.

Back to Basics

You ever have those days when you realize you are being totally hypocritical? I have realized that I have not done a very good job lately of eating good food. So I am trying to get back to basics! As Michael Pollan says, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Simple, simple, simple, yet sometimes so hard, especially in a midwestern college cafeteria! I think I just have to accept that I am going to spend more money on food, and that will involve making concessions. But honestly, would I rather spend money on stupid stuff I don't need (those gnome pajamas I bought at Target, although I love them, were entirely unneccesary) or on good food that will be an investment in my future body and be living out my food morals?

Especially now that I am starting out of season conditioning for volleyball, I remember how much better I feel when I exercise and eat right. Like, yesterday I did and hour of jump and agility training and played for an hour in the morning, and then swam for an hour last night. 3 hours of working out, and last night I didn't go to bed exhausted like I had the last few weeks.

We talked about photosynthesis yesterday in Plant Biology- it never ceases to amaze me how smart plants are. Imagine if we could make our own food! Once again- have you thanked a plant today?!?!

No more sodie pop

Today I decided that if I'm going to complain about corn and high fructose corn syrup, I better stop eating so much of it. Since it's pretty difficult to avoid in a college cafeteria, I'm cutting soda out cause it's easy. I don't drink a ton of soda, but enough that it's better that I don't. I just finished watching the documentary King Corn (research for a paper for Plants class), and they said that your likelyhood of diabetes doubles if you drink one soda a day!

I'm excited for the State of the Union tonight- I'm watching it in my suite with a bunch of friends.

Overall, life is good. Still stuffy, but other than that I am braving the cold and the stress.

I had a scare that I lost my awesome old Sigg water bottle the other day, but turns out I just left it in the fitness center!!! Phew!

Spoils of a grand adventure!

Friday afternoon I went on a grand adventure with a few friends! We found the organic/natural market that is within walking distance of campus(!!!) and they all giggled a little as they saw how excited I got about finding all my favorite things in one store. I got some Terra chips, Annie's peace pasta, and my favorite raspberry granola, as well as splurging on a ridiculously expensive block of realllllly amazing Cabot cheddar. I'm trying to eat better, but it's so hard here- the caf is not exactly gourmet. Although the food is tasty, it is by no means local or organic. So I guess I'll just have to savor the simple pleasures of granola!

Wendell Berry is the man!

So as I continue to read "Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Food" by Wendell Berry, the more I enjoy his writing. He is simple, blunt, to the point. He states the truths that any of us in sustainable agriculture understand inherently.

One of my favorite passages of late is this, from his essay "Stupidity in Concentration" (2002):

"The word 'sustainable' is well on its way to becoming a label, like the word 'organic.' And so I want to propose a definition of 'sustainable agriculture.' This phrase, I suggest, refers to a way of farming that can be continued indefinitely because it conforms to the terms imposed upon it by the nature of places and the nature of people."

I'm having one of those weeks where several things all go wrong at once. When I feel overwhelmed, I breathe and think about all the people who are there for me and I hear their voices in my head telling me to do the right thing. I'm lucky in sososososo many ways.

Miss you, Erin. I'm trying really hard to be angry at the right things, just like your mom said.

Water water water

Where does the time go? I have been very busy.
But that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about all the things I want to post about.
Here are some random tid-bits:

I read a very interesting article/interview about water here.

I've been reading more of Wendell Berry's Bringing It To The Table. He says a lot of the things that seem obvious, but are never said enough, for example: "... if agriculture is to remain productive, it must preserve the land, and the fertility and ecological health of the land; the land, that is, must be used well. A further requirement, therefore, is that if the land is to be used well, the people who use it must know it well, must be highly motivated to use it well, must know how to use it well, must have time to use it well, and must be able to afford to use it well. Nothing that has happened in the agricultural revolution of the last fifty years has disproved or invalidated these requirements, though everything that has happened has ignored or defied them."
SO TRUE. How often do we think about the land we use? These requirements are rarely met.

Also, my Plant Biology class is amazing. I love learning about the inner workings of plants. Is photosynthesis not the coolest thing ever? When I read a passage in my textbook about how carrots were originally purple, I instantly smiled. One of my favorite things to do to get people interested in agriculture is to tell them purple carrots exist. People get so used to what they see at grocery stores it tends to blow their minds. :)

SO there are my random tidbits. More to come, of course. I have to write a paper about a human desire and a plant that fulfills that desire (based off of Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire), and I think I'm going to do control and GMO corn. So much exciting going on, and I'm also trying to find a way to get to Earlham to hear Michael Pollan speak in February. It's 2 weeks before my finals, though, so I'll have to plan VERY far in advance.

THINK ABOUT DIRT.
Have you thanked your vegetables today?

Back!

Back at school! Strange to be back in a classroom, but I'm sure I'll get used to it quick. Remember those notebooks I bought way back when? Well, with some fun stickers they are now being reused for this terms classes.

Now as for my reading list, I failed horribly.

I managed to get through The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (William Kamkwamba), The Bookseller of Kabul (Asne Seierstad), and several bits and pieces from the others, which were mostly compilations of essays. Also, I read Manifestos On The Future Of Food and Seed, which was edited by Vandana Shiva and includes several great speeches and essays by great people doing great work, including Michael Pollan. It's a great short and sweet book put out by South End Press that gets a major point across- we need to do something about our failed food system.

Here are some of my favorite lines:

"In India, we are creating food democracy through freedom farms, freedom villages, and freedom zones. Organic farms free of chemicals and toxins and zones free of corporate- that is, GMOs- And patented seeds are creating a bottom-up democracy of food to counter the top-down food dictatorship" -Vandana Shiva

"So here then is our common work- to speak for the species, who are saying, oddly enough, 'Eat me.'" -Michael Pollen

"All human beings on the planet have a fundamental human right to access and to produce sufficient food to sustain their lives and communities." -Manifesto on the Future of Food.

And here I was, thinking I was just taking American National Government for fun... turns out it will most likely be useful in the future. As I was putting up a picture of a tractor in my room here at school I wondered if it made me weird. But then I realized that that particular tractor is near and dear to my heart, it is the one on my local farm! It is as much a part of my life as the food I eat. Sometimes I question what I want to do with my life, but then I read a book like this one and remember just how crazy I get about this issue. I think that simple statement is powerful- food is a human right. Until we talk about food production in our country we can not begin to chastise other countries for human rights abuses.

HR 875

So this morning I came upon a group on Facebook called "Against The Organic Farming Ban". Obviously I was intrigued, considering I didn't think there WAS an organic farming ban. Turns out, there is a group that feels bill HR 875- Food Safety Moderization Act of 2009 contains a ban on organic farming. Rumors are swirling all over the internet. I took a look at the text of the bill, but there didn't seem to be anything explicitly banning or hurting local or organic farming. If anything, this seems to solve/slow many other food safety issues that we've been griping about for years, including e coli and salmonella outbreaks. Here are some other articles that try to clarify the real implications of the bill:

From the Daily Green

From Mother Jones

I will be keeping an eye out on this one. It seems to me that it is not as evil as some are perceiving it, but obviously we should be aware of what is happening with this legislation. There are in fact several food safety bills being worked on now. It's hard to regulate for agri-business and small local ag at the same time- while cleaning up agri-business, sometimes we create regulations impossible for small farms to meet. Perhaps we need different sets of regulations for different types/sizes of farms?