Page 10 - Fall2010
P. 10
Letters
(NOP) as a credible and useful certifica- To understand sustainable agricul- Mark Keating worked as the SARE
tion standard that provides consumers ture, it is important to view the concept State Program Assistant for Kentucky
a minimal yet still meaningful degree as an approach and not an end in itself. between 2006 and 2010. He currently
of differentiation from non-organically Sustainable agriculture is a management works for the USDA National Organic
produced foods. After ten years in system in which farmers identify and Program where he also served between
existence, much of the promise of a evaluate their environmental, economic 1999 and 2002.
federally-managed organic standard and social resources on their operation.
remains unfulfilled though there are Most farmers are already sensitive to NOT CREAM AT ALL
significant indications that USDA is the environmental and economic cir- I am particularly sad about the
moving to honor its commitment. There cumstances on their operation and it is fate of the Canadian dairy company
are indeed times that when the people the third component—the connections Lactancia. Our family bought their
lead, the leaders will follow. to the local community, including the butter, cream, and other dairy products
The only statement of Dr. Heck- potential for direct marketing or other since I was a kid (over forty years ago).
man’s with which I disagree is his asser- forms of value-added production—that Today the main owner and distributor
tion that the term “sustainable agricul- makes the sustainable approach unique. of Lactancia here in Quebec is Agropur,
ture” lacks definition, and can therefore Farming sustainably entails building Canada’s largest dairy cooperative.
be readily co-opted. No doubt that the synergies between these categories to If anyone takes the time to read their
concept of sustainability has become a improve the overall strength and vi- cream cartons, you will see that what
popular smokescreen in recent times, ability of the operation over time. For they contain is not cream at all; it is
but we have only ourselves to blame if example, moving ruminants out of only about 10 percent cream and the
we abandon “sustainable agriculture” as confinement systems onto pasture can rest is emulsifiers, poly this, poly that
a meaningful yardstick in the broader reduce costs (fewer veterinary bills), and seaweed.
discussion of where our food comes protect the environment (even distribu- I discovered this when the side
from and who provides it to us. tion of manure to improve crop fertil- panel on the “cream” carton caught my
The term “sustainable agriculture” ity) and produce a greatly value-added eye. “What ingredients?” I thought.
was defined in the 1985 Farm Bill and product (grass-fed dairy). There aren’t any ingredients in cream.
has served as the philosophical founda- Consumers too can apply the And that’s when I discovered the
tion of the USDA’s Sustainable Agricul- three-fold economic, environmental and sneaky little linguistic trick they’re
ture Research and Education Program social criteria when weighing the pros using: The front label of dairy cartons
(SARE) for more than twenty years. and cons of the competing food choices shows a percentage —3 percent, 10 per-
The very modest funds appropriated available to them in the marketplace. I’d cent or 35 percent—which traditionally
for SARE over that period are, in my even go so far as to say that sustainable meant the fat content. But on the cream
opinion, the wisest investment in fam- agriculture has a significant advantage carton, that percentage means the per-
ily farming, low-input and diversified over organic certification since many centage of cream, in this case 10 percent.
production systems, and direct market- undeniably important production-relat- Nowhere on the label does it say “cream
ing that the USDA has ever made. A ed considerations including distance to substitute” or any such thing; it’s just the
visit to the SARE website at http://www. market and labor conditions never have usual label everyone has always seen.
sare.org/ will yield a wealth of print and and likely never will be factored into the I don’t understand what’s being
video resources depicting precisely the latter. done with all the cream if they are not
type of agricultural systems that the Mark Keating putting it in the “cream.” We periodi-
organic pioneers such as Sir Albert Finchville, Kentucky cally hear that to “keep milk prices up,”
Howard and J.I. Rodale endorsed. milk is actually dumped and discarded,
10 Wise Traditions FALL 2010