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
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