Friday
Sep032010
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Budiansky on farmers' markets
A wonderful post from Stephen Budiansky on the subject of farmers' markets, organic food and the like.
The language of the huckster pervades this business; to look at most of the websites and literature of local/organic/sustainable sellers you'd think they wouldn't dream of taking your money, so noble is their calling ("We are in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture," reads one typical specimen). Old rule of commercial interaction: when someone says it's not about money . . . it's about money.
Do read the whole thing, it's a joy from beginning to end.
Reader Comments (58)
when harvard dropout billie gates (*not* a good example to the rest of us for what regards perseverance, planning, time mgmt , due diligence and prudent investing ) when billie goes with *our* billions , earned with crowding out and muzzling a potential sw industry, to africa to help the little kiddies survive there, what he is basically saying to the rest of us is : " my want for a nobel piss prize and another extra 200million africans is of a higher calling than your want of bio diversity and a more holistic development of the 3rd world".
billie should get a stamp in the sophisticated behind, towards the cobblestones "show it to us again, billie what you are so genious at!", and his billions should be used to help our economy and people, not dictators and megalomany.
Hmmm. Must go to the wrong Farmers' Market then. Our local (Somerset market town) has nothing like that at all, just local farmers and food producers and local folk selling, buying and having a good natter amongst tables full of slabs of bloody meat, cheese, cider, veg, pies, bread, you name it. Wonderful.
Geoff Sherrington, that's Biodynaic farming, which is getting an increasing usage all over the world - esp, in French vineyards. Just because you don't understand how something may work doesn't mean it doesn't work. Much based on planting times in the month as well; this also features in other cultures. If you know nothing about it, why comment on it?
Jeremy Poynton
What is your understanding of how Biodynaic (or, perhaps, Biodynamic) farming works?
I think if you are just a partisan, and the enemy of your enemy is your friend, and you don't know much about something and want to rant away, that was a great article. If you know farmers and farmer's markets, the article was complete shite. It seems like a few extremists in farming were targeted here, so all local and all farmer's markets are bad. I just disagree with it. The author has said several things that are very inacurate, one or two of them really show that he's not as familiar as he would lead us to believe. But my personal view is that local food is national security, and personal security. I think that farmer's markets are awesome. This guy says its all about the money, well what does he do for a living? Is it bad that somebody do something for a living? So a farmer makes some money, do you think these "shucksters" make more than a lawyer or doctor? Do you think they make more than an IT person? Do they make more than a gas station attendant? Are they supposed to do this career for free for the author? What is the right amount, is this communism where they do it for the service to the nation or is there no incentive to farm? I think that big corporate conventional farms have their place and are needed in our society. So are small farmers and farmer's markets. Anyone who is against farmer's markets, I just don't understand that. I think this guy picked out a few hippy extremists and paints everyone with the same brush when what he's talking about is a miniscule minority.
@pluck.
Dodgy keyboard. Even when I shake the crumbs out of it. Anyway, here's all you need - Biodynamic farming
Jeremy Poynton,
Thank you for the information. I think that you and Mr. Sherrington agree on the practices used in Biodynamic Farming. I think you disagree on the safety and effectiveness of some of the practices. You are correct, not understanding how something works does not mean that it doesn't. But many people are not comfortable with a thing unless they have compelling demonstrations that it does work and then a plausible guess as to why it works. I think people spend too much time arguing the second part, plausible guesses as to why it works, and not enough time establishing the first part, compelling demonstrations that it does work.
P.S. I mistype all the time. I cannot blame my keyboard. I just have discoordinated fingers. (Discoordinated is not a real word, but it should be.)
It is helpful to know the difference between Certified Naturally Grown and Organic. For the UK, the equivalent to CNG comes from the Wholesome Food Association. Usually, in the USA, only corporate farming can afford the high cost of using an Organic label. The Organic certification process takes place on a desk, with someone's head down while they read spreadsheets. To achieve Certified Naturally Grown status, someone actually goes to the farmer's field and checks operations: soil parameters, seed source, the water supply &c; I think these fields must be re-certified every two years. The best advice: know your grower, or at least her reputation for producing quality vegetables.