The Rural Voice, 2004-11, Page 24P.
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20 THE RURAL VOICE
publishing business north of Toronto
took over the newsletter with
contributions from various members
and with his computer equipment
simplified the job of maintaining a
membership mailing list.
After . 11 years as president,
Andres remembers feeling "fulfilled
but tired," and he stepped down. By
then the organization was moving to
another level with committees and
subcommittees of committees, he
remembers and as someone who had
started out acting pretty much on his
own initiative, the new scale could be
frustrating.
Still, he recalls "It was the most
rewarding time of our life for Matty
and me."
Zettel remembers the ground
swell of interest in organic
agriculture in the 1980s with a lot of
farmers looking to start something
new. He began selling certified
organic oats in the mid -eighties but
like other dairy farmers, he wasn't
being rewarded by the marketplace
for his efforts in producing organic
milk and he and other milk producers
began negotiating for a separate milk
pool.
Organic production continues to
expand but many of the people
coming in today are "not wide-eyed
idealists" as in the past, though there
still are idealists, Zettel says.
"The reality is you have to make
money or you won't be in business
very long," he says. "It's similar to
all kinds of farming and the changes
in agriculture in general. The new
(organic) producers are much more
business -minded. They tend to look
at things analytically."
That trend worries Andres. "A lot
of people are going into organic
agriculture because they know
there's a demand for the product. The
original members did it for the good
of the soil. There was no incentive
from the market side. If the driving
focus is the market then when the
market doesn't reward them many
producers will be gone. The focus is
on the niche market, not on
betterment of the soil and the
environment."
The market premium for organic
products is bringing producers into
the market who have no real
commitment to organic principles,
Andres argues. He cites one huge
California vegetable grower who has
50,000 acres of production but has
switched 18,000 to certified organic
production.
"Really, in my view this is a
disaster," he says.
He also worries about chicken and
pork which is labeled organic but is
grown on a Targe scale without being
outdoors as the consumer envisions
when she buys organic products.
"The consumer who buys organic
eggs has an image of chickens being
outdoors." The certification rules are
too flexible, he argues, and Targe
corporations, sensing the possibility
of profit, are "wheeling and dealing
with the grey areas".
"The whole thing loses its initial
mandate."
The entry of the big companies
into organic retailing is also killing
off the grassroots -style marketing of
organic agriculture's early years,
Andres worries. Once an organic
vegetable grower would get
maximum return by selling right off
the back of his truck. Now a whole
infrastructure is being constructed
with every level wanting to take its
share of the profit.
Beard also has concerns in this
area. "Now that the large
retailers see that there is
money to be made they are trying to
coiner/control the supply and price of
organic foods," he says.
"Apparently Galen Weston (head
of Weston Foods, owner of Loblaws)
stated that organic farmers should
only receive a 10 per cent premium
over conventional prices —where he
got that figure I don't know. They are
trying to drive the farmer's price
down for organic products, but I
don't think they are reducing their
own margins."
But Zettel isn't so worried about
this ongoing debate within the
organic movement. "The reality is
you have choices," he said. "You can
be independent and as radical as you
want but as you want to involve more
people you will become part of the
way of the world. There will be
restrictions on what you do. It will
moderate your uniqueness."
When anything is in its infancy
there's a lot of freedom and
spontaneity, he says, but as it
becomes more mature there are more
rules.