I say it’s about dern time!

EDIT: And these folks are working on picking which farmer . . .

Well, they spelled my name wrong, but the video is still pretty good. (Don’t worry, I’m as shocked as you are at how good I sound. They must have done some heavy editing to make me seem so coherent.)

OCA Calls on Consumers to Boycott Wal-Mart for Degrading Organic Standards

Organic Consumers Association

Jan 17, 2007

Straight to the Source

Six months after OCA requested in a widely circulated “Open Letter” that Wal-Mart stop selling Horizon and Aurora Organic milk coming from intensive confinement factory farm dairies, and stop importing cheap organic foods and ingredients from China and Brazil that could and should be supplied by North American organic farmers, the nation’s largest and most ethically-challenged retailer has done what you would expect, nothing.

In addition, as the Cornucopia Institute has pointed out over the past two months, Wal-Mart continues to post signs in its stores that mislead consumers into believing that non-organic items are actually organic. Meanwhile Wal-Mart’s friends in the USDA’s National Organic Program have, of course, done nothing.

Wal-Mart’s entry into the organic and fair trade sector has generated much fanfare and publicity, at great benefit to a company seeking to re-brand itself in the wake of broad-based criticism of its business practices. While seeking to improve both its reputation and bottom line by moving into the organic and fair trade market, Wal-Mart has systematically lowered standards for these products by squeezing suppliers and sourcing supplies from factory farms and overseas suppliers. Currently, the demand for organic products outweighs the supply, and Wal-Mart’s entry into the market has only exacerbated the problem.

The popularity of organics for consumers has in large part grown from the knowledge among purchasers that products they purchased were raised and produced in a safe, humane and environmentally friendly manner and in many cases were produced locally or regionally. The industrialization of organics by companies like Wal-Mart threatens the ability of consumers to be certain that products they are purchasing are indeed raised and produced according to true organic standards.

Basta! Enough is enough. It is now obvious that organic consumers and anyone who cares about health, justice, and sustainability should stop “bargain shopping” for organic products at Wal-Mart and its Big Box competitors. Breaking the chains of mindless consumerism means taking into consideration that where you buy an organic or green product is just as important as what you buy. And please keep in mind that boycotting Wal-Mart is not just a symbolic gesture. Over the past year, as OCA and hundreds of other groups have shined the light on America’s retail Death Star, Wal-Mart has lost somewhere between two and eight percent of its former customers, sending tremors through Wall Street and causing the company to lose sales and profits. In countries like Germany and South Korea, consumer rejection has forced Wal-Mart to close down its operations entirely.

So today and everyday please boycott Wal-Mart and the other Big Box chains. Whenever possible buy your organic and fair trade products from your local co-op or independently owned natural food store, or from your local farmers directly. For more information on where you can find organic and fair trade products in your local area, go to: Organic Consumers Association

I mean, point well taken that creating a truly environmentally conscious and sustainable food system is NOT just limited to what you put in your grocery cart, but that is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater . . . Heck, in this case, they are throwing out the entire bathtub.

Georgia Farmer Shares his Wealth

Immigrant Farmers Get a Helping Hand in Georgia

Guess where I’m going this weekend!?!

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What Do These Plants Want, Anyhow?
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It bears repeating. Providing mycorrhizal fungi spores to plants is NOT giving them something “extra.” It is NOT a miracle-plant-food-sort-of-thingy. It is NOT some sort of mystical additive.

Simply put, a plant without mycorrhizae on its root system is not equipped to uptake the necessary nutrients to flourish. You can fiddle with “soil chemistry” as much as you wish, and you may have some short-term success, but if the plant has evolved a dependence on soil fungi over millions of years, that plant will not achieve its full genetic potential without the fungi.

Someday, probably way down the road, it will be widely recognized that nutrients in the soil are not the only important factor for plant productivity. It is far more vital to move those nutrients into the roots on an as-needed basis. And guess what? That is precisely the role that mycorrhizal fungi have assumed. Most plants do not have roots that can do this job by themselves.

To a soil biologist, the frustrating thing is knowing that it can be so very simple to grow food plants that will perform at or near their full genetic potential. But 99 out of 100 growers just keep pouring NPK fertilizer on their fields in the belief that high yields come from expensive chemical methods.

You can plant a beefsteak tomato, drench it with water-soluble plant food every week, and have a decent harvest. I’ll take an identical tomato transplant, put it in soil with a small handful of fish pellets and a teaspoon of mycorrhizal inoculant, not add anything else for the entire growing season, and will end up with at least a 50% greater yield than you – maybe 150%. And I’ll do it year after year – the soil will never be depleted under a biological orientation.

Higher yields with lower input and long-term sustainability of our valuable crop soils – that’s the promise of using biologically-based methods. Using beneficial microorganisms instead of petroleum-based fertilizers is a tough concept to grasp after decades of chemical methods, but the clock is ticking on chem-ag. If we want to leave our children some decent soil to grow crops, it’s time to stop burning out our farm acreage and gardens with incomplete “plant foods.”

Cheers, and good growing,

Don Chapman
President
BioOrganics, Inc. .

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BioOrganics Inc. News
6/23/04
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WHY SWITCH TO A LIVING FOODS DIET
Living foods are the key to our health and longevity. They allow our bodies to perform as they were meant to . . .

THE INGREDIENTS
The dishes at Roxanne’s are pure, elegant and full of life. Our ingredients are all natural and organic. Our produce, fresh fruits, exotic herbs and edible flowers are from our own 3-acre garden, or from other small, local sustainable farmers and producers . . .

THE ECOLOGICAL DESIGN OF ROXANNE’S RESTAURANT
Just as our organic cuisine supports a more sustainable planet, our restaurant’s construction and interior design were driven by this principle. All of the wood used in the construction of the restaurant is either recycled, or certified sustainably harvested by the Forest Stewardship council, the most stringent certification organization. The front trellis is made from salvaged windfall Sonoma County Cypress. The racks in the wine room are being built from recycled cedar . . .

Anyone want to go out to eat? :)