[SustainableTompkins] [Fwd: The Organic Divide: Corporate Executives and Organic Community Hold "Dueling" Summits]

[Joel and Sarah Gagnon]

Hey Karl --

A rather sobering assessment from someone who characterizes himself as an 
idealist! The predictable effect of potential money-to-be-made on the 
implementation of Organic Standards explains a lot of the pressure to 
dilute or constrain.  I don't see how that can be avoided, no matter how 
much a realist might have anticipated it, so I  confess curiosity as to how 
you would proceed differently.

Joel

At 12:13 PM 6/22/07 -0400, you wrote:
>Sustainable Tompkins,
>
>The lamentable state of affairs that has developed in the 'organic'
>agriculture business, of which the "dueling summits" report that was
>posted here is just one manifestation, was easily predictable by anyone
>who took the trouble to understand the nature of our economy, the policy
>framework that created and sustains it, and the characteristic patterns
>of behavior over time that the system generates. In fact those who sought
>this understanding did predict the present situation. This is not a
>criticism of the 'organic' community, many of whom are better equipped to
>comprehend the biogeochemical nature of the soil system than they are of
>grasping the sociological nature of our economy.
>
>The takeover by industrial giants of what started as a sustainable
>agriculture movement was entirely characteristic of the historical system
>behavior in virtually every sector of our economy. Until the movement
>gets serious about understanding why these patterns of behavior happen,
>its attempts at solutions are likely to have counterintuitive results. In
>plain English, the results will repeatedly fall short of the
>expectations.
>
>In this case for example, the appeal for unity with the same corporate
>giants that have created the problems, viewed from my understanding of
>the dynamics of power in the system, is like inviting foxes into the hen
>house. Another example I see in this report of the general ignorance of
>many of the idealists who started the movement is their initial
>assumption that a summit sponsored (read controlled, shaped) by a major
>corporate merchandiser could possibly produce much that advances the
>cause of sustainability in agriculture or the food system.
>
>The report says that Fred Kirschenmann (with whom I have worked
>organizationally on these and other questions) " referred to the tension
>the organic community is experiencing with the commercialization and
>mainstreaming of movement ideals and the need for the entire industry to
>move beyond this conflict if organic is to survive as meaningful label in
>the marketplace." What is the nature of the entire industry that he wants
>to get in bed with? This reveals a pathetic ignorance of the structures
>of power in that industry, as in the rest of our economy.
>
>It is also disappointing that so many of the idealists (I am an idealist
>too) still cling to the notion that the 'organic label' will save the
>movement. The NOSB, the institution mandated to create and protect the
>label is located in and controlled by the USDA. That is like locating a
>hen in a fox house. Like most other market-based solutions to social
>problems, the organic label has born results that are too little, too
>late. That is a historical pattern, generated by market forces, a lesson
>we need to learn and make a basis for strategy. I believe that solutions
>exist, but they need to be grounded in a better understanding of how our
>society works.
>
>Karl North
>Northland Sheep Dairy, Freetown, New York USA
>      www.geocities.com/northsheep/
>"Mother Nature never farms without animals" - Albert Howard
>"Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying