|
| | ||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| HOME | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBE | NEWSSTAND LOCATIONS | ||||
| ||||
|
|
| | |
Organic conference attracts 2,400 people to La Crosse Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Agri News staff writer
LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The 19th annual Organic Farming Conference filled the La Crosse Center Feb. 21-23 with 60 workshops, 130 exhibitors, a new Organic Research Symposium and keynote speakers.
Attendance reached 2,400 people.
"The conference was incredibly successful, it just seems to get better every year," said Faye Jones, executive director of the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service. MOSES hosted the conference.
Gary, Rosie and Nicholas Zimmer of Otter Creek Organic Farm in Avoca were named the MOSES 2008 Organic Farmer of the Year. The Zimmers grow 1,200 acres of organic crops, milk 200 cows, have 50 dry cows, 300 heifers, 100 beef cattle and 100 pasture-raised feeder pigs.
"Successful organic farming is a huge challenge," said Gary. "...I refuse to take less yield than anybody else in this business."
Their farm and its rolling hills was hit with 20 inches of rain during last August's flood, but no erosion occurred. The Zimmers implement tightly managed crop rotations, use diverse forage blends with a variety of legumes and grasses, and many different weed control methods. Gary works on the farm, is an author and is president of Midwestern Bio-Ag, a biologically-based agri-consulting company.
Rosie operates the family's Local Choice Farm Market where they sell cheese and meats directly to consumers.
Their award presentation was followed by keynote speaker Melinda Hemmelgarn, a self-described investigative nutritionist, who is also a registered dietitian and freelance writer.
"You are my people," she told the organic producers. "You are working for good food."
She said biodiversity is the key to a healthy diet and an essential factor to food security, but American consumers are faced with an illusion of choice when it comes to the type of food available. There are illusions that products contain fruit based on their names or packaging, when they don't. Illusions also abound about the value of food and food companies' environmental responsibility as well as the term "natural" -- which Hemmelgarn said is the worst word organic producers have to fight against because consumers equate 'natural' to 'organic.'
"In fact, 'natural' means absolutely nothing legally," she said, explaining that it applies to what happens to food after harvesting.
Similar terms such as "sugar-free," "fat-free" or "diet" also mislead consumers to believing they are making healthy choices. She's most concerned with how these marketing methods impact children.
"For my entire career I have seen childhood obesity rates increasing," she said.
Hemmelgarn said fast food is convenient and cheap, so until America can address the issues of a need for a living wage, affordable housing and health care, problems stemming from eating habits will persist. Children need to be taught how to be critical thinkers about food and nutrition, and she urged organic producers to contact policymakers to talk about the issues.
The conference also recognized the Sow the Seeds Fund for financially supporting farmers impacted by the August floods. Josh and Noah Engel of Driftless Organics in Star Valley suffered major damage during the storms but were unable to receive any federal or state dollars. The majority of their financial help came through a grant from Sow the Seeds, started by the Wedge Community Co-op and the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy.
The Engel brothers said the money was a tremendous help and they plan to continue farming.
"I'm planning on doing this for a lifetime," said Noah.
The Sow the Seeds Fund delivered more than $390,000 of financial assistance to farmers in total. |
| | |
| |
Copyright 2008 Agri News
All Rights Reserved
