Market Forces from the Union of Concerned Scientists

http://sustainableagriculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/market-forces-report.pdf

This report from the union of concerned scientists finds that more regional and local food systems create more jobs than the industrial food system. The numbers of farmers markets nationwide more than doubled from 2000 to 2010, and allows customers to invest directly in farmers and in their local economies.

The report explains that regional food systems reduce the social cost of food when compared with the private production costs, subsidies and externalities of food products.  Regional markets increase the competition in markets which have become increasingly monopolized by big agriculture corporations.  Local agriculture also localizes economic impacts of local food systems can be greater than those of conventional markets, because if food is purchased directly from a farmer than most of the revenue remains is retained in the area and this helps to stabilize local economies. 

The report found that the Farmers Market Promotion Program could create 13,500 jobs nationally over a five-year period, if reauthorized, by providing modest funding for 100 to 500 farmers markets per year (out of over 6,000 markets nationally). 13,500 jobs isn't much, but when added to the benefits of strong local economies, access to healthy food, and reduced food transportation costs, it seems like a no-brainer.

Thinking Ahead to Fall and Winter Harvests

While you’re getting lots of fruits and veggies in your home garden now,  you should be planning ahead to extend your growing season into the fall! For fall and winter harvests, you can start to plant seeds in July and early August. 

This website from the Hudson Valley Seed Library recommends planting the following seeds this week:

Arugula, Beets, Bok Choy, Carrots, Chinese Cabbage, Lettuce, Mibuna/Mizuna, Mustard Greens, Swiss Chard, Tatsoi, Tendergreen, Turnips

Johnny’s Seeds website also has some helpful tools for you to plan your fall planting.  Check out the fall-planting calendar and seed-starting date calculator for advice on when to plant your seeds and when it is safe to do so.  For information on when to expect a frost in your area checkout this form.

Massaro Farm in Woodbridge, CT

Would you like some more information about fall and winter harvests? Think about CT NOFA’s On-Farm Workshop: Planning for the Fall and Winter Harvest next Monday, August 15 from 5:00pm to 8:00 pm.  Steve Munno, the Farm Manager of Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge, CT will discuss what and when to plant in order to have a good fall and winter harvest.  Here is a brief description of the workshop: “We’ll sow seeds directly in the ground and prepare others for future transplanting.   We’ll also have a chance to work with low hoops and floating row cover, which you can use to protect your crops from frost and help extend your harvest season.”

Registration is $10 for CT NOFA members and $15 for non-members.  Attendance is limited, so please preregister by calling the office at (203) 888-5146, printing and mailing this form or using our online registration. 

Herbicide Recall

About three weeks ago, Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog included a story about the potential link between a DuPont herbicide named Imprelis, and the death of thousands of Norway spruce and white pine trees this summer.  Trees in or near areas treated with Imprelis are turning brown and dying along the East Coast and in the Midwest. 

The EPA conditionally approved Imprelis for sale last October.  To conditionally register a product means that the registration is granted even though all the data requirements to prove the safety of the product have not been satisfied, but the EPA assumes that no significant adverse impacts to the environment are possible as a result of the pesticide or herbicide application. 

Complaints that the herbicide caused tree deaths made DuPont first advise landscapers to refrain from using Imprelis near Norway spruce and white pine. The company has now voluntarily stopped the sale (after being strongly urged to do so by the EPA) of the herbicide because of its threat to trees and has organized a product return and refund product for mid-August.  The EPA wrote letters to the DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman urging the company to release thousands of confidential documents that include details on Imprelis’ safety and the threat it might pose to plant life. 

This herbicide was advertised as the most scientifically advanced turf herbicide in over 40 years, and was used to control dandelions, clover, plantains, wild violet and ground ivy.  The chemical aminocyclopyrachlor is considered safe for humans, but is highly soluble in water and highly mobile in the soil.  The chemical spreads into the environment and is persistent.  The herbicide continues to effect non-target trees and despite being kept away from these trees when applied, has still been absorbed by the roots causing damage or death in the tree.  

 Imprelis was widely used in order to eliminate fairly benign plants (clover is actually good for your yard, it fertilizes the soil to make grass healthier and more durable), and forces us to ask ourselves if it’s worth the risk.  This loss of trees is comparable to the damages of emerald ash borer and other diseases and pests which have destroyed American trees, however this was completely caused by people, and only with the goal of improving the appearance of lawns and landscaping.  

Sources:

http://www.imprelis-facts.com/

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2011/08/04/189115.htm

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=5625

In case you missed it!

Our city farm and garden tour was on Saturday! The weather held out and our 19 garden sites were on display with their wide variety of vegetables, flowers and some livestock!  Check out our photos on facebook, and this article in the New Haven Independent and this blog post by one of our gardeners!

 Selling tickets at the market

 Rebecca Kline at the Fair Haven Comunity Health Center and Chabaso Bakery Garden

 Sherill Baldwin shows me her garden in Fair Haven

 A home garden in Lenox Street, check out the sweet potatows (on the lower left), and raised beds! This garden had apple trees, hazelnut plants, peas, peppers, grapes, heirloom tomatoes . . . variety is really the spice of life here!

 Descending from Vincent Kay's workshop into his urban garden!

 Jessica Nelson's container garden.

 The Bioregional Lifeboat Garden on Whitney Avenue.

 The Yale Farm

Students working on the Farm.

Garden Tour Today

Today is the CT NOFA City Farm and Garden Tour! Come find CT NOFA at the Wooster Square Market (across Chapel Street from Wooster Square) and buy your tickets! Only $20 to visit 19 gardens, attend workshops, receive meal deals and attend a film screening of "Truck Farm".
We've also put together a last minute bike tour for which you can receive information at our booth! It's a beautiful day, think about spending it in New Haven's urban farms and gardens!

Plant Science Day

Yesterday I attended the Plant Science Day at Lockwood Farm in Hamden, Connecticut.

Plant Science Day is an annual event hosted by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. I’ve never been to Plant Science Day, but it was a fun experience for the first time! With a technical demonstration tent, a main tent, two barns and many exhibitor’s tents there were a lot of organizations represented and a number of scientists presenting research on Connecticut agriculture, much of it about dealing with plant diseases and pests.

There were a number of booths educating attendees about invasive insects harming Connecticut’s agriculture and wildlands. I even got a tattoo of an Asian Longhorn Beetle on my hand (so I know it’s appearance like the back of my hand!) One of the booths was CT NOFA's own, keep an eye out for us at other agriculture/environmental events around the state!

There are several experimental plots around the farm, growing what seemed like every variety of agricultural plant that could survive in a Connecticut climate. The were trials of specialty peppers, sweet potatoes, specialty eggplants, pumpkins, edamame and so many other interesting crops. The farm is also host to a number of experiments (keeping CAES true to their name) like control of blight on American chestnuts and growing chestnut hybrids.

There was an entire tent dedicated to arguably Connecticut's least favorite insect, the deer tick, but there was also some research which indicated that some botanical-based products, like garlic, can be used to reduce tick activity in your yard.

The bird and butterfly garden was the most beautiful aspect of the farm, and butterfly identification tours were lead through the garden every hour.

         

The Century Farm Award was presented to a farm that has been in family operation for more than 100 years. This year Collins Powder Farm in Enfield, CT received the award. The farm was first established in 1868 and is still overseen by the Collins family and is about 180 acres (with 158 acres in farmland preservation!)

After this presentation, Greg Schaan, the President & Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Nurseries, Inc. He discussed the vital role of nurseries in the state of Connecticut's economy. The horticulture industry produces about $1 billion in the state ot Connecticut, half of the entire contribution of agriculture to the state's economy. More than 46,000 acres of land are in production and the industry employs 48,000 people in the state.

Mr. Schaan shared that one of the main obstacles for the industry is the rising price of petroleum because so many products are petroleum based and the transportation costs are rising. He also discussed the role CAES has in the horticulture industry. They service the industry by inspecting plants to insure that they a clear of diseases and pests.

Having seen these facilities and the great job CAES did planning this event, I sincerely hope that the states budget cuts do not harm the CAES' program, and that they can continue to do their good work.

GMOs Solution for World Hunger

How many times have you heard the argument that we need GMOs in order to feed a growing population and take care of starvation and malnutrition? It seems to be the main argument in favor of genetically-modified foods.  This is frustrating for proponents of organic agriculture, since many studies show that over time, organic agriculture and sustainable farming practices have higher or equivalent yields to conventional agriculture.  An article in Huffington Post yesterday by John Robbins asked that exact question: “Can GMOs Help End World Hunger?”

His article looks at the actual efficacy of golden rice, since it was first publicized in Time magazine.  Golden rice is engineered to produce beta-carotene which can be converted to Vitamin A by the human body.  This became the main focus of the biotech industry’s advertising, that their research and products could end world hunger. 

However, as John Robbins discusses in this article, golden rice does not grow well in the areas with high rates of malnutrition and hunger . . . well not without the help of pesticides and herbicides.  Additionally, malnourished people are not able to efficiently absorb Vitamin A in this form.  Finally, the company which engineered golden rice, Monsanto, has also genetically modified the seeds so they cannot be saved from year to year, and will need to be purchased over and over again by the low-income farmers in developing countries. 

Once again, anti-GMO activists are able to demonstrate that they are not “anti-science” or “anti-solutions” but that they are anti-business.  There is enough food to feed the world, the fact that it is concentrated in the hands of just a few corporations in developed countries is already the main problem.  To embrace one type of rice patented by one company as the worldwide solution would be the agricultural equivalent to the atomic bomb. Definitely check out the article on the Huffington Post site, it's a very well-written, concise explanation of the holes in the "world hunger" argument in favor of GMO production.