VLS Explores the Future of Farming
July 24, 2008
Local, Regional Food Systems Don’t Just Happen
by Sky Barsch, correspondent
The buzz about sustainable agriculture and its possibilities—as well as frustration over policy hurdles—were front and center as VLS brought together farmers, policy makers, advocates and consumers for the two-day Food, Fuel & the Future of Farming conference on July 24 and 25.
As food prices climb, fuel costs soar, and the global climate changes, the localvore movement is strong and growing, as evidenced by the conference turnout. More than 150 people attendees shared the goal of working toward a more sustainable food system for Vermont and beyond.
“Local, regional food systems don’t just happen,” said Martin Kemple, administrative director of Food Works, a Montpelier-based agriculture center that aims toward eliminating hunger. Kemple was part of a panel discussion, Sustainable Agriculture in Vermont: Creating a Working Model, in which he emphasized education as one way to bolster a local food system. He wants to introduce more people to vegetables such as sweet salad radishes and golden beets—which he did by handing out samples to the audience.
The panelists offered criticism for what they viewed as a lack of government leadership on agriculture issues, as well as success stories.
Enid Wonnacott, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, noted that 20 percent of dairy farmers in Vermont are now organic, while seed producers have never sold as many seeds as they have this season. There has been such a rapid increase in farm-to-consumer sales that the term “locustvore” has been jokingly used to describe highly demanding localvores, and more people are moving to Vermont to farm because of the strong organic community, she said, adding, “That’s really promising.”
Panel member Will Stevens, a state representative and organic potato farmer, said he was excited by the “whole new generation” of farmers coming into the business. Stevens, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee, discussed the challenges and successes of organic farming, and noted that people often ask him why he is in the Legislature. His response: “I am there because I can be there. It’s important to step up and work for what you support.”
Keynote speaker Anna Lappé, a New York-based environmentalist and author, said consumers can curb global warming by making deliberate food purchases, including buying locally grown foods. She cautioned that some large food corporations may tout themselves as making green choices, but these can be subtly worded gimmicks that don’t make much of a difference.
Marc Mihaly, director of the VLS Environmental Law Center, said the conference succeeded in bringing together key partners who share the same goals for the future of farming.
“We feel this is a critical moment for farmers who are trying to bring American agriculture into a new era in which sustainable practices dominate,” he said. “We wanted to help in that effort by providing a forum where people with expertise can talk to each other, and from what we have heard, that is just what happened.”
With its focus on smaller farms and energy independence, the conference also helped the law school learn more about how it can bring its expertise to the sustainable agriculture effort.
“We did that by talking to people and we have concluded there is a role for us. We can train lawyers in ways they need to go out and provide legal and policy help. Right now there aren’t enough lawyers doing this, and I think we can help place our students in this effort,” he said.
During one panel discussion, Amy Shollenberger, director of Rural Vermont, noted that VLS students provided critical research to help in the recent passage of the “chicken bill,” which allows poultry producers to slaughter up to 1,000 birds on the farm and sell whole birds at farmers’ markets and to restaurants.
The bill’s approval in the State House was vital to Vermont farmers who are furthering their quest for sustainability in meat processing, said Shollenberger, whose organization works for economic justice for family farmers. She noted that during the first year the law was in place, 25 vendors sold poultry at a dozen summer markets and at four winter markets.
The passage of that law rested largely on the notion that federal law allowed for such efforts and the VLS students did painstaking research to prove this, Shollenberger said.
The conference wrapped up with a visit to the nearby Hurricane Flats farm, where owner Geo Honigford shared some of the secrets of his viable organic farming business. His knees bore the dirt of the soil.
Standing in a field of peppers, corn, garlic, melons, and plenty more, Honigford spelled out his marketing plan in a most pragmatic way. The bottom line, he told conference-goers: farmers need to market themselves, be business savvy, and not get caught up in unnecessary investments and practices that take more time than they’re worth.
“If you’re not making money,” said the schoolteacher-turned-farmer, “you’re not sustainable.”
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