Why we elected to NOT be "Certified Organic" by the USDA.

You can't count on the Federal government. We believe in Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) which is supported by our certification agency, Certified Naturally Grown. Read the following press release from the Ludington Daily News today to see what I mean: "WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Agriculture has failed to enforce penalties against some who falsely marketed foods as organic, according to an internal department investigation. A report by the agency's inspector general says the agency needs to step up enforcement of those who sell products under the "USDA Organic" label but do not meet government standards to do so. The report says the department has made improvements in maintaining the integrity of the organic program in recent years, but needs to better handle complaints about potential violators. Oversight of the organic program has become more important and more scrutinized as the industry has exploded in popularity over the last decade, growing 14 percent to 21 percent annually with sales of $24.6 billion in 2008. As more companies have vied to be part of the business, critics have charged that the government has not been restrictive enough in what it allows to be labeled as organic. The internal report says the department has failed to monitor some companies it had already identified as improperly marketing their products as organic. In one case, the department never issued enforcement action against an operation that had marketed non-organic mint under the department's label for two years. Enforcement action can simply be an agreement to correct the problem or can be more severe, including revocation of an operation's organic certification or cash penalties. In some cases, the report said, it took more than two years for the department to issue enforcement action while the companies continued to falsely market their products. The report also said the department was not processing complaints about the program fast enough and that agents charged with certifying organic operations were not following consistent rules." Peacefield Farm is now CERTIFIED NATURALLY GROWN by the organization of the same name. Certified Naturally Grown is based on the "Participatory Guarantee System" model of certification. An estimated ten thousand farmers worldwide participate in this type of peer-review certification program.  Click here to learn more about CNG
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WINTER READING

Lorrie and I have read some LIFE CHANGING books this winter:

                        Closing the Food Gap, Mark Winne

                        Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen

                        Stones into Schools, same author

Have you read any of them?

Closing The Food Gap is all about getting food to those at the poverty level. Mark Winne has 30 years experience with that sector of the economy. It peaks my interest because it is in line with one of our goals for Peacefield Farm, namely, to provide produce for the poor, indigent, un-employed, under-employed. Everyone deserves nutrient-dense, wholesome, healthy food, no matter where you live in our society.

Greg Mortensen has become a humanitarian over the past 15 years building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Over 125 so far! All with PRIVATE MONEY, not a dime of public funds! If you’ve not read his two books, get a hold of them. They will make you sit up and take notice of a non-military way to defeat the Taliban. 

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CSA SIGNUP

Lorrie and Rich want to thank all those who signed up for our FARMERS MARKET CSA. The deadline for signing up is now past (expired March 1st), so we are accepting no more registrations for 2010. We are excited to receive the support of many families and couples who made an early commitment to our growing farm enterprise. They can look forward to coming to the Ludington or Pentwater Farmer’s Markets this spring, summer and fall and picking out their produce (or strawberries!) without having to bring any money to the market. Their produce is pre-paid. Thanks so much! Save this BLOG to your “favorites bar”; revisit often as the blog will be updated frequently! Remember: the Ludington Market is on Friday’s, starting May 7, from 3 – 8 pm and the Pentwater Market is on both Monday’s and Thursday’s, starting May 31, from 10 am – 2 pm. See you there!

You Vote Three times A Day

Your Peacefield Farm farmers went to a farm conference this past weekend at MSU in Lansing. It’s called the Michigan Organic Conference (MOC); we’ve attended several years now. And we never walk away empty-handed. That was especially so this year. The conference theme this year was about GMO & non-GMO food.

It made us sit up and take note. Previously, we had not paid too much attention to GMO’s in food, thinking it wasn’t all that bad. But, boy, did we get a wake up call.
GMO’s are in four basic foods: corn, cotton, soy and canola. And, of course, those GMO’s are in all the food products made from those four basic foods.

Monsanto is the largest company that supports GMO’s; they have the biggest staff of researcher’s and attorney’s who are working 24/7 to get Roundup Ready or Bt into corn, cotton, soy or canola.

What can you do?
There is an organization called the Center for Food Safety that is THE ONE SOURCE in America for the fight against GMO in your foods. Their web site is True Food Now

They are a non-profit and you’ll see by looking at their site that they are everywhere trying to rid GMO’s from our food.

You can help by writing Congress-persons about GMO’s in your food at Write My Congressman