Can we Sustain Sustainable Agriculture

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Can we Sustain Sustainable Agriculture?

• A Comparative study of small scale organic
  producer-suppliers in Canada and the UK

Dr. Larch Juckes Maxey, Department of Geography
University
of Wales Swansea
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Outline of Presentation

• Introducing the Research
• Locating The Case Studies
• Common Experiences Across Continents
• Producer Identified Barriers and Solutions
• Policy Responses
• Personal Responses

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Research Background

• Sustainability Research and Practice for 10 years
• Participant Observation with case studies in
  Canada and the UK since 1998
• e.g. declare my interest (5/annum) in OTG!!
• Participant Observation raised questions
• Viability of small scale organic production?
• Role in sustainable agriculture?
• Experiences of producer/suppliers?
• Lessons drawn?
• Policy and Other Changes?
• In-depth interviews and PO

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Pathways to Sustainable Agriculture

• Old School
• I think when you were 15 going back 35, 36
  years, most farmers sons were almost expected to
  carry on the business. Brian Jeffries, Crickton
  Farm (3rd generation farmer)
• New Starts City Kids (Alvero Venturelli, Plan
  B)
• Different learning curves
• most acute amongst New Starts, yet
• Sams first delivery of leeks to us ten years
  ago arrived in a washing machine box and they
  were 6 feet tall! (Mary-Lou Morgan, FoodShare)

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Common Experiences

• Living Simply, Working Poor -15 000/yr
  (Canadian)
• Range Ed/Rog vs. Plain People (Old
  Order Menonites) yet common to all
• keeping our expenses low is another way of
  making money, right? (Gavin Dandy, Everdale
  Farm)
• Minimum wage?

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Motivations

• Broadly shared
• Old School like growing/meeting customers
• New School
• Clean, Carbon Neutral Food Ed Revil, Jade Gate)
• We all eat so well, its really fresh, organic
  produce (Alvero Venturelli, Plan B)
• My main focus is to support growers, its not
  that I dont like customers, but consumers have
  too much power. Also, because Im interested in
  growing and I want to support other people whore
  growing, as its a challenging life choice.
  (Roger Hallam, OTG)

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Shared Ethos

• Independent
• Love of growing
• Connected with seasons/weather/outdoors
• Hard Working (60-100 hours/week)
• Spiritual Dimension (unexpected, not all)
• Innovative and dynamic common to all !!
• Despite this all were highly vulnerable -
• 1-2 problems coinciding threatened the farm loss
  of heart, rather than loss of money!

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Barriers and Solutions

• Supermarkets and Industrial Agriculture
• Its just being squeezed by the supermarkets.
  (Brian Jeffries, Crickton Farm)
• Asymmetrical power relations farmers vs.
  supermarkets
• Including Organic Produce growth within
  Supermarkets
• The big chains are increasingly handling
  organics and trying hard to push them from a
  product to a commodity, as soon as its a
  commodity you need to shift volume, whereas with
  a product you have a greater margin. (Sam
  Bowman, Ontario).
• Answer Direct Supply Networks CSA, Box Schemes,
  Farmers Markets, etc

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Complicity of Organic Certification Bodies

• expensive (250-500/yr)
• too much paperwork
• sense of being watched, not trusted
• Also pushing the Industrial Agricultural agenda,
  from Organic Crop Processors and Producers (OCPP)
  to Soil Association
• Answer Smaller certification bodies, run by
  active farmers e.g. www.Demeter.net ?

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Consumers Attitudes

• Shaped by marketing
• I had a customer this morning and he said oh,
  Im going on holiday to Mallorca, and he had a
  nice new car, and those are the main priorities.
  They wouldnt give up their holidays to buy food
  for 52 weeks of the year thats better quality
  food. (Brian Jeffires, Crickton Farm)
• Answer Education, through schools and
  distribution mechanisms, CSA, etc.
• Building customer loyalty over time with sharp
  produce (Alvero Venturelli, Plan B)

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Labour Costs and Skill

• Lots of people dont work fast enough, weve
  lost the skills base and horticultural traditions
  since everyone switched from mixed farms to dairy
  after the War. (Roger Hallam, OTG.)
• Answers
• Apprenticeships e.g. Everdale Farm!
• Planning Regulations to allow Low Impact
  Accomodation for volunteers/farm labour

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Subsidies

• Participants universally called for less
  government intervention, not more
• Remove all subsidies, level playing field rather
  than add token subsidies for organic

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Policy Responses I

• Greater control of Supermarkets Planning Law,
  Competitive Practices, Ban Loss Leaders, etc.
• The Monopolies Commission should break them up
  (Roger Hallam, OTG)
• Support for Marketing as important as growing
• End export of externalities
• If were going to use agro-chemicals we should
  make them in the middle of London, not Bhopal
  (Ed Revil, Jade Gate)
• Ecological-Tax Reform
• e.g. Aviation Tax vs. Taxing
  Labourers!

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Policy Responses II

• Oppose GATS proposed further liberalisation of
  the Retail sector
• Honest Labelling
• 1)I shouldnt have to pay the Soil Association
  500/year for putting nothing into my food, all
  food should be labelled, what pesticides it has
  in it, what GM ingredients it has, everything
  should be fully labelled. (Ed Revil, Jade Gate)
• 2)Sustainable vs. Organic food label and
  certification e.g. FoodShares Eco-Label
• 3)Farm Gate Price shown too (France Stickers in
  UK!)

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Personal Responses I

• Joint ventures e.g. farmers co-ops for
  distribution and marketing
• Grow your own - from sprouting at home to
  supporting allotments!
• Buy local, seasonal, fresh food
• Buy beyond supermarkets from local shops
  markets through CSA/box schemes to setting
  up/joining Food Coops!

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Personal Responses II

• Educate yourself and others about food
• Lobby your employer, council, schools, etc to
  adopt a sustainable food procurement policy
• Find, visit and support your local farms!
• Invest in Radical Routes/OTG!
• 500-10 000 for 3 months up to 4.5

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• Dr. Larch Juckes Maxey
• Department of Geography
• University of Wales Swansea
• Larch_at_Sundancerenewables.org.uk
• 0845 456 0172