Too Many People

It is rare to hear environmentalists much less politicians talk about the real environmental problem. Instead we hear about mitigate this or mitigate that and little about the fact there are too many people on this planet for the resources the good mother earth gave us. All one needs to do is look to the first two laws of thermodynamics to see that we're on a path of inevitable destruction. The first states that matter can neither be created or destroyed. The second law states that energy--the stuff that comes from matter and energy--gradually deteriorates over time. That is it gets transformed from usable to unusable forms.

We're on a path of rapid deterioration where not only are we using up resources that have available energy--trees, oil, clean air, clean water--but we're binding them up into unusable forms. At some point we'll pull up to the proverbial pump and there'll be nothing in the tank.

Right now we're seeing the skyrocketing of global food prices that are exacerbated by reactionary food policy in desperate countries. Food prices increase because of countries clamping down on distribution forced by importers clamping down. This results in shortages, and the law of supply and demand kicks and prices rise forcing people to essentially go without or riot.

The point of this is not to dissect food policy for individual countries or place blame in any one spot. It can't be. Our current situation is a global problem, not a local one. But it can be solved with local solutions. As our ability to plunder nature for the things our capitalist society needs is reduced, we're forced--for better or worse--into a situation of reexamining self-sufficiency. Instead of lawns we should plant gardens; instead of cars, we should ride bikes; instead of driving an hour to nearest WalMart, we need to shop local; and if we fight to protect our own backyards not from some foreign invader but from our own shortsightedness, we will hopefully create a backyard that'll be around in 100 years.

But the simple fact remains that there are too many people and at some point we'll just run out of resources if things continue. We're already seeing it today. What happens when the population doubles by the year 2050? What happens to all the creatures of the world that also depend on clean air and clean water and safe haven for survival? They have no choice. Rising global food prices are just the tip of the iceberg. We can only conserve ourself so far before there's nothing left to conserve. We need to use less, a lot less, and encourage negative population growth. Hoping we can tweak a broken capitalistic society that is so dependent on the human and increasing human population is just a recipe for a global environmental disaster waiting to happen. The storm clouds are gathering. And while we can only blame ourselves the current problems, we are also the solution. So, go forth and plant tomatoes, compost those rotten veggies. Free some energy. Your lawnmower will thank you later. So will humanity.

Food Safety 101

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to the breadbasket of America only to read on MSNBC that reported cases of foodborne illnesses in leafy greens have been rising over the past 35 years. And this is disproportionate to increases in fresh salad and greens consumption. In other words, the food we eat is getting more dangerous each day. Just think about [I won't bore you by listing them] the numerous "problems" that have been reported over the past two years alone. Most recently, the use of downer cows and inhumane treatment by one beef production company resulted in the largest recall of beef in US history. Now, there weren't any foodborne illness issues reported by the consumption of the meat involved in that recall, but the door was wide open not just for E. coli but also mad cow disease.

What's that have to do with my trip? Well, there I was in a region of the country known for cattle ranches, vast expanses of corn, and amber waves of grain, and I couldn't find a decent meal to eat. Several people in our party actually got sick. How in the world, when you're in a region with so much food production could you not find a decent, safe meal? It is because the vast majority of our population have been trained to treat food like a commodity. A secondary part of our being. My view is that we all need to eat to survive, so why should we eat bad food? I'm not talking sushi and kobe beef every week, just good, clean food. Not only do our consumers need to think differently, but the producers of the vast quantities of our food--the ADMs and Cargills of the world--need to think differently. The state of our national food supply is why organics, CSAs, vegetarianism, and other here-to-stay food trends are so popular. People are beginning to distrust our food supply.

But not everyone has access to a CSA or organic food store. These are still elitist ideas to many Americans. In fact, many of the people that actually grow our food can't afford to buy anything but commodified food, and they don't grow anything they can eat because of how our current farm system is designed. Paying more for food will help, so will more and better government oversight. But basically we need more local food education. Education about the wheres, whys, hows, whos, and whats of food. Our diets would be healthier, safer, and more enjoyable than they are. We shouldn't have to process downer cows, and if we had a more humane food production system, we wouldn't have them. Likewise, leafy greens should be a no brainer part of any diet...not a "I wonder if this'll kill me today part."

Local: know your roots.

Keepin' It Local, Folks!

The following article was written by Karin Ursula Edmondson for the Catskill Mountain Guide magazine (January, 2008). It is posted here with permission from the Catskill Mountain Foundation. For more information, please go to Catskill Mountain Foundation

“I think we fundamentally need to change the way our society works,
and how we interact with the natural world around us…
the model that we currently function under has become so focused on economic development, over and above everything else, that it doesn’t include
any accounting for impacts on water and air and health and communities.
It is not sustainable. It is not an accurate depiction of the health of communities, landscapes or human beings…(our) mission now is to be part of helping society to change the way we look at measuring what is a healthy community…”
– Andy Turner, Executive Director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension
of Greene County & Agroforestry Resource Center

The old adage Tis not what you know but whom has resonant meaning in rural life.
Within a week of moving into a two bedroom cottage (with working field stone fireplace) in North Lexington, a neighbor and friend of mine dropped off a burn barrel for me. The profundity of my happiness and thankfulness would have prompted city folks to assume Mike had left a pair of Jimmy Choo's or a Hermes Birkin bag in my driveway. Neighborly relations matter in the country. Folks know each others’ business – good and bad – but that is a direct result of living in a small community where going it alone doesn’t work all that well. In the country 911 response time is longer than in the city. Chances are a neighbor (with or without a shotgun) will arrive faster than the state trooper. Community counts in the country. Essayist Wendell Berry enobles rural communities, especially local culture as the antidote to the apathy, alienation and cultural ennui that saturates modern life. Local folk are in each other’s business. “When a community loses its memory, its members no longer know one another. How can they know one another if they have forgotten or never learned one another’s stories? If they do not know one another’s stories, how can they know whether or not to trust one another? People who do not trust one another do not help one another, and moreover, they fear one another.” (Berry, Wendell. What Are People For. North Point Press, New York. P. 157.)
Sustainable farmland and rural social cohesion are intimately related. Perhaps, the ever increasing alienation from one another spurs a profound and urgent need for interaction with a real live warm human being and accounts for the burgeoning popularity of farm markets, farm stands, even a haute barnyard cuisine? A farmer answers questions about crop and livestock management methods on the spot. No seeking and asking an elegantly bored sales associate or listless stock boy about domain, provenance, method of production or otherwise. Farmland is an integral part of the rural community whole. Like any other component of a rural community – butcher store, hardware, mechanic, general - a small family farm could not exist outside of the cohesive fabric of the community. Thus, in essence, when there is talk of saving a farm the core of the matter is saving rural character and with it, a community in a rural place – similar to the Marbletown Green debate a few months ago in Stone Ridge.

Stone Ridge Orchard

Stone Ridge Orchard occupies land that has been farmed in one manner or another for two hundred years – essentially a vital part of the adjacent village of Stone Ridge. Since the early 1800s the farm land has been part and parcel of the Hasbrouck House, a stone house in the Dutch style, estimated built between 1800 and 1820. Benjamin Hasbrouck farmed the 170 acres quite prosperously. Some of his crops: potatoes, winter wheat, rye, corn, buckwheat, oats, apples, honey. Livestock included: meat cattle and milch (Dutch for milk) cattle, swine and poultry. The town agricultural statistics reveal that when farmed, the land increased in value over thirty-three years. Interestingly enough, after Benjamin’s death and the subsequent property transfer to a wealthy New York City relative – a pool builder by trade - who turned the property into a country seat, the land value dropped. “…the pool was the last major addition to the properties. In many ways it may have well been the most significant addition for it transformed the lands from a working dairy farm into country seat.”
1839-1840 - farmed land value $5,250
1854-1855 –farmed land value $8,000
1870 – farmed land value $15,000
1874 – farmed land value $14,000
1901 – not farmed land value $11,000
What does one do at a country seat anyway? Cocktail? Socialize. Perfect the air kiss? Golf – probably. Nothing productive. Nothing creationary. This warrants attention. Perhaps, real estate of a certain kind – that builds airy manses prettified with cookie cutter exotic landscaping – might only appear to have substantial value in the now. But what about long-term? If no one works the land, how much value does the land retain? The corollary: if a nation cannot feed itself, what happens to the security of the nation?
Since 2000 Mike Biltonen, a Cornell educated farmer, orchardman and pomologist (apple expert) has managed the Stone Ridge Orchard leasing the land (his lease expires in 2008) from the current owners of the Hasbrouck House. This past summer, the owners, citing “lack of profitability’ of the orchard, made overtures to sell the orchard land so that Marbletown Green might be built. Marbletown Green being a euphemism for yet another (yawn, sigh) large-scale and un-green housing development. Marbletown residents rallied in opposition and managed to defeat the sale. However, the owners still wish to sell the land even though comparing profits from an orchard to profits from a real estate deal is like comparing currants to wine grapes. Impossible and a bit, ludicrous. Even with an impressive and lengthy client list (3 pages typed in 10 font) that includes every one of the Whole Foods and Balduccis in New York City (and White Plains and Greenwich), premier New York City restaurants like Blue Ribbon, Café Gray, Cookshop, Craft, Grammercy Tavern, Manhattan Fruitier, Pure Food and Wine, Murray’s Cheese, The Spotted Pig, The Riverdale Garden and revered educational institutions Columbia University, Vassar Collage and the Culinary Institute of America – Stone Ridge Orchard’s profits cannot compete with the monies received from a real estate transaction of 116 bucolic acres a mere ninety minutes north of New York City. In 2007 Stone Ridge Orchard has been featured on Sally Spillane’s Garden Show on WKZE and CBS News and Whole Foods Union Square produce department journeyed to Stone Ridge for a tour of the orchard and farm.
“This land needs a dedicated farmer who knows what the orchard and the farm needs. My vision is to see that it remains so for another 200 years,” says Mike. Intuiting that the Stone Ridge community opposition against the housing development is indicative of something deeper, more elemental, Mike is now seeking to raise funds to purchase the land and create the Shawangunk Region Farmland Institute (SRFI) to synergize with the orchard. SRFI’s mission is energized around three values: Continuity, Cohesion and Community. “The recent debates on development has clarified for all of us that the larger issue at hand for our township is not one large-scale housing development. It is how our township handles its need for economic viability without sacrificing the rural values of continuity, cohesion and closeness that make Marbletown unique.” Mike hopes that SRFI will serve as a “creative option to larger global dynamics” in rural American communities. “As part of its journey I believe that Stone Ridge Orchard should become a commercial-educational beacon [a subset of SRFI] for farming in a region where development and economic pressures are forcing farmers out of business and dramatically reducing the agricultural land base. By transforming Stone Ridge Orchard into an example of a highly productive and innovative commercial farm, the solutions to the problems that many growers face can be clarified and refined so that there is viable future for all farms and farmers for the indefinite future.”
Mike’s plans for Stone Ridge Orchard are multi-faceted, reflecting the cross-disciplinary planning team – farmer, ad agency, architect and landscape designer - involved in its realization. Think Tank 3, “a modern day think shop based in NYC created specifically for clients who want advertising, respect design, believe in branding but not blanding” is helmed by folks “who care about the issues and love food and believed in what Mike was doing.” Think Tank 3 President, Harris Silver: “One of the first things we did was frame the issue and create a positioning for Stone Ridge Orchard. Buy Local is used by everyone from local farm stands to the Stone Barns Center for Agriculture and is now so generic that it lacks any real meaning. There are issues that consumers don't really understand - like organic which has been co-opted by corporate interests. Consumers have this unrealistic notion of organic farmers as barefooted people taking care of plants and don't understand that organic crops –as defined by the USDA and practiced by large-scale so-called organic farms – can be sprayed by "approved" pesticides and can be grown in a mono-culture. Food miles and food safety were two other issues we needed to address. We wanted to clarify reasons to buy local, to illuminate the deeper understanding that although the food might not be certified organic, consumers can trust it and to convince people that the choice between organic and local sustainable agriculture is a critical choice to make. The positioning for Stone Ridge Orchard we created was ‘Know Your Roots.’ We are now starting to think it might be much bigger than a tagline for one orchard but perhaps a movement that other growers and maybe even manufacturers and restaurants can rally behind. A trusted seal of approval for food, if you will. Whatever happens Stone Ridge Orchard will be credited with starting the whole thing as they should be.” And sales, profits, viability? “The orchard has seen double digit growth in sales with the new packaging in cider and berries. And tomato sales are through the roof.” Stone Ridge Orchard was the first orchard account for Think Tank 3 and despite “frequent sleepless nights this past summer, being a part of saving the orchard is very satisfying. Everyone here loves the work, loves working on the account. And the feedback we get from this work is just fantastic.”
The long term plan involves adapting the existing orchard buildings to other purposes including an open air farmers market with an en plein air plaza, dormitories for folks interested in taking pomology classes that will allow them to work alongside Mike in the orchard, a certified kitchen for value-added products (salsas, chutneys, jams), a cider exhibit hall and the building of a new production facility that would also house SRFI. A new building will be constructed to green specifications and the entire complex will incorporate current sustainable living technology like rainwater collection cisterns, a geothermal heating and cooling system, solar panels and chickens. “The chickens serve two purposes,” says Mike. “It’s hard to get really good eggs these days and, chickens eat a harmful pest called plum curculio weevil that lives at woodland edges.” Plans include community gardens. Landscape design elements will take their cue from the orchard’s organizing axial geometry – the inherent agricultural rhythm of the evenly spaced apple trees. Apple is the orchard’s raison d’etre in the now and so shall the apple tree embrace the community gardens – an old stock apple tree marking each corner of the garden – a nod to the classic French potager. Discussions have been held to recycle old apple crates and pallets through artistic metamorphoses into benches and tables. But the core of it all centers around the necessity that Stone Ridge Orchard remains a productive, working farm that grows great tasting ecologically grown food.
“There has to be an open time line to make changes agriculturally, taking out old orchard, building up soil, diversifying, extending the growing season via hoop houses and cold frames high tunnels. There will be numerous varieties within each category. All will be heirloom to the greatest degree. All will be grown organically or biodynamically, even though we will not be able to certify all crops organically grown next year. Creative farming is what it’s all about. It’s been hard for me to diversify away from apples since I love growing them. Creative farming and creative farmers are those that think and operate out of the box yet definitively not with a ‘petting zoo’ mentality, but in a cohesive ‘what’s best for farming, my neighbors, and the community’ sort of way. Many of our actions in farming are constrained by the environment around us. In a time when global climate change and other forces are changing how, what, and where we farm, there is much that farmers can do to ameliorate those issues. Ultimately, it means changing the nature of farming.”
Stone Ridge Orchard’s 2008 crop list includes apples, Asian pears, basil, bok choi, apple ciders-still & sparkling, nectarines, peaches, Italian plums, red, yellow and black raspberries, red currants, spinach, strawberries, sweet corn, Swiss chard, tatsoi, tomatoes, melons, beets, broccoli, carrots, popcorn, mizuna, thyme, coriander, parsley, hot and sweet peppers and summer and fall squash. Mike plans to move to biodynamic from organic on much of the acreage, and hopes to obtain NOFA certification within three years on all of the apple acreage. Mike is also keen to extend the growing season with high tunnels, develop disease resistant apples and “generally allow nature to manage pests more than we have.” Some methods of natural pest management include smothering weeds, complete composting of apple leaves, cover crops under the tree canopy. “Our production will all be organic or biodynamic in nature by 2011. Apples will be the center of our universe for the indefinite future, though in ten years time I envision Stone Ridge Orchard a highly diversified, innovative fruit and vegetable farm that grows and markets for commercial scale customers. I do not want Stone Ridge Orchard to become either a museum piece or a classroom per se. It needs to reflect its past and reveal its future while realizing that the bulk of the region’s people will be still buy their food in grocery stores, and that the vast majority of folks will never set foot on a farm that grows their food. Though we seek to resolve those problems, too.”

Contact Information
For folks interested in receiving information about investing in the Shawangunk Region Farmland Institute (SRFI) – still in the formative stages – please call Mike Biltonen directly at 845. 687. 2587 or email him at mike@stoneridgeorchard.com . Stone Ridge Orchard will launch a redesigned Online Store in March 2008 where folks can order produce in season, cider, and apparel. Stone Ridge Orchard is located on Route 213 in Stone Ridge, New York 12484. 845. 687 2587. www.stoneridgeorchard.com

The Real Costs of Food II

In my last blog, I made a statement that for a while local food is going to cost more than your average grocery store alternatives, and it should, because food in general has cost far too little for too long. My point was not that food, or anything else for that matter, that is more expensive is better simply because you shell out more money for it. Eveything, and especially food, should reflect the real costs that went into producing it. Food, the sustenance of our bodies, has such a profound effect on us and the world we live in, that the price we pay for food should include all costs. I suspect that over time, as global transportation becomes more expensive and the costs of food production more normalized around the world, the cost of producing food right around your corner will be cheaper than something produced half a world away. This is as good a reason this morning to protect open space and preserve local farms. Once they are gone, they can't be brought back. And since my supposition is that what goes around comes around. Then once the basic need for local food production comes home to roost, we need some open ground to plant those seeds. But for today, it costs more to grow food locally than abroad....at least as defined by the ring at the register. The long term survivial of our communities requires us to look past the short term savings and support your local farmers by paying a little bit more. You'll appreciate it tomorrow and so will your kids. That's all I am saying.

The Real Costs of Food

It probably comes as no surprise, but if you are an average consumer then the cost of your daily diet is more than what you pay at the cash register. Sure the food on your average grocery store shelf comes with a price tag, but it doesn't tell you all of the other "costs" that went into growing, processing, storing, & getting it to you, all while lining the pockets of large agribusiness companies. The government subsidies--direct and otherwise--that are actually your taxes, plus increased carbon emissions, poor diets, degraded planet, and destroyed cultures all have real costs that don't get calculated into the price you pay. This is all the result of bad food and farm policy in the 20th century now exacerbated by global politics and a push for 'cheaper'.

If the farms and the regional food supply [aka Local food] everyone has taken a recent interest in are to survive over the long term, consumers need to realize that food is simply going to cost more. It should. It has cost far too little for far too long. Just compare what we pay with what people in other country's pay. Our entire food system has been set up so that your average expectation is that food should be cheap. But it is not. And if you add up all of the external costs of that cheap loaf of bread, the price you pay is really much higher than what you take out of your wallet or pocket book.

Choosing local food is different than making a choice between a Ferrari and a Hyundai. With a Ferrari the high price tag is a result of artisanship, performance and perceived value. Yet a Hyundai will also get you from point A to Point B, just not as fast or in as much style. So if the basis for our discussion is purely transportation [or calories if we're talking food], then maybe a cheap loaf of bread is all you need. If we're talking about getting their fast, then of course the Ferrari is the obvious choice. But if we're making a broader, philosophical choice [what's better for me and the world around me], then we're making an entirely different choice. It is not just a choice of calorie source or excitement, but of other values as well.

Locally produced food also comes with added values. When one chooses--or considers choosing--local food it as if you're now throwing something unconventional into the mix. It is like saying, OK now you can choose either a Hyundai, a Ferrari, or a Segway. It is an entirely different thought process and value system that causes someone to purchase local food or use a Segway. You can get calories anywhere; you can get cheap food at any big box store; heck, you can even probably get luxury foods around the corner. But with local foods you can only get them locally. That added value of locally grown has benefits that can't be provided by the cheaper global versions.

The cost of local food is real and here to stay [most likely]. The real question is whether consumers, your average consumers, are willing to pay more now [and keep their money circulating in the local community] or pay less and see their money fly away. Remember the next time you buy food from a local farmer you're also buying open space, scenic vistas, clean air and water, and the chance to eat good, healthy, real food. Sure, the price you pay for local food may be higher, but it is a price based on costs that are real and upfront. Then again, so is the food. Yum!

OUCH-burgers!

I think I am going to start a new program called "Know Your Steer, or toy maker, or dog food manufacturer, or something." But I am getting not only tired but fearful of what all these recalls are going to do to farmers and our domestic food supply. I am even more worried about what it is going to do to people trying to eat a healthy diet. Even though the recalls we've seen and heard about all season emanate from huge multinational companies and/or places like China, these things always have a backlash that impacts those that can least afford it....like your local farmer. Last week, I spent a good portion of my time, not farming, but polishing off a HACCP plan for our cider operation. What's HACCP? Why, it is Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points. Still not clear? It is the last line of defense in our cider making operation against the introduction of any possible contaminants like e. coli. There are "critical control points" in every food manufacturing plant; places where biological or chemical contaminants can enter the food stream and create the recalls we're seeing now. However, the one commonality I am seeing with these recalls is that they are coming from companies that are so huge that one [me for example] wonders how any reasonable oversight can be expected. Read the Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan] for the low-down on how your typical steer/cow becomes hamburger and you'll understand how easily contamination and subsequent recalls can occur. Unfortunately, people also get hurt in the process. We saw this with Earthbound Farms spinach recalls of last year. In this case, even the USDA seal of ORGANIC can't prevent bacterial contamination when the path from farm to plate starts at what amounts to a compromised nuclear power plant with one person manning the "kill" switch. Something is bound to get through.

But when your "source" is the farmer down the road, it is a whole lot easier to make sure the process is never compromised. That doesn't mean there's absolute assurance, but pretty darn close. When it is Cargill, who the hell do you call to complain? You just hope that burger you ate wasn't from the Lot # recalled. Even then if it was you gut it out [no pun intended].

Here at Stone Ridge Orchard we just started harvesting spinach and other greens. My biggest concern was how the consumer would react. Not that I was significantly concerned but it did cross my mind. I knew that I had control over my employees and the food safety practices at my farm. But there is the ever threatening cloud of commercial food f*ck ups that creates an ever increasing thicket of bureaucracy and make it difficult for the small grower.

I started this blog by talking about knowing your steer. Yesterday I had the opportunity to the spend the day at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY. We got up close with the whole production team and even some of the animals. It was a treat. You'll never get that kind of access with a Cargill cow or a piece of Earthbound Farms spinach. It is so important to get to know your farmers. It is equally important to get to know their crops and the animals they raise. This is the ultimate in food knowledge. Up close and personal. I have just finished designing a workshop I am offering here at Stone Ridge Orchard next year called the Yen of Apple Growing. It gives folks with the desire to get up close and personal with the orchard and the fruit. It gives them opportunity to not only work with me, but to get a glimpse at what goes into growing apples and discuss food production in general. There is no better way to Know Your Roots than to visit a local farm and shake the hand of the person that grew your dinner. Oh, please only eat Happy Cows. You'll feel better in the morning.
So what are you waiting for?

**If you're interested in the workshop, please contact me at mike@stoneridgeorchard.com.

The Yen of Apple Growing

I had no idea growing up that I wanted to farm for a living. As a product of suburbia, farming was just about the furthest thing from my mind. I had some idea of what farming was all about, but basically I just liked the outdoors. Then in the Spring of 1984, I took a job as a field hand at one of Virginia’s oldest & largest orchards. With nearly 1500 acres of apples and peaches to tend to, it quickly became the hardest job I ever loved. And I never looked back.

These days, opportunities like mine are rare to find, especially without a complete lifestyle change. Yet more and more folks are interested in how their food is grown; by whom; & where. This season, I came up with an idea that would give people the opportunity to try out the farming lifestyle without actually giving up the lives they had chosen. Over the course of six weekends spanning the year and within the coziness of one of the Hudson Valley’s finest orchards, you can work side by wide with me to learn the basics of apple growing. Everyone would learn about the ecology of orchards, practice the art & science of pomology, grow & then harvest their very own apples.

The workshops begin in February with some classroom prep. In early Spring we set out to begin growing some apples. Each attendee will be “given” 10 trees to nurture and practice on throughout the year. (Don’t worry we’ll take care of them while you’re away.) Over the next nine months, you’ll learn how to prune, fertilize, deal with insects and diseases, determine apple ripeness, and then how to pick and store your own crop of apples. At the end of the course—and at times in between—we’ll enjoy the bounty of the season as we get to know each other and the orchard. Each workshop session has something special planned—like a cooking or processing class—to enhance the experience.

Although I have two degrees in horticulture, I am really just someone who really loves apples, and want to help you in the Yen of Apple Growing. If you have ever thought about growing apples in your backyard or even starting a small orchard, then this workshop is a great place to start.

So if you're interested in the workshop, please call or email me ASAP.

mike@stoneridgeorchard.com
845.687.2587