10—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 2, 1972)
Organic farming adherents, many of
them, are claiming that a revolution is at
hand. The day is imminent, they say, when
the American public will forsake its bland
white bread, its chemically saturated hot
dogs, its addicting soft drinks, and embrace
the organic philosophy of eating "whole,
natural foods".
The apocalypse will be swift and mer
ciless, they say. In its wake will be the ruins
of the American "agribusiness establish
ment". Gone will be the dietary chains
which have bound our entire population
since the early part of the century to that
most feared of apocalyptic horsemen,
Death. People will feel better, live longer
and enjoy themselves more after the
organic revolution. Or so we’re told.
This writer is not yet wizened, and only
slightly gray. Yet we remember countless
progmstications of doom just around the
corner. It seems every day the world
survives the unsurvivable. Among the
awesomely destructive agents which
haven’t destroyed us are the atomic bomb,
pollution, dirty movies, junk mail, cars,
overpopulation, Communists, Con
stitutionalists, Republicans and
Democrats.
If the world can survive these, it can
surely survive hot dogs containing pig
snouts. It can survive BHT in packaging
material, and it can cope with Coca-Cola
and Dr. Pepper. And, yes, the world can
even survive loaves of bread which are
nutritional ciphers.
We do not see a revolution in the
supermarket. Nor do we see a need for one.
Nor do we agree with the reasoning that
would shut off the most abundantly flowing
food production system the world has ever
seen. This country will not, cannot and
should not make an abrupt, complete
change to organic farming and con
sumption.
The purpose of this editorial, though, is
not to denigrate the people who farm
organically, or the people who eat organic
foods. Our aim is to attempt an objective
assessment of the potential for a viable
production marketing complex here for
organic produce.
It is a fact that people are eating more
and more organic foods. And it is a fact that
OXFORD, NEBR., STANDARD: "The
reason they say the income tax is the
fairest tax of all is that it gives every in
dividual an even chance at poverty."
CLAREMONT, MINN., NEWS; “With the
dozens of politicians wooing voters this
year with rosy promises of benefits you’ll
reap if he is elected-just remember a
politician can’t give you anything unless he
first takes away from someone else. Any
political promise has as much substance as
a wisp of smoke”
CHEROKEE, OKLA., REPUBLICAN:
‘‘Every hometown is ‘Our Town’... good or
bad . . clean or stinking . . growing or
going to pot... because we are a part of it
and responsible for its success or failure...
It is high time that we drop the ‘Why don’t
“They” do something' and substitute ‘Why
don’t "WE” d 0... ’ for our town .. state...
and nation.”
McMinnville, tenn., southern
STANDARD: “Americans are usually
tolerant with those who do their thing or
push their views with due respect and
Organic Farming -
An Opportunity?
Grassroots Opinions
when people consume a product, they
create a demand for that product. This is
not the place to examine the reasons why
people eat organic produce. Suffice it to say
that we believe those reasons are durable
enough to support a viable, growing
market for speciality items.
Mushroom farmers in Chester County
have demonstrated the economic sound
ness of producing for a special market.
They are being threatened now by im
ported mushrooms, true, but it doesn’t
seem likely that this experience could be
repeated in the organic marketplace.
There are many farmers in the area
already farming organically. At the
moment, they have no convenient outlet
for their produce. Organically grown wheat,
for example, is simply mixed with the wheat
from other farms at the mill. Organic foods
command a higher price in the store. That
fact should be recognized in higher
payments to farmers who farm organically,
if only because they must, of necessity,
work harder at producing a crop.
Organic producers who put their crops
into normal distribution channels are
depriving themselves of the premium they
could be earning. At .the moment, un
fortunately, they often have no choice.
For those who farm organically, and for
those who’d like to, there's a possible
answer to this dilemma. It’s called the
Lancaster County Organic Farming
Association, an idea proposed by Kevin
Carroll and Jack Kirtner, co-owners of the
Organic Market, 601 W. Lemon St., Lan
caster.
Carroll and Kirtner have scheduled an
organizational meeting for January 23 at
the Organic Market. They hope to get some
people with a lot of organic production and
marketing experience to the meeting. They
also hope to get a lot of local farmers. It
could be a very interesting, productive
meeting.
If the idea of organic farming for a profit
appeals to you, we hope you’ll attend.
Farmers will run the association, and
they'll be the real key to its success. More
information about the organization and the
meeting can be had by calling Carroll or
Kirtner in Lancaster at 299-4891.
courtesy to others. That includes listening
to inexperienced youngsters and
adolescents telling us how to run the
country, even when they are often ruining
their lives with drugs and other escapist,
pleasure-seeking negativism. But bad
manners, a lack of respect for the rights of
others, turn the nation off, as moderates
would say it.”
PUNXSUTAWNEY, PA., SPIRIT; “A
$16.05 meal for $1.51 may be a bargain on
the menu, but not out in the kitchen.
Senator Margaret Chase Smith gave this
example from the Transportation
Department’s executive lunchroom to
show how federal bureaus are using tax
funds to subsidize meals served at cut-rate
prices. While American housewives are
paring their grocery lists to cope with
inflation, executives at the Treasury
Department are paying $2.45 for a meal
with costs $14.31 to prepare. Lawyers at
the Justice Department pay $1.66 for a
$7.10 lunch. Mrs. Smith hopes to blow the
whistle on this extravagance with some
legislation. Meanwhile, how about offering
the taxpayer some cut-rate bicarbonate of
soda?”
| NOW IS
THE TIME . . .
Max Smith
County Agr. Agent
Telephone 394-6851
To Wage War
on Rodents
Rats and mice will be coming
into the farm buildings at this
time of the year and property
owners are urged to take special
effort to keep them away. They
will be looking for nesting places
and places for protection. A good
clean-up program is suggested
because rodents thrive among
dirt and filth. All cracks in
concreted walls and floors should
be corrected and feed rooms and
alleys kept as clean as possible. A
poison bait program along with
good sanitation will help keep
down the population. When the
rats and mice are doing con
siderable damage it might be
advisable to get a commercial
exterminator to come and
eradicate them. Good farm
management includes a strong
rodent control program.
To Practice Good Sanitation
Livestock and poultry
producers have huge investments
in animals and supplies. There
are a number of infectious
diseases in the area that could be
brought home on the shoes of the
farmer or on his truck. I’m
thinking of the dreaded swine
disease of hog cholera that is in
several neighboring states. Hog
producers must be careful in
order to keep this disease 'out of
the area. Respiratory infections
of cattle can be spread by man,
equipment, or other animals. All
of these are very hard or im
possible to cure and prevention is
the best approach. Producers are
urged to be very careful about
admitting strangers to their
buildings and likewise change
clothes or footwear after being in
public livestock place.
THE PROBLEM
OF ‘ONLY’
Lesson for December 3,1972
lackgrounW Scripture; 2 Chronicles 36;
Jtromioh 1-26
Devotional Roosting: Joromiah 4:14-22.
We sometimes forget that the
great men of the faith have often
been reluctant heroes. Moses, call
ed to lead the people of Israel,
protested that he was not gifted
as a speaker. Saul, elected by lots
to be Israel’s king, was found
hiding among the
baggage! Isaiah,
confronted by a
vision in the tem
ple, protests that
he is unworthy.
“Only a youth”
Jeremiah, who
was to become
Ber. Althouie one of Israel’s
greatest prophets,
was no less hesitant than some of
his predecessors. Informed by
God that he had been chosen to
be his prophet, Jeremiah replies
in fright: “Ah, Lord God! Be
hold, I do not know how to speak,
for 1 am only a youth” (Jeremiah
1:6).
Most of us, when we are con
fronted by something that God
wants us to do, also manage to be
“only” something. We are “only”
a layman,” or “only a minister.”
We are “only a youth” or “only a
senior citizen.” In short, we feel
*■ adequate for the task.
Toßi
Atiiitance
Due to weather conditions
during this past summer, some
livestock producers will be able
to qualify for emergency feed
grains through the local ASC
Office. Approximately 40
counties in Pennsylvania have
been declared emergency
counties which makes the
government feed-grain program
available. There are a number of
requirements that must be met
before any feed-grain will be sold
at the reduced price. In order to
become acquainted with these
requirements, we suggest that
producers contact the local ASC
Office in the Farm and Home
Center. The period involved runs
to May 15,1973. Many dairy and
livestock men are short of hay
and roughage; this could result in
the use of larger amounts of feed
grains to replace the roughage
shortage.
To Practice Snowmobile Safety
One of the new winter sports is
snowmobiling and when we get
snow cover, the countryside
shows evidence of considerable
snowmobile traffic. This winter
time recreation, however, is not
without it’s dangers. All of us are
aware of some of the accidents of
the past; most of them could have
been prevented. We offer a few
suggestions: Dress as though you
had to walk back home because
you may have to. Carry a first aid
kit; carry a repair kit for the
snowmobile machine. Travel
only on familiar grounds; wires,
banks, holes, fences are
dangerous when not expected.
Snowmobile safety is just as
important as with other
machines; don’t take chances
and become another fatality.
Actually, we may be right! It
may be that we are too young or
too old, too lacking in skills and
talents. Some of the tasks to which
God calls us may well be too dif
ficult for us. Perhaps Jeremiah
was not being falsely modest
when he said “I do not know how
to speak.”
A woman went to the psychia
trist complaining of an inferiority
complex. After examining the
woman, he said gravely: “Madam,
you do not have an inferiority
complex—you are inferior!” So it
may be that we may not only
feel inadequate for what God
gives us, but that we are, in fact,
inadequate.
..Fori am with you ..
The key to Jeremiah’s call—as
well as our own—was not in his
personal adequacy, but in God’s
sufficiency. Even if Jeremiah was
a poor speaker, God said;
“Do not say, T am only a
youth; for to all to whom I
shall send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you
you shall speak
have put my words in your
mouth” (1:6,9)
Even if we are not skilled
enough or talented enough for a
particular field of service, God
provides whatever we need in
order to do what he wants. One of
the great miracles of the world
is the great number of people
who, with his help, have achieved
great things for him. Yet, often,
these people seemed quite in
adequate for the tasks they were
given.
Thus, the problem of being “on
ly” something when God calls us
is that it is not a legitimate ex
cuse to a God who not only chal
lenges us with a task, but also
supplies and equips us with what
ever we need to perform it.
_. (las.d on outlines copyrighted by the
Division of Christian Education, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Released by Community Press Service.)
Behold, I