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Winter 2006 Newsletter
Welcome to the Otago Organics Newsletter which comes out four times a year: 1st December, 1st March, 1st June and 1st September (with the Seasons). The aim of the newsletter is to inform grower and non-grower members about the scheme and wider organic matters. Any contributions will be gratefully received. Please email to Linda Duff silverlea3@hotmail.com.
Current organic affairs (Hot Compost!) S-l-o-w Food by Andy Barratt Many of you will no doubt have spotted the feature article in a recent copy of the ODT about Geoff Craig and Wendy Parkins and their interest in the “Slow Food” movement. Geoff and Wendy are both members of the academic staff at Otago University and authors of a book entitled “Slow Living”. Geoff gave a talk on this subject at the university on 5 May, as one of the excellent series of lectures organized by the Sustainable Agriculture Colloquium. Geoff began by explaining that his involvement with Slow Food is both academic and practical – he and Wendy have set up a Slow Food group here in Dunedin. (The email address, for those who want it is: SlowFoodOtago@hotmail.com). In his talk, Geoff spoke of the origins of the movement in Italy and its gradual spread around the industrially developed countries of the world. Slow Food now has 80,000 members in more than 100 countries. The movement is motivated above all by its opposition to the global homogenization of food and the resulting loss of diversity of taste cultures. As Geoff was at pains to point out, the movement also places a great emphasis on the sensory pleasure to be derived from locally produced food products. In valuing the link between food and the environment, Slow Food accords a high priority to sustainable production practices and biodiversity. The movement holds a biennial food fair in Piedmont where it hands out its “Slow Food Awards”. It also sponsors “Presidia Projects” which aim to protect traditional artisan producers. Its last global forum, “Terra Madre” attracted 5000 producers and small-scale farmers. The latter part of Geoff’s talk dealt with some of the thorny issues raised by the Slow Food movement. Although a devotee of Slow Food, he acknowledges some of the paradoxes that have inevitably sprung up. The “Slow Food Awards”, for example, have resulted in wide exposure for artisan producers who have thus been inspired to expand (and thus transform) their businesses to meet a sizeable global demand for their products. There has also been a rise in so-called “gastronomic tourism” which, like all forms of tourism, brings predictable problems in its wake. And, as always, there is the sad fact that such a movement has become the preserve of the financially wealthier classes of “western” society. Even from such a brief summary, it should be clear that the Slow Food movement shares many common features with organics: the emphasis on the local, small-scale producer; the desire to resist the logic of the contemporary market-place which racks up “food-miles” in the pursuit of economic rationalism; and the belief that good food should be accorded a central place in a good society. We will endeavour to set up a meeting with Geoff, Wendy and others in the local Slow Food movement later in the year. Ideally, this will involve both talk and food!
Feature Otago Organics Grower This issue we present: Jason Ross, Volco Organics, Volco Park Farm, Mt Cargill Rd, Dunedin; Waitati POD. What stage of certification are you at and how long have you been a member of Otago Organics?
What do you grow and where is your market? (if you are willing to divulge)
What brought you to organics?
Certification Matters: (Digging Deep!) Educating all interested people in production rules for the various organic certifiers. OANZ Organic Advisory Service Consultation Workshop - Oamaru, 4 May 06 Bobb Burton and I attended this meeting on behalf of Otago Organics. The background to the meeting has, of course, been widely reported in the press. The official launch of Organics Aotearoa at the end of last year came with the promise of $2 million in government funding over 3 years to get the organization up and running. The development of an advisory service for organic producers is one of several initiatives being promoted during this setting-up phase. The meeting (one of thirteen being held nationwide) was chaired by Steffan Browning (of NZ Soil & Health) with support from Gill Bacchus. The initial consultation has been scheduled to take place between April and June. A draft strategy will be presented to OANZ in July and then to MAF (which is the body charged with overseeing the whole process). The process should be completed by August. Like all such consultation meetings, this one had the aim of soliciting views from those who attended (in this case, a rather smaller group than I had anticipated) on a range of issues surrounding advisory services. Accordingly, we split into two groups to come up with our thoughts, which were then conveyed to the meeting before the close. Amongst other things, we were asked to identify, and then prioritize, the various means by which information might be disseminated – fact sheets, internet, farm gate consultation, and so on. Most important, though, was the question of how a consultancy service might be managed. Here we were asked to rank three models, the first being a highly centralize system controlled at the national level by OANZ, the second a fully decentralized system run by regional and sector groups, the third a mixed-system with centralized core services (e.g. web site) and the contracting of other services to regional and other groups. There was a clear preference at our meeting for the third option. Steffan reported that the same was true of the Canterbury meeting held the day before. Bobb and I came away from the meeting in quite an optimistic mood. There is no doubt that OANZ is working in a concerted way towards some clear goals. The emphasis is very clearly on encouraging existing farmers to convert to organics which, although sensible, may cause some problems in the longer term, if successful. The key issue with regard to an advisory service is to ensure that our region is well served by properly qualified people. As with all national agencies, we must do plenty of lobbying to prevent the almost inevitable lure of the north when it comes to divvying out the funds. There will be a review workshop in Christchurch in the near future and it would be good if at least a couple of us could get up there for that, just to remind them of our existence. Andy Barratt
Organic Tips/Did you know…? “Herbs and Wild Plants” Contributed by Bobb Burton There are many common herbs and wild plants (weeds?) we see every day and think little of other than their basic uses i.e. herbs as a culinary ingredient or the many ‘weeds’ around the garden as troublesome interlopers. All plants are possessed of differing qualities which may be put to good use in developing healthy all-round ecosystems. Ask the question why a particular plant chooses to grow in a particular place, what is its particular attraction and response to that immediate environment? Aside from the obvious fact of attracting, sustaining and in some cases repelling insects, many plants will concentrate and make available various minerals and trace elements to other surrounding plants, flora and fauna. Everything has a place and a purpose in that place that we can often only guess at. Take the case of the ubiquitous Stinging Nettle. A marvelous plant that is high in Iron and Copper, making it an excellent tonic for both young and mature vegetables etc.., the iron feeds and the copper helps to inoculate against fungal disease and will even destroy mildews etc. Though before using it willy-nilly we ought perhaps ask why the mildews are present and why the affected plant requires such intervention. ( a plant with a strong immune system should be capable of repairing itself of such things and we may be better ensuring that strength in the first place) Two ways however of utilizing these properties are:
Nettle helps to improve soil quality, repels aphids, ants and flies and will kill beanfly. It also contains Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Silica, Sulphur and Vitamin A. Drinking nettle tea is an excellent way of countering Iron deficiency in humans – and it tastes good. For stings, crush some dock leaves and rub on the affected area.
Upcoming Events 24th June 2006 Otago Organics Annual General Meeting 1 – 4pm at the Downes room, Mosgiel Library. Cherylle Prew will talk on the Soil Food Web followed by afternoon tea and the AGM. Pizza will be ordered afterwards for those wishing to socialise.
A note from our Chairperson Dennis Enright: “We seem to be missing the mark with our field visits and social gatherings. Over the last six months we have organised 1. a visit to my patch to see what I am doing and talk about organic growing 2. a visit to the Green Man organic brewery 3. a social get-together. Unfortunately we had to postpone the social and Brewery visit because of little interest. Can the Committee please have some feedback about what members would like to do and when we should organise these events. Thanks”
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