A must read for farmers

[gustgd]

http://www.american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals

[gustgd]

sorry can't figure out how to hot link could some one do it for me?

[wd9]

[URL="http://www.american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals"]http://www.american.com/archive/2009/july/the-omnivore2019s-delusion-against-the-agri-intellectuals [/URL]

[gustgd]

Thanks wd9
While I don't agree with everything the authour has to say. I would think he's 90% there.

[charliep]

Good article.

Here is a site I found useful in my struggles to do embedded links.

[URL="http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/linking/_A.html"]hmtl[/URL]

[parsley]

Blake Hurst writes:

"The distance between the farmer and what he grows has certainly increased"

Maybe so for conventional agriculture, but organics built an entire brand new industry by partnering with buyers. And with consumers.

It wasn't at all that organics ran down Conventional or tried to alienate Conventionals. It is about servicing a market that the Conventionals abandoned. About serving buyers that cannot find what they are want to buy!

About earning the respect and trust of the buyer. About building a relationship with a buyer.

Fifteen years ago, our local co-op openly told me they would sooner buy vegetables from California and have them shipped in weekly, and they did, than purchase locally grown vegetables, which the consumers preferred.

The two systems just viewd the consumer differently. Still do.

But I do note that "Buy local" is no longer a concept of the Stupid.

<p></p>
<p class="EC_style8ptBK"><strong><a href="http://parsleysnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/09/buying-food-at-local-market.html">(The local market)</a></strong></p>

[charliep]

Perhaps another view and a question how it will impact farmers. Walmart doesn't
mention farms directly but you can ask yourself what would happen if they applied the
principals to their food purchasing.

<a href="http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/9277.aspx">walmart</a>

[parsley]

I had to smile when you mentioned walmart, charliep.

At the same time I spoke to the local co-op, I also called Walmart in Regina. They immediatley and pleasnatly gave me names and numbers to call. They were very receptive to "local". They needed large amounts though, and at that time, organics did not have as many growers.

Farmers have every opportunity to tune in to the people who sell the products as well as the people who end up eating the product.

It won't be long before a company or country who adds toxins like melamine to food will be on the banned list for all to see.

Farmers must be prepared to adapt to change. One farmer will continue sitting in an airplane arguing with a consumer, and the other farmer will listen to the consumer, take notes, and double sales. Pars

[dalek]

Not sure if I mentioned this elsewhere but an old friend of mine is grocery manager at a new Super WalMart. Turns out that since Wal Mart doesn't have it's own grocery distribution system in Canada, it has nothing to gain from requiring it's stores to buy their groceries from head office, unlike all of the other grocery chains where there is actually little opportunity to buy locally.

He was told flat out that as long as he had the items that appeared in the flyers on the shelves in sufficient quantities, he was free to fill every other space in the store with locally produced food if he could make the numbers work for sales and keep the consumers happy.

He talks to people from other chains fairly often, they're incredibly jealous when they find out this and they're only allowed to buy 5% (often much less) from outside the chain warehouse distribution system.

I've already given him several contacts.

[LWeber]

Dale:
Can you contact me via email

larry@webercommodities.com

[charliep]

Parsley

You give me the opportunity to plug one of our publications. The people I work with spend
more time on the consumer needs/wants than on the commodity side (I plus one a livestock
type are the odd duck in our group looking at commodities).

[URL="http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis12786"][/URL]

One of my most fun adventures is a trip to grocery store (Superstore this afternoon). What
amazes me is the variety of people and food - an interesting opportunity for anyone in the
food supply chain.

[parsley]

Food is the future of wealth. And there are some people with heavy purses looking closley at food.

What is so amazing, is the QUALITY of food we have in Saskatchewan, and the rest of the West.

We're sitting on a bloody goldmine that the rest of the world wants, and we're so stupid, we don't even know it.

We rented an apartment from an opera singer, in Manahatten for almost a month and explored food in NYC.

Chomp. chew. Eat.LOL

[parsley]

I read the report, and thanks for it.

One thing charliep, I think people will eat out less often, but I do think there is potential, and I mean tremendous potential for take out business that caters to working parents' kids.

Tasty veggies. No gravey. All GOOD INGREDIENTS.

In your report it's restaurant or prepare at home.

I think another option there.

[Fransisco]

Listening to what consumers tell you. Hmm...

What did consumers of conventionally grown Canadian canola (of which the majority is genetically modified, sprayed with pesticides and grown with synthetic fertilizers) tell us this year?

Well lets see.

From AGRIWEEK,

" The canola marketing, exporting and processing systems did a superb job on the record 2008 canola crop. The 2008-09 crop year was the first in the history of the western Canadian canola industry in which records were set in production, domestic crush and exports all in the same year.

With 12.64 million tonnes produced, it was a challenge. As previously reported by the Canadian Grain Commission, exports in the year that ended July 31 were 7.842 million tonnes, 40% higher than 5.594 million in 2007-08.

The top canola buyers were China at 2.872 million tonnes (659,000 in 2007-08); Japan 2.065 million (2.131 million); Mexico 1.162 million (1.231); United States 698,000(853,000); and United Arab Emirates at 529,000 (347,000). There were more
offshore customers for canola who took a million tonnes or more than there were for wheat or barley, and non-durum wheat exports were barely double canola exports.

Domestic crushers certainly did their part. Canola crush set a new record at 4.285 million tonnes, up from 4.147 million in 2007-08. Domestic crush was 33.8% of the record 2008 harvest, down from 43.5% in the prior year, but there have been only three years in which domestic processors took more than 40% of the crop. The recent low was 32.5% in 2004-05. Canola oil
production was 1.841 million tonnes, up from 1.739 million in 2007-08. Average oil content was 42.96% vs. 41.93% in 2007-08.

Meal output was 2.490 million tonnes vs. 2.493 million. The usual midsummer lull in crush did not occur this year; during July crushers processed 369,518 tonnes, compared to 320,201 in June and 338,459 in July 2008. Figures are for all reporting crushers including non-members of the Canadian Oilseed Processors Assn.

High exports and domestic use kept what could have been an unmanageable carryover within historic limits. Carryover will be officially reported by Statistics Canada in the July 31 grain stocks survey due Sept. 9, which will include farm-stored stocks. However the total carryover should be between 1.5 and 1.75 million tonnes, similar to 2007-08 carryover of 1.528 million.

Canola production was nearly triple that of durum wheat in 2008 but carryover will be smaller. That means that 87% of the record 2008-09 canola supply (production plus carry-in) was used during the crop year. The corresponding figure was 80% for non-durum wheat (including domestic feed use) and 71% for durum.

The 2008-09 crop year set records that may stand for years. The industry’s ability to absorb high production is as very good omen for 2009-20."

Looks like a record number of satisfied customers to me who if anything are saying," can I have some more, please?"

[fjlip]

Another reason Canola is in demand,"Good News to Take to Heart

On October 6, 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a qualified health claim for canola oil on its ability to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to its unsaturated fat content. The claim3, which canola oil bottlers and makers of eligible products may use on labels and advertising materials, states:

Limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about 1½ tablespoons (19 grams) of canola oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the unsaturated fat content in canola oil. To achieve this possible benefit, canola oil is to replace a similar amount of saturated fat and not increase the total number of calories you eat in a day. One serving of this product contains [x] grams of canola oil.

Oh, Omega-3!

Substitution of canola oil for other fats would substantially increase the intake of ALA. Emerging evidence suggests that ALA – the only omega-3 fatty acid found in appreciable amounts in some vegetable oils – might help protect the heart by having beneficial effects on abnormal heartbeats, inflammation and blood clots. Furthermore, considerable epidemiological evidence shows that ALA intake is associated with decreased incidence of and death from heart disease. As a result, the AHA Nutrition Committee concluded in 2002 that total intakes of approximately 1.5 to 3 g/d of ALA “seem to be beneficial” and recommended that Americans regularly consume vegetable oils and other foods high in ALA."