Growing together for 31 years

It’s not too often that you have seed distributors, cosmeticians, dairy farmers and chocolatiers under one roof. From Jan. 26-29, The University of Guelph was lucky to host its 31 Organic Conference. Venders set up booths in the UC courtyard and Peter Clark hall to display their products. With so many samples, students could gather a four-course meal walking from one end of the UC to the other.

However, amid the Sophie almonds and carrot juice, there was a larger objective to the conference: to provide education and information on organic farming and production. This year’s conference, entitled “Seeds of Cooperation”, focused on the potential role of cooperatives in organic farming to produce sustainable food supply on a small to medium scale initiatives.

Throughout the weekend, workshops were offered on a variety of different aspects of organic farming. While many of these catered to those that are already involved in organic production, there were many workshops that any organic enthusiast could appreciate that discussed issues such as herb gardening, organic cosmetics and herbal remedies.

One speaker, Shantree Kacera, highlighted the need for a temporal change of scale in his seminar entitled “Forest gardens: Ecology vision and practical application.”  Kacera has been developing peraculture strategies for over 30 years on his land outside of London. He emphasized the benefits of using perennial plants as a food resource, and creating a long-term vision. Instead of replanting crops every year, some plants, like certain varieties of cherry trees, can live for hundreds of years.

Kacera also noted that organic food production could be incorporated into other strategies to combat global warming.  For example, there isn’t any reason why fruit or nut trees can’t be planted as part of reforestation projects.

“When I see the wave coming in now, the shift in change, that’s one of the reasons that I feel that this is a very important part of the solution,” said Kacera. “The further that we can think ahead and plan, the easier it’s going to be to ride out the next few decades.”

While Kacera teaches forest gardening, he notes that there is an important distinction between gardening in a forest and gardening like a forest. Kacera’s method applies the principles of forest ecology into food production by looking at the relationships between plants. He plants so that instead competing for resources, organism live in a situation that is mutually beneficial.

Conventional farming is agriculture that focuses on scale efficiency, much like the manufacturing process of other goods. However, organic farming focuses on balance, and strives to understand the ecology of the land in order to find other ways of being efficient. Something that was echoed by livestock farmers throughout the conference was that if you don’t push animals to produce, and stress their immune systems, production levels actually increase.

Dirk Brunsveld, a student in the organic agriculture program at the University of Guelph, knows first hand that just because a farmer chooses to farm organically, does not necessarily mean that the farm will lower its over all level of production. Brunsveld’s family began to convert their dairy, Lizton Farms, from conventional to organic in 2005, and now belong to the Organic Meadows Cooperative.

“We’ve actually tripled in sized compared to when we were conventional. And that kind of goes against the grain, doesn’t it,” said Brunsveld.

Brunsveld estimates that each cow produces about 22 L, which is a decrease from the 36L they had previously. To augment that, they have expanded the number of cows they milk by 25 per cent. Now that they have been certified organic, they make a premium of 20 per cent on the same amount of milk shipped as a conventional farmer.

The organic conferences, as well as the organic agriculture programs at Guelph, are critical for the industries growth.

“I think it’s great that we have this program, because I mean, there was no education,” said Brunsveld.

Although many of the techniques used by farmers are “old”, organic farming methods– especially methods of permaculture are relatively new. Many farmers are developing strategies as they make the transition.

Brunsveld also brings up the fact that, although the production method of organic farming falls on the farmer, the consumer also plays an important role. In order for the industry to grow, there needs to be a market.

“By buying an organic product you are saying ‘I support what you’re doing,’” said Brunsveld. “And it’s nice as a farmer to see that, when you put all this effort into it– we put our cows out in the pasture, we don’t use pesticides or antibiotics– it’s nice to see that consumers are willing to pay for that and support that.”

Part of the conference was to establish the Canada Organic marketing campaign, which features the slogan, “Think before you eat”. The scale of the Organic conference, and the initiatives it promotes demonstrate how the organic movement is gaining ground on both a local and global level.

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