The Farmer and the Cook
a farm, market and cafe in Ojai California...we grow on 16 acres all year around ..famous for growing "vegetables that people don't like to eat" i.e. brocolli, collards, kale and beets.
(Ojai, California)
06 Apr Mon 2009
It Kills Me
Today at The Farmer and the Cook, an all-organic farm-cafe and market, I answered the accusations of an irate citizen of Ojai. She was a kind and determined woman, sure of her battle and sure of her target; she wanted to know why Steve (the farmer who is my husband) poisons mothers and children, when he uses bacillus thurengensis on our farm. I was chopped up and then lumped in with Richard Nixon, Monsanto and all injustices before and after.
She might be right. Sometimes running a small, all-organic market and café turns me into more of an ogre than a peacenik. Try forcing a sixteen year old to be cheerful. Explain to a non-English speaking cook why people eat tofu. Try figuring out which of my 22 employees keeps on stealing the start-up cash. Try telling all of the flies in the Ojai valley to stay near the compost buckets and please not to come into the store.
The Ventura County agricultural commissioner is spraying our neighborhood with a bacteria, called bacillus thurengensis (BT) in an attempt to eradicate gypsy moth larvae. Steve has stood up in favor of this action; because BT is in fact, allowed within the definition of “certified organic”. We are farmers. We grow food. We sell food. I am wife. I cook. This is what we do.
What I have learned during the 9 years I have been living with a farmer is that in order for people to eat; a farmer must do battle with gofers, deer, weeds, aphids, fungi, erosion, caterpillars, cold weather, hot weather, too much rain, not enough rain and that is just the beginning. I have watched the farmer I live with walk away from hundreds of dollars of crops when one of the above has gotten the upper hand.
This is not an argument for using DDT or atrazine but it is not argument for doing nothing at all in the tug of war between pest and crop. Steve toils and troubles, he makes a small income so as not to have to come indoors and he is not knowingly poisoning mothers, children, teenagers or men.
Last night we thought seriously about selling the store.
She might be right. Sometimes running a small, all-organic market and café turns me into more of an ogre than a peacenik. Try forcing a sixteen year old to be cheerful. Explain to a non-English speaking cook why people eat tofu. Try figuring out which of my 22 employees keeps on stealing the start-up cash. Try telling all of the flies in the Ojai valley to stay near the compost buckets and please not to come into the store.
The Ventura County agricultural commissioner is spraying our neighborhood with a bacteria, called bacillus thurengensis (BT) in an attempt to eradicate gypsy moth larvae. Steve has stood up in favor of this action; because BT is in fact, allowed within the definition of “certified organic”. We are farmers. We grow food. We sell food. I am wife. I cook. This is what we do.
What I have learned during the 9 years I have been living with a farmer is that in order for people to eat; a farmer must do battle with gofers, deer, weeds, aphids, fungi, erosion, caterpillars, cold weather, hot weather, too much rain, not enough rain and that is just the beginning. I have watched the farmer I live with walk away from hundreds of dollars of crops when one of the above has gotten the upper hand.
This is not an argument for using DDT or atrazine but it is not argument for doing nothing at all in the tug of war between pest and crop. Steve toils and troubles, he makes a small income so as not to have to come indoors and he is not knowingly poisoning mothers, children, teenagers or men.
Last night we thought seriously about selling the store.
Steve_6
07:55 PM PDT
Hey - Keep up the good fight. You have a lot more supporters out there than you realize.
Don't give up the fight! Monsanto would love it if you did. It's a matter of survival or monsanto will control us all. Just stand your ground.
I want to buy your store to keep up the fight..but I am a farmer too and I make less than Steve.You are the most valuable asset of the sore .Brilliant article..but you show too much anger.Take deep breath and let go.This Sunday is EASTER SUNDAY.I will pray for us all .
God Bless you and all your family.
Tony
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using Bt. It is a naturally occurring bacteria that only offends the gut of the worm ingesting it. It is actually an excellent example of harnessing natural processing to our human advantages. Next time tell the ignorant woman accusing you of harm that she might want to consider informing herself before jumping all over someone who isn't the enemy.
Monsanto is using Bt GENES by inserting them directly into the seed CORN itself - organic farmers use Bt in its naturally occurring form by making it available for the pest insect to ingest all on its own, a truly benign pest control. Next time you meet up with the whiny lady, just tell her the different and THAT'S WHY IT IS ACCEPTABLE FOR ORGANIC FARMING.