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Hi Jane Thanks, for the post,gives one hope.I
always said we Should subsidize organic food ,instead of tobacco.,much healthier
for allof us, the earth included.Good to see that's
manifesting:0Sharon
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 9:02
AM
Subject: FW: [globalnews] Special Report:
Appalachia Develops RegionalSystems for Sustainable Farming, Logging
This
is the second in a series of special reports highlighting innovations in
sustainable agriculture and economic development and alternatives to the
global economy.
YES! There IS an alternative!
YES! Magazine is a
quarterly developed by David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the
World.
The first globalnews Special Report I sent out was an excerpt from
Korten’s most recent book.
More to
come.
Curtis
.......................
http://www.futurenet.org/23livingeconomy/flaccavento.htm
YES!
Magazine
living economies ~ Fall 2002
from the earth, up
by Anthony Flaccavento
Before any course of action, we should first
ask:
What is already here?
What does nature allow us to do here?
What
does nature help us to do here?
Wendell Berry
On November 1, 1996,
the day-shift crew arrived at the Louisiana Pacific Waferboard factory in
Dungannon, Virginia. Greeted by a small group of security guards and a
management representative, they were told to go home. The plant was closed.
Permanently. No notice had been given. Ten years after opening its doors in
this richly forested Scott County community, the plant laid off nearly 100
workers, also idling loggers who had been supplying the plant with logs. The
profits from this plant, management said, were not high enough to keep it
operating.
The Appalachian regions of Tennessee and Virginia are not in
crisis. Rather, the area is suffering from long-term economic stagnation and
marginalization, and steady ecological deterioration. It is an all too common
story of cultural and economic subordination, of individuals and communities
gradually relinquishing the skills, knowledge, and bonds that made this part
of the world different from countless others.
But there is another
Appalachian tale unfolding. It is the evolving story of community-based
initiatives regenerating the region’s economy and culture from
within.
At Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD), we focus our
efforts on a 10-county area of southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee.
This part of Appalachia has sustained jobless rates two to three times higher
than US rates, approaching 20 percent in some counties; poverty rates exceed
30 percent in some counties.
Our plan was clear yet ambitious: to help
the community build a more sustainable economy from networks of small, local
endeavors. ASD set itself the task of transforming two central legs of
Appalachia’s economy: agriculture and timber.
In the seven years since
ASD was formed, the most important lesson we learned was this: Building
an
alternative regional economy—one that is more just, more ecologically
sound and more self reliant—requires networks of relationships that are
synergistic, and a means of capturing and accumulating knowledge and assets.
We have come to call this an infrastructure for community
sustainability.
The foundation of this infrastructure is the ecosystem.
Therefore, the strategy focuses on restoring
ecological health, creating
livelihoods and economic systems that are ecologically sustainable, and
building the financial and physical capital needed to add value to the
region’s natural resources and bridge the gapbetween producers and the
marketplace.
>From tobacco to food
In 1995, a small group of
nontraditional farmers—market gardeners, “back-to-the-landers,” some Amish
families—launched a fledgling cooperative, a community-supported agriculture
(CSA) project, and a restaurant marketing system. Over the next several years,
the CSA grew to between 50 and 100 families who received produce during the
growing season directly from farmers. The restaurant marketing co-op delivered
locally grown produce to 15 area restaurants.
In spite of this growth,
however, the size of the market was limited and we were reaching only a small
percentage of tobacco and other conventional Appalachian farmers. As long as
our primary markets were white tablecloth restaurants and gourmet food shops,
only a small portion of the community had access to these products.
In
1999, we began marketing our produce to a small regional chain called White’s
Fresh Foods. During 1999 and 2000, the base of farmers began to grow,
attracted by the larger market provided by White’s.
Among them was John
Mullins. Mullins was born into tobacco in the tiny community of Stickleyville,
Virginia. Small hillside farms were the backbone of the economy there in Lee
County, and tobacco was the central economic activity. Like most of his
neighbors, Mullins began to see a dramatic decline in tobacco about five years
ago. The amount that he and his farming partner, Martin Miles, were eligible
to sell dropped by more than 75 percent over four years. By 1999, Mullins and
Miles were beginning to look for alternatives.
The growing market for
local organic produce provided a viable option. In close consultation with
consumers and the buyers at the grocery stores, we developed a growers’
network with a trademark label and brand name, Appalachian Harvest, which
became the umbrella for an increasingly wide range of certified organic,
locally raised crops.
The network began to take off in 2001 with more
farmers joining, larger farms involved, and more outlets. Three new, larger
supermarket chains joined as partners. Two of them were family-owned, based
right in Virginia. From 2000 to 2001, sales nearly tripled, and projections
suggest another 200 to 300 percent growth in 2002.
For the farmers,
this expansion means greater opportunities to grow and market organic
produce—for many, that represents a life line as tobacco allotments continue
to decline. For the general public, it means access to local, sustainable food
and a connection to the land. For supermarkets, it’s a chance to highlight
local farmers through farmer profiles, recipe cards, and informational flyers
and to market fresh, local produce. The region’s produce is beginning to
develop a product brand identity and a sense of connection between family
farmers, the land they till, and ordinary citizens.
Strengthening
community through farming
When ASD began its effort to build a more
diversified and healthy farm economy in the late 1990s, we
attempted to
mimic the best features of the tobacco infrastructure, those elements that had
helped keep family farmers viable and encouraged community involvement and
pride. We worked to encourage diversity at all levels—within each farm
enterprise, within the network of farmers, and within the scope and types of
markets we pursue. Mullins and Miles now raise 10 different types of produce
and a small herd of goats, while maintaining five commercial organic
greenhouses.
Mullins and Miles and 25 other farmers gained access to
regional markets by guaranteeing high-quality organic produce and by carefully
coordinating among participating farmers to ensure a reliable
supply.
The Appalachian Harvest network meets monthly from October
through March to decide what to grow, how much to grow, when to plant, and who
is to plant what. New farmers are matched with crops that are easier to grow,
until they gain more experience. Farmers have gradually recognized their
responsibility to one another both to produce what they pledge and to maintain
high quality standards. During the growing season, a short newsletter and
regular farm tours and field days keep network members in close
contact.
“ When you’re with people with a like interest, your
enthusiasm feeds each other and the learning curve
accelerates,” John
Mullins says.
University faculty, county extension agents, ASD staff,
and farmers collaborate in research and assist farmers transitioning from
tobacco to alternative crops and from conventional practices to organic
practices.
Ripple effects
With this sustainable agriculture
infrastructure now taking shape, we are just beginning to realize some of the
potential for economies of synergy and greater regional
self-reliance.
A large egg company looking for a means to comply with
stringent water quality standards saw this
opportunity. The result: a high
nutrient compost produced within 75 miles of all our farms, priced at half of
what “imported” organic fertilizers cost.
Locally owned farm stores
have begun to carry organic fertilizers and disease- and pest-control products
in response to growing demand from farmers. This makes organic farm inputs
widely available and helps institutionalize sustainable practices.
In
2001 we transformed a portion of an old tobacco barn into a small packing and
grading facility, thanks to a donation by Martin Miles. This system will
increase the payments to farmers by adding value to the produce. This year, we
have added a much larger building beside the barn, creating a total area of
about 5,000 square feet. With this new facility, we can process 3,000 to 4,000
boxes of organic produce each week, our projected market demand.
The
sorting and grading process creates “seconds” and culls—for example, tomatoes
that are too ripe or peppers that are too small. The Clinch Community Kitchen,
a commercial kitchen incubator, will be
working with ASD to develop salsa,
bruschetta sauce, and other tomato-based products using these seconds. If
successful, we will create high-value products from what otherwise would be
low-value produce, while diversifying our offerings, extending the season for
Appalachian Harvest products, and providing new opportunities for local
entrepreneurs.
Most recently, we are seeing farmers take on new
leadership roles. Several have become advocates for family farms and
sustainable agriculture at county, state, and federal levels—no small feat in
a region historically wedded to tobacco and often antagonistic to
alternatives.
>From forests to floors
ASD’s sustainable forestry
and wood products program follows a path similar to our agriculture efforts.
ASD forester Emily Duncan works with interested landowners to assess the
health of their forests and inventory the timber. Together, they create a plan
to protect streams and waterways, conserve wildlife habitat, and regenerate
biodiversity. If appropriate, Emily then marks some timber for harvesting. The
cut includes a high proportion of lower-quality trees in order to help
regenerate both species diversity and better quality timber for future
generations. Trees harvested under our standards are purchased by ASD, sawed
into boards, dried in our dry kiln, and then manufactured into flooring,
cabinets, and other products by local companies.
This restorative
forestry requires at least three things: patient landowners willing to forego
some money in the short term in favor of long-term wealth, both economic and
ecological; skilled loggers, whether mechanical or animal-powered in their
operations; and markets that pay closer to the true cost for wood
products.
The beauty of the process is its affordability. Because of
the proximity of trees to their market, and because of the value adding-steps
in the process, it is possible to pay a substantial premium to loggers and
landowners, while charging only slightly more to the end user. Sawing the
logs, drying the boards, and manufacturing cabinets or flooring makes every
foot of log far more valuable.
The Louisiana Pacific waferboard factory
that laid off nearly 100 people in 1996 relied on extensive clear- cutting for
its cheap supply of timber, and it established no roots in the community. ASD
and its many partners are working towards a different type of economic
development—one that is inextricably local, that builds upon and adds value to
the ecological wealth of our communities. Like a good farmer, the more we
pursue this path, the more we see what is already here and what nature enables
us to do now and into the future.
To contact Anthony Flaccavento and
ASD, call 276/623-1121 or visit www.appsusdev.org.
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Be the change you want to see in the
world.
--Gandhi
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