Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm

Who is Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm? Part 3

2012-02-13T08:49:00.004-06:00

Are origin stories always so drawn-out? I find that it’s taking more words to explain the “who” of our farm than I imagined when I embarked. Perhaps it’s too much of a navel-gazing exercise. Let me know if it is – comments are appreciated! As it stands, I’m going to need another installment to finish it off.

In 1998, things started to change dramatically for Jody and Beth. Their carefree DINK (double income no kids) lifestyle ended with the birth of their son, Richard in October. Beth continued working for the educational software company for a time; but she needed to make a change as she was being asked to travel more – not an option with an infant at home.

Jody, again, encouraged her to stretch by applying for a “technical liaison” position with the accounting firm Arthur Andersen. This in-house support role suited her well and with the El close by our suburban home with a stop a block from her office in the Chicago, it was an easy commute. Jody continued at Allstate. About a year into her work with Arthur Andersen, an internal position as a professional skills trainer opened up. This was the ideal position for Beth. It was a flex-time position working three days a week with the ability to work from home as well. After a two week training stint in Holland (Beth’s first European trip), Beth settled comfortably into her new role.

The new position completely suited Beth. She worked part- time, got full benefits, stayed in the professional world, and liked her co-workers, too. Also, she got to spend a lot of time with her son, Richard. Life was good. Also, the Osmund family was focusing more on domestic pursuits – securing a mortgage on a duplex and starting their own raised bed garden in the backyard. Life was very good.

Like so many others, we began reassessing priorities the fall of 2001. I haven’t blogged about the September 11th terrorist attacks before this. I’m not sure writing about it over a decade hence has a lot of value, but since it’s my blog and I’ll prattle if I want to, here goes.

As I’m sure so many others do, I remember exactly where I was that morning. It was a glorious fall day in the Chicago area. I was enjoying a precious time with Richard riding a hayrack, picking apples, and eating apple-cider donuts with his daycare class. This idyll fractured as parent’s cell phones started to chime and beep. Bits of disjointed bits of information started to leak in of a major tragedy in NY city. Riding back on the bus to the daycare, news of the “accident” kept coming. National Public Radio(NPR) gave a slightly clearer (albeit more horrifying) picture of what had happened as I drove Richard home.

I quickly switched the radio-off. Richard, almost three, preternaturally empathetic, and a veritable sponge to the world around did not need to hear the horrors of the day. So began our near total day-time media black-out. When we got home, Beth voice was on the answering machine letting us know that Uncle Arthur had closed the office and sent everyone home. She arrived at about two. Even though we were maintaining radio (and TV) silence for Richard’s sake, we needed to hear what was going on in the world. We’re still grateful to PBS (and Mr. Rogers) for remembering that kids can and should be sheltered from unfiltered information. We turned to the soporific oasis of PBS Kids programming -uninterrupted by the day’s news; plopped Richard in front of the TV, and went into the kitchen to listen to NPR. By the time the news looped full circle, Beth and I were ready to turn it off, too. We made supper, and played with our son.

Who is Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm? Part 2

2012-02-02T10:13:00.005-06:00

This is the second part in a series of posts giving a bit of history as to who we are. The next post will (finally) get to the founding. of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm. I hope you're enjoying these bits if biography....

Jody and Beth spent four years in Utah. They loved being able to drive 40 minutes and be at a trailhead into the Wasatch mountain wilderness. Many weekends were spent hiking or rock climbing in the canyons east of the city. Still, Utah hadn’t become “home.” The lack of family nearby and the difference in culture ensured that it never would be.

By 1996, Beth was beginning to burn out from teaching. Many young teachers who take jobs in needy schools get ground down by the long hours, increasing demands from their schools, and the heavy workload’s uncompensated time. Beth was no exception. Also, she had eschewed the traditional summer breaks most teachers enjoy to start and run a summer enrichment program at her school. Getting the program off the ground included grant writing. This experience has helped in our farming enterprise, too. (Look for more on grant writing in upcoming posts!)

One of the Beth’s summer program projects was planting a vegetable garden at the school with her students. At the time, she had no idea she was pioneering something that would be prevalent nationwide in 15 years. Beth just knew that it was good for kids to dig in the dirt, plant seeds, watch them grow, and have the sense of accomplishment that comes from producing something good to eat.

When Jody saw an ad for a “curriculum and implementation” consultant position from an educational software company in the Salt Lake Tribune, he encouraged Beth to apply. She had been an early adopter of technology in the classroom. These included the Encarta encyclopedia on cd/rom. Jody remembers Beth’s excitement clicking on the article about Martin Luther King Jr. and hearing audio from his “I Have a Dream” speech or the file on zebras with audio of their braying. She saw how technology might open up the world for her students (remember that this was early-days for the world wide web and 56K dial-up was fast internet).

With some prodding, Beth followed up on the ad and scheduled an interview. She put together a computer presentation and borrowed a screen projector. It was big and weighed about 70 lbs; but for at the time it was cool technology. Beth wowed them and was offered the job. She took it (with a salary a third more than her teaching salary not including annual bonuses) and began travelling around the intermountain west.

At the about the same time, Jody was tiring of his job in sales. He wanted to do something more real and tangible. So, he took a job managing a temporary labor storefront. It got a little too real when he was nearly assaulted by one of the temps. Beth and Jody started talking about a move from Utah after he quit the temp labor job. It was between Seattle (a city they had fallen in love with on a weekend get-away) and Chicago. In the end, the pull of family won out. In the fall of 1997, the Osmunds moved to the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Beth stayed with the software company had need for her in the Midwest and being located fifteen minutes from O’Hare was ideal for her travels. After some training in mainframe programming, Jody went to work for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a programmer and was placed on a long-term assignment at Allstate where he took a permanent position a couple of years later.

Who is Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm? Part 1.

2012-01-29T20:09:00.000-06:00

It’s more “who are Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm?” than “who is Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm?.” Although Mitt Romney has boldly asserted that “corporations are people my friend;” Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm is definitely not a corporate farm. It is the family operation of Jody & Beth Osmund as well as their three sons – Richard, Duncan, and Jack.

Jody (43) grew up about 8 miles from where he now farms. While growing up, he helped on his dad’s diversified grain and livestock farm in Serena, IL. Jody’s parents, Richard and Eileen, still live in the house and on the home farm where he grew up. At its height, the farm encompassed nearly 700 acres, grazed 100 cow/calf pairs, raised 700 hogs per year, harvested 450 acres divide between oats, corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa hay. The farm, also, had a flock of 150 laying hens. Picking eggs and taking care of the hens was one of Jody’s childhood chores.

By 21st century, conventional agriculture standards the Osmund farm was quite small – too small to support a family on. However, in the sixties, seventies, and early eighties it felt big; it provided quite a good standard of living for the Osmund’s (a family of six) and a neighbor with whom they farmed in partnership.

Things began to change in the late eighties when the farm crisis hit. You may remember Willy Nelson’s Farm Aid and John Mellencamp’s hit “Rain on the Scarecrow” bemoaning bankrupt farmers and lost legacies. Fortunately, the Osmund’s did not suffer dramatically in the farm financial crisis. Still, farming was not the number one (or two or three, or four) career of choice for aspiring, bright, young farm kids in the late eighties. Jody graduated from Serena High School in 1987, went off to college and away to a professional career like so many of his peers.

Beth (43) grew up a “town girl,” but was friends with farm kids. Although a sizeable town for the area, Ottawa (pop. 18,000) is surrounded by farms; and, in the eighties, Ottawa had a lot of farm kids in its schools. Beth first met Jody at the county fair, and eventually was set-up on blind date with him by one of her farm-girl friends.

Upon graduating from Marquette High School, Beth left Ottawa for Northern Illinois University’s college of education. The two dated off and on throughout their college years. They married after Jody completed a year of graduate school with him following her to Salt Lake City, Utah where Beth was teaching Special Education at a school with a large “at risk” population. Her first classroom was in a converted janitor’s closet – perhaps I’ll post on education at another time.

The most important thing to know about Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm

2012-01-29T08:05:00.000-06:00

A good friend and fellow blogger (The Other Side), Tim, posted a great question to my post (re)introducing the Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm blog:

“So here is a question, and pretend I am just some guy livin' in the burbs and I know nothing about farming...which is true btw. What would you most want me the reader to know about Cedar Valley Sustainable?"

Of course, there are A LOT of things that I’d like you to know about Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm; but Tim asked what I would MOST like you to know about our farm.

Since Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm is our business and provides the livelihood that sustains us, I want you to know how to purchase food (some of the best meat on the planet) from us. It’s simple, visit our website at Cedar Valley Sustainable.

A Breakfast Favorite

2012-01-28T12:27:00.004-06:00

Biscuits & Gravy have been a favorite of Beth and mine since we were learning to cook together as newlyweds in Salt Lake City, Utah. Back then, before farming and kids we would spend leisurely Sundays making breakfast and reading the paper. We still enjoy breakfast; but lazing away hours reading the paper is a distant memory. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy this breakfast as much as we do!

Drop biscuits recipe (this comes from Betty Crocker)

2 cups flour

1 T. sugar

3 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

½ cup shortening (Lard is our favorite & makes the best biscuits)

1 cup milk (whole is best)

1. Heat oven to 450

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in lard using pastry blender, until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in milk until dough is soft and sticky.

3. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet – 10 to 12 spoonfuls

4. Bake 10-12 minutes – biscuits should be golden brown. Remove immediately from cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Sausage Gravy

1lb CVSF Italian Sausage

½ gallon milk

4 T. butter

4 T. flour

1. Gently brown sausage and crumble.

2. When fully browned and crumbly, add milk.

3. While milk and sausage heats, make a roux.

4. Melt butter in sauce pan.

5. Add flour to melted butter and stir smooth.

6. Continue heating and stirring until roux turns brown

7. Remove from heat.

8. When milk and sausage is steaming, stir in roux.

9. Continue stirring as gravy thickens. If gravy is not as thick as you like, prepare additional roux 1 tablespoon buter/flour at a time.

10. Serve over warm biscuits.

Sustainable Farm – a blog about farming and life

2012-01-28T11:39:00.004-06:00

Okay, I’ve written and posted to the Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm blog sporadically over the past few years, but I just haven’t gotten on a regular schedule.

A couple of posts went up this past week – both are about connections – the currency of sustainability. I’ve begun sharing to facebook when I post. I was astounded that close to 100 people have gone to see those posts. I’ve decided to get more disciplined about writing (and posting). Look for a couple of posts per week.

For those of you who know me, I LOVE talking about what we do. Also, I have opinions and ideas on a range of topics – and given the chance, enjoy sharing them. As we’re fully immersed in farming and sustainability, things tend to circle back to those themes.

Generally, the feedback I get from my in person and blog explications are positive. My goal for this blog is to extend and expand our connections. I will continue to write about the many connections of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm – how they change with the seasons and how they often intersect in interesting ways. Some other topics I’ll be writing about in the coming weeks include: food and farm policy; rural/urban ties; food webs and niches; media literacy in terms of Corporate Ag’s propaganda push; balancing farm, family, and home education; food – what we eat, how we cook, recipes, tips, links, etc.; food & farm activism advocacy; the politics of food – eating as a political act. Larger writing projects that will receive attention are: a document on writing a successful grant application; creative marketing techniques; starting a Meat CSA – A how to guide.

If one of these topics is of particular interest to you please comment (on fb or on the blog itself), and I will try to cover it sooner rather than later. Comments are welcome; I enjoy good conversation and will respond as much as possible. If you like what you read, please share with your friends and networks.

Thanks,

Jody

Sometimes it hurts…

2012-01-25T12:43:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it hurts…

Much of the joy we receive from farming is in the connections we have with our customers/members and the other businesses that make CVSF go. At each delivery, we get to talk with our extended farm family. Usually, we hear about yummy dishes made with our meats and good words about our eggs. Sometimes, there’s a comment about something we’ve shared of our farm or lives in a newsletter or on our face book page. Rather than loading our animals on a truck for some distant commodity market and that being the end of our story, our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) business model allows us to complete the circle and connect with our eaters. Farming the way we do make us happy, the many allies we have make us wealthy.

Last night’s delivery was bittersweet. Linda, a long-time member (When I say that Linda is a long-time member, I mean that Linda - and her husband Bill – joined our vegetable CSA in our first season nearly ten years ago. They’ve remained stalwart supporters ever since. They’ve cooked out with us by our creek, and we’ve pot-lucked with them at another member’s home. We’ve shared our lives and they’ve shared ours), was picking up her share after missing her last couple of scheduled deliveries. We learned that Linda had lost her Bill several weeks ago.

When Linda walked in to pick up her share, I gave her a hug and told her how sorry Beth and I were for her loss. She told me it had been a hard day – lots of memories of Bill. We spoke some more and talked inevitably of food. Linda told me that, for a while, she hadn’t done any cooking. It was an activity she and Bill did together. Recently, a friend whose son wanted to learn to cook reached out to Linda. For the past couple of weeks, Linda and this young man have gotten together to cook dishes with our meats; teaching cooking, she has found comfort and connection with our food. In a small way, our work has helped comfort a grieving friend. This makes me proud. I’m sad, but proud.

Today, Beth is on her way to Arthur, IL to pick up frozen chickens we’ve stored in a meat locker there since the end of our pasture season. While she’s there she will stop in to Central Illinois Poultry Processing to offer our condolences to Andy Jess and his family. This winter, Vera Jess died unexpectedly. We’ve grown to know the Jesses as they have processed our chickens for going on six years. Andy and Vera founded the Illinois’ first and only poultry processing plant that can do certified organic processing. The Jess’s hard work and attention to detail allow small, sustainable, and organic poultry growers across Illinois – and neighboring states to offer the best and most humanely processed chickens possible. The Jess’s business makes our business possible. We thank them, and mourn their loss.

Connections are important and enrich our lives, but sometimes they hurt, too. Rest in peace Vera and Bill; you are missed!

2012-01-21T07:40:00.001-06:00

Oh, the web we weave - the many connections of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm.

There is a lot of talk in the sustainable, organic, and local food world of Food-webs. It begins in the soil and extends out to all the living organisms dependent on that soil for sustenance. As a grass farmer, I could speak in depth on the importance of diverse and vibrant Food-webs; but, just as important to our sustainable farm is the network of human relationships that are just as vital to our survival – and our ability to thrive.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will write about the human connections and interactions that enrich OUR farm and community. There will be many branches, cross-connections, and circling back. You will see farms that both compete and cooperate. I’ll detail relationships that are rewarding, synergistic, and multiplying. I’ll contrast the cooperative nature of local foods with conventional corporate agriculture as well as highlight the need for conventional and sustainable/organic farmers to interact in order to move our food system to a healthier model.

Several months ago, Richard Wood of the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) - contacted me about a new project he and FACT were working on. Richard wanted to see if I would serve as a farmer/advisor for a modest grant program to encourage farmers to move towards more humane livestock growing practices. Of course, I said “yes,” because I know Rich and support FACT’s mission, and I know the effectiveness of small grants given directly to farmers.

I met Rich and staff from FACT in 2008, when Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm hosted a Sustainable Agriculture tour. The Sustainable Agriculture Tour is a project of the University of Illinois Extension’s, Illinois Small Farms. CVSF was on the tour schedule because we were awarded a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) producer grant in 2007 to explore and expand direct to consumer retail marketing of our farm raised meats. The success of this grant project prompted us to start the first Meat CSA in Illinois.

Since that first meeting at our farm, Rich and/or FACT staff and I have run into each other several times at various local food and sustainable farm confabs in and about Chicago. Not surprisingly, our relationship has grown.

With help from fellow farmer, Greg Gunthorp and whole lot of work by FACT staff, the Healthy & Humane Farms Funds Project came to fruition. It was feted in October at a launch party held at Uncommon Ground(http://www.uncommonground.com/) in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. FACT invited me to speak about our farm, the health and humane benefits of grazing animals, and the grant project. I look forward to reading grant applications this spring and seeing the first grants awarded.

Another farmer, Harry Carr of Mint Creek Farm, also, spoke at the launch event. Richard and his wife treated me and Harry and his daughter, Rae, to dinner after the event. Free flowing conversation followed – it’s always nice to get to be social with otherfarmers. The discussion included Harry mentioning that he was marketing holiday turkeys. CVSF has raised turkeys in the past for our members, but did not this year. Of course, we get requests for turkeys and since we didn’t raise them – suggestions on where to buy. From our dinner talk, Harry agreed to offer his turkeys to our CSA members at the same discounted price (25% off retails) he was offering to Mint Creek’s CSA members. Win/Win!

While at the launch party at Uncommon Ground, I had the pleasure of meeting Helen Cameron, co-founder with her husband, Mike, of two award winning, green, farm to fork establishments. When we were introduced, Helen exclaimed, “I can’t believe we haven’t met before.” Having been involved in Chicago’s local food scene for nearly ten years, I felt the same way. I found that the Cameron’s share our passion for local and sustainable foods and work just as tirelessly promoting it as we do. From this brief meeting springs another relationship.

In January, Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm adds meat share deliveries at both Uncommon Ground locations in Lakeview and Edgewater. Beer pairings with Revolution Brewing beers and CVSF meats promote the new sites. The first was held at the Lakeview location on December 7th, and one is planned for Edgewater on January 11th tickets are $20 and half or the proceeds go to Uncommon Ground’s charity, Uncommon Cause. Also, new CSA members signing up for the new delivery sites can have $30 go to the Healthy & Humane Farms Funds Project by putting FACT in as the promo code on their sign up form ($15 dollars from CVSF & a matching $15 from Uncommon Ground).

Revolution Brewing’s participation flowed from connections to both Helen and CVSF. Uncommon Ground has some of Revolution Brewing’s beers on tap. The tie to CVSF goes back even further. I met Josh Deth back in 2005 as one of the inaugural vendors of the fledgling Logan Square Farmers Market (http://logansquarefarmersmarket.org/). Then Josh was a partner in Handlebar working with the Logan Square Chamber of commerce to get it’s farmers market established, brewing beer at home, and dreaming of opening a world class brew pub. As with Richard and FACT, Josh and I have had many interactions over the past few years, and again our relationship has grown. In fact, Revolution Brewing serves pork from our neighbors Mark and Kristin Boe of La Pryor farms. La Pryor farms is from whom CVSF, also, buys stock. We introduced the Boes to Josh a couple of years ago after he had asked about sourcing locally raised meats.

Foods Resource Bank

2011-11-01T20:24:00.000-05:00

On October 15th, while Beth was delivering shares to our Oak Park drop off, I attended a Foods Resource Bank (FRB) Harvest Celebration just a couple of miles from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm.

FRB is a Christian NGO that works overseas (in 30 countries on every populated continent but Australia and North America) to help alleviate hunger. Although my proclivities tend toward the secular and humanist, this is an inter-denominational religious organization that has a really good approach to food and hunger.

Basically, FRB, raises cash to implement programs in food insecure regions that help people to create their own food security. First of all, FRB does NOT provide direct food assistance. Simply distributing free food is counterproductive to building food security as it puts farmers already growing and selling food in the area out of business. It's hard to compete with free. In starvation situations, FRB will allocate up to 25% of their aid to emergency food assistance - however their overall goal is to build the knowledge and infrastructure needed for resilient, sustainable, local food systems.

How do they do this?

Focus on the specific needs of community being served
Develop local assets
Invest (modestly) in tools and seed
Commit strongly to education, training, and community organizing

How do they raise the funds?

FRB volunteers organize Growing Projects to raise funds. Corn was the crop being harvested at the harvest celebration I attended. For this project, suburban and rural congregations work together, and for the past two years have worked with local farmers to raise a corn crop. This crop is sold at the local grain terminal and the cash proceeds are donated to FRB.

The farmer donates the use of land and his farming expertise to the project.

Once the land is secured, money and donations are raised to supply the inputs needed to raise the crop -GMO seeds, fertilizer, diesel fuel, herbicide, pesticides, etc.

Why donate cash instead of the crop?

The logistics and high cost of shipping the actual grain to the hungry make this approach unfeasible. FRB says it is almost always best to buy food from nearby when there are emergency food needs. Wow, what a refreshing departure from government food aid program. Besides, the corn raised is not suitable for human consumption.

Anyone see the irony here?

High input industrial agriculture is being used to raise money to support low input, sustainable agriculture in areas of food insecurity.

Why was Jody at the harvest celebration representing CVSF?

Partly for entertainment...

Once people get over their awe of the massive, technological marvel of a modern combine (the grain harvester) watching corn get harvested is a bit like counting train cars or watching paint dry.

There were several farming demonstrations going on. A local sheep breeder did a sheering demonstration. Another had and old fashioned miniature baler and turned a large bale of straw into many small decorative bales. My cage of hens that kids could feed popcorn, blades of grass, and grasshoppers were a big draw. Plus getting to talk to an actual farmer away from a noisy machine was pretty novel, for kids and their parents,too.

Partly out of nostalgia...

People of a certain age remember when their grandpa or uncle had a farm with animals that they would visit. Or they had a neighbor that kept hens and a garden and sold them eggs and vegetables. It's harder to connect to one's food as it once was.

Partly for education...

I talked a lot about community supported agriculture and how local foods contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.

Partly as a counter balance...

Even as the combines raced across the fields sucking up bushel on bushel of grain and disgorging it into the semi-trailers, the people visiting my table understood that their current food system is out of whack. Being able to speak to someone farming on another path shows them that things can change and with the support of a community, that change can be for the better.

Food Soveriegnty

2011-10-18T18:14:00.002-05:00

I recently read an article about Wisconsin judge Patrick J. Fielder's ruling that Wisconsin citizens do not have a fundamental right to consume the food of their choice. This decision was in a case involving raw milk and Wisconsin's ban of it's commercial sale.

Here are the specifics of his ruling that the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection did not violate the constittutional rights of the plaintiffs:

(1) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairyherd;

(2) no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;

(3) no, the Zinniker Plaintiffs, do not have a fundamental right to board their cow at the farm of a farm;

(4) no, the Zinnikers Plaintiffs' contract does not fall outside the scope of the State's police power;

(5) no, the Plaintiffs, do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice;

(6) no, the DATCP, did not act in an ultra vires manner because it had jurisdiction to regulate the Zinniker's conduct.

Judge Fielder did not limit his decision to milk alone or to commerce and agriculture regulated by the state.

(Here is a link to the full text of Judge Fiedler's ruling clarification: http://www.thecompletepatient.com/storage/WIorder-clarification9-11.pdf)

If this broad ruling is left to stand, it will set a dangerous legal precedent about all our food choices and the role of government in deciding what we can and cannot eat or grow. It, also, brings into question basic rights of personal property.

Standing alone this ruling is alarming; however, I learned Sunday (from a customer at the Logan Square Farmers Market) that just six weeks after his ruling Judge Fiedler stepped down from the bench to go to work for Axley Brynelson (http://axley.com/services) a law firm whose work includes defending Monsanto (retirment article: http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/article_f25f22b3-4a89-50e3-8d32-06da1adb92f2.html)

If you are unfamiliar with Monsanto, they are intimately involved in the dairy industry with their Posilac product (http://www.elanco.us/products/posilac.htm), recombiant bovine growth hormone (rGBH), a synthetic hormone injected into dairy cows to prolong lactation and boost output. Milk from rGBH cows DOES NOT have to be labeld as such, and Monsanto has fought long and hard to keep it that way - even to the extent of prohibitiing milk from being labeled as rGBHG-free.

But, Monsanto's reach extends far beyond just milk - they have patents on much of the feed and fiber seed planted in the United States (corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets, alfalfa), andthey are aggressively expanding expanding into the realm of fruit and vegetables. (http://westernfarmpress.com/agribusiness-monsanto-buying-leading-fruit-vegetable-seed-company)

Most of Monsanto's patents in the feed and fiber arena include genetic modifications. Now they are working hard to transfer that technology into the produce we eat (http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/Pages/gmo-sweet-corn-variety-coming-soon.aspx).

It is disgusting that the very judge that said food choice is not a constitutional right now effectively works for the same corporation bent on monopolizing the world's food supply for its own control and profit.

It is not much of a stretch to think that Judge Fiedler's decision was influenced (bought) by his current employers.

.

F is for Farm Bill

2011-04-11T09:16:00.000-05:00

Every five years or so, national food, nutrition, and farm priorities are debated and set with omnibus policy and appropriations legislation know as The Farm Bill.

And, the process is already under way as the fiscal year 2011 budget debate rages with a government shutdown barely avoided this past week.

Over the coming weeks, I will be posting more about the current and upcoming Farm Bill debates and sustainable agriculture issues an priorities and ways YOU can get involved. For now, here's a run down of the current Farm Bill.

The farm bill encompasses a lot!

There are currently 15 titles in the Farm Bill:

I. Commodities – wheat, feed grains, cotton, rice, oilseeds, peanuts, sugar, and dairy. Direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, and marketing loans. The government also supports commodities with purchases of dairy and marketing quotas and import barriers for sugar. $8.3 billion per year.

II. Conservation – farmland conservation, preservation, and protection. $4.8 billion per year.

III. Agricultural Trade andFood Aid – Agricultural exports and international food assistance programs. $400 million per year.

IV. Nutrition – Domestic food and nutrition and commodity distribution programs, aka SNAP - supplemental nutrition assistance program. $38 billion per year.

V. Farm Credit – Federal direct and guaranteed farm loan programs. (FARMER-MAC).

VI. Rural Development – Business and community planning and feasibility assessments and coordination activities with local, state, and federal programs, including rural broadband access.

VII. Research – Agriculture research and extension programs including bio-security and response, biotechnology, and organic production.

VIII. Forestry – USDA forest service programs, including forestry management, enhancement, and agro-forestry.

IX. Energy – Bio-energy programs and grants for procurement of biobased products to support development of biorefineries and assist eligible farmers and rural small businesses in purchasing renewable energy systems as well as user education programs.

X. Horticulture and Organic Agriculture – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers fruit, vegetables, and other specialty crops (food) and organic agriculture.

XI. Livestock – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers livestock and poultry production, including provisions that amend existing laws governing livestock and poultry marketing and competition, country-of-origin labeling (COOL) requirements for retailers, and meat and poultry state inspections, among other provisions.

XII. Crop Insurance and disaster assistance – (new title in 2008 bill)

XIII. Commodity futures – (new title in 2008 bill) Covers reauthorization of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other changes to current law.

XIV. Miscellaneous – Other types of programs not covered by other titles, including provisions to assist limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and agricultural security, among others.

XV. Trade and Tax provisions - (new title in 2008 bill) Covers tax-related provisions intended to offset spending initiatives for some programs including those in nutrition, conservation, and energy titles. This title also contains other provisions, including the new supplemental disaster assistance and disaster relief trust fund, and other tax-related provisions such as customs user fees.

What does is Cost?

The estimated 5 year cost of the 2008 farm bill is $284 billion.

An overwhelming amount (97%) of that is spent on four titles:

Nutrition - 67%

Commodity Support payments – 15%

Conservation – 9%

Crop Insurance – 8%

E is for Eggs.

2011-04-10T10:35:00.007-05:00

Well, it's mid-April.

The sun is shining, the air is warmer, the grass is greener, and the hens are busier, much busier.
A little over a month ago, we were picking at most seven dozen eggs a week. Short winter days, inclement weather, and the inevitable seasonality of eggs from free-ranging hens not forced into a year round "production model" had imposed its annual respite.

I don't know why, but it's always a little alarming when egg production crashes. Even though it's expected and happens every year, I still wonder if this is the time that the hen's vacation will be permanent. I guess we're not that far removed from the ancients who feared that winter's cycle might not end.

Fortunately, the season has changed and the ladies are done with their rest – we're currently collecting over twenty dozen eggs a day. In addition to laying a bunch of eggs, the hens are GRAZING. With the green and bugs and worms now in their diet, the hens are eating a quarter less grain than they did a month ago, while laying 20 times as many eggs.

Wow!

GRASS IS GREAT!

Also, the yolks are much more orange than they were just a couple of weeks ago. We think this is a good thing. Many satisfied customers and members of our Meat CSA, agree as they rave about our eggs.

D is for democracy

2011-04-07T07:39:00.009-05:00

On Wednesday the Osmunds traveled to Springfield for Local Food Awareness Day sponsored by the Illinois Stewardship Alliance (ISA) - http://www.ilstewards.org/.

Over 30 local food advocates from throughout the state converged mid-morning on Pasfield House (http://www.pasfieldhouse.com/) just a short walk from the capitol building. After introductions, Lindsay Record and Wes King of ISA taught us "Lobbying 101." Next, we joined our lobbying team and pored over lists of senators and representatives we wanted to see and plotted our stategy while deciphering maps of the Capitol and Stratton office building.

Fortified by lunch, prepared with talking points, loaded with information packets, and stocked with heirloom seed packets (thoughtfully donatated by Baker Creek Seeds (rareseeds.com) , we walked to the capitol.

Once through the security screening, we were set to spread the word about local foods.

A slight hiccup (and an explicit sign that more citizen lobbying is needed) ocurred when a capital police officer asked "Who's your lobbyist?"

Beth replied, "We're all lobbyists - citizen lobbyists."

"Ma'am, I don't think you understood my question" he replied rather pointedly.

Wes showed him his lobbyist id and quickly smoothed things over, but this dismissive attitude toward citizen participation in government was galvinizing.

We didn't speak with any representatives as they were in session; but we visited each of their offices and left our materials with their secretaries and staffers.

Onto the sentate! We did meet with our 38^th District senator Sue Rezin (http://www.senatorrezin.com/).

Richard Osmund, Duncan Osmund, Senator Rezin, Beth Osmund, Jack Osmund, and Jody Osmund

After a visit to the gallery to watch some of the house proceedings with the boys, we regrouped at the ISA offices.

We hydrated with ice water, had the boys run off some steam in the yard, and enjoyed some quiet after the noisome capital, before heading back to the capitol for our meeting with Lt. Governor Sheila Simon (http://www.ltgov.illinois.gov/).

Our group of local food advocates from throughout the state discussed how Simon could use the bully pulpit of her office to further our efforts to build a local food economy in Illinois.

(Lt. Governor Simon with Beth and Jack Osmund)

(Simon, Deborah Cananaugh-Grant, & Dayna Conner)

(Wes King of ISA pulls out our lobbying materials – including a packet of seeds.)

C is for...

2011-04-05T08:10:00.001-05:00

B is for Bringing it home.

2011-04-04T23:48:00.001-05:00

April 1^st – Beth travels to Whitewater, WI to purchase and bring home a 38' * 40' * 15' tension fabric building – in boxes, loaded on our flatbed trailer. Once erected, the new building will house our layer hens with room to add more hens later this season. Construction will begin later this week.

While Beth was traveling, Jody was interviewed for another article on sustainable farming with a reporter with Gatehouse Media which will be published in papers across the country.

This Wednesday, the whole family will travel to Springfield, IL for the Local Foods Lobby Day & a meeting with Lt. Governor Sheila Simon to discuss local food and sustainable farming.

A is for Already Late

2011-04-04T23:23:00.001-05:00

In February, it seemed like doing a daily A to Z blog challenge would be fun and make a lot of sense in promoting the farm. Of course, spring tends to get busy around here and without any pre-written entries, we're already late.

Hmmm, how did that happen?

Well, March began with a full calendar. Just back from the country's largest organic and sustainable conference (MOSES) in La Crosse, WI (with a side trip to rally with public employees in Madison); March began with a trip to Midway to pick up our oldest. Richard had spent two weeks visiting his grandparents in Texas. If you're a CSA member you probably know Richard as Jody's helper on some deliveries.

The next day, Jody traveled to Springfield for a meeting of the Illinois Local, Food, Farms, and Jobs Council (ILFFJC). Next was the Illinois Stewardship Alliance's (ISA) Grassroots Policy Committee regional meeting – hosted by the greenfarmers network at Growing Home farm in Marseilles, IL. That takes us up to the third day of the month.

It seems that March accelerated from there. Highlights include:

CVSF sponsoring a soccer team in Mendota and Jody coaching, Richard in the junior high division.

Beth agreeing to participate on a grant review panel – including several days in D.C. in April.

Jody speaking to the Illinois (river) Headwaters Rural Conservation & Development meeting in Bourbonnais.

Attending two benefits. One benefit was to purchase supplies for a school in Kenya that a local friend helped to build. The other was to help with the medical expenses for the father of one of our summer helpers who is battling stomach cancer – CVSF donated grill packages for auction.

Teaching Meat CSA Marketing, Production, & Management at Michael Fields Agriculture Institute in East Troy, WI.

Organizing/Attending a farmer field trip to the Butcher and Larder in Chicago, so we could see how an artisan butcher breaks down a side of pork into saleable cuts.

Meeting with a potential investor in CVSF.

Answering questions for an upcoming Progressive Farmer magazine article on farmers who sell directly to consumers (national scope).

Consulting to other CSA farmers on branding and marketing as part of the Angelic Organics Learning Center's technical assistance pool.

Delivering CSA meat shares to nearly 300 families.

Whew! Hey there's only 30 days in April, one less day to schedule.

My New Favorite Book

2009-03-25T06:15:00.004-05:00

Tina vs. Lois
An Exotic Seductress vs. the Constant Lover

In my new favorite book, The Small-Mart Revolution (http://www.small-mart.org/), Michael Shuman pits Tina against Lois, and Lois kicks *ss.

As you might guess by the title, this is a book about local businesses competing against the likes of Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores. TINA is Shuman’s acronym for the status quo view of globalization – “There Is No Alternative.” LOIS stands for “Local Ownership Import Substitution.”

For many communities’ chambers of commerce and economic development corporations attracting Tina businesses is the brass ring. From states in the deep, south clamoring for foreign auto manufacturers to locate in their humble burgs to neighboring communities vying to outdo each other to land the next Home Depot or Super Wal-Mart, Tina gets a lot of attention. And, why not, she’s the glamorous gal from out of town making big promises. Jobs and money, jobs and money, jobs and money..

The promise come with a price, Tina sure NEEDS bling – grants, low interest loans, loan guarantees, industrial development bonds, tax breaks, preferential zoning, streets, sewers… You name it Tina wants it. Baby, can you throw in some regulatory reform and reduced red tape to provide a friendly “business climate” for me, too? Translation: let me erode your public standards related to health, labor, environmental protection and product safety so I can improve my margins.

Are the costs worth it? Michael Shuman doesn’t think so, and he offers some compelling data to support his opinions – his book is well noted with a couple of excellent appendices. Of course his reasoned ideas haven’t (yet) stopped the escalating bidding wars for Tina businesses. Southern states spent from $59,000 to 193,000 per job for auto plants. New York governor George Pataki gave IBM $500,000 per job to keep them from leaving the state (can you say extortion?). Jeb Bush of Florida gave $1,000,000 per job to attract Scripps Biological Research Center. Over the last 10 years, Wal-Mart (the world’s richest company) has extracted over $1 billion dollars from state and local governments in 244 separate deals.

Economic developers argue that these incentives are long term investments that will pay dividends in the long run. Their point would gain validity, if these firms stayed around for generations. Unfortunately, Tina is a fickle mistress with wandering eyes and obligations to distant managers and shareholders following every quarterly report. She can be lured away by a community with shinier baubles (read bigger incentives) or “friendlier” business climate (read Mexico, China, or other places with cheaper labor and lower environmental standards). Huge net losses accrue to the community, when a Tina a firm leaves after 5, 10, or even 20 years.

Chambers of commerce and EDCs, also, posit that they love Lois business just as much as Tina and are even handed in their approach. Shuman says the current approach is akin to making “elephant-mouse casserole.” Because of the great disparity in scale between Tina and Lois enterprises, the incentives are disproportionate as well. Local politicians are seduced by the front page media attention and photo ops afforded by grand multi-million (or billion) dollar projects. New Lois projects are usually relegated to a small square buried in the business section of the local paper. For Lois to prosper, this recipe needs to change.

Why is Lois a better option?

Local Ownership –

When a business is locally owned, the owners and managers are tied to the community. They attend local churches and social events. Their children attend local schools. Their employees, customers, and business associates are their friends and neighbors. Their business decisions affect the community in which they live.

A beneficial push/pull dynamic is set up by proximity and connection to community. Business owners with deep ties (social, economic, and spiritual) to community, don’t move their businesses to chase incentives, cheap labor, or easier regulation. Nor are they inclined to mistreat workers or damage the environment as their friends and neighbors and customers can are there to see their actions – scrutiny and transparency count. As many Lois businesses span generations sustainable business models are typical.

Import Substitution –

Locally owned businesses buy a much higher percentage of supplies and services within their own community/region than their Tina counterparts. Prosperous local businesses foster complementary businesses and lead to vibrant interconnected economies. When local inputs are processed/manufactured into higher value products within the same community, more dollars accrue to and circulate within the community. This increased wealth and monetary circulation has positive effects on wages, tax bases, and community investment – schools, roads, civic institutions.

Rising wages and improved community services, retain talent, and alleviate the “brain drain” experienced when skilled jobs are exported by Tina entities. With thriving Lois businesses and growing tax bases providing improved infrastructure, social, and educational institutions; people will want to join the community. Talented newcomers will join existing innovators to build on the comm., unity’s success. Goods and services will continue to be traded across regions and countries, however; having Lois businesses with strong communities ties negotiating the deals these transactions will garner net benefits to the community rather than padding the profits of distant shareholders and boards of directors.

Jody Osmund

March 2009

Beef Carnitas

2007-11-06T06:24:00.000-06:00

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pounds beef (round steak, stew meat, or Swiss steak) trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces 1 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 large unpeeled orange wedge

Instructions

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
2. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beef; sauté 5 minutes or until beef is browned on all sides.
3. Stir in broth, sugar, salt, and pepper; nestle orange section into beef mixture. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
4. Remove and discard orange. Continue simmering, uncovered, 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring frequently.

Italian Sausage Risotto

2007-11-06T06:21:00.000-06:00

*~*~*~This is one of our family's favorites!!!*~*~*~*

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 lb Italian pork sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
1 T butter
1 ¼ C Arborio rice
½ C good red wine
3 C hot chicken broth
1 T grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra to serve)
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Skin the sausages and pinch small sections into a large frying pan. Fry gently until lightly crusty. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.

2. In the frying pan melt the butter, add the onion and cook over moderate heat until it softens. Add the rice and toss until well coated in butter, stirring constantly.

3. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed. Add the sausage and stir through.

4. Add the chicken broth and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low , cover, and cook 15-20 minutes until the broth is absorbed and the rice is tender, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove from heat. Stir in Parmesan, add salt & pepper to taste and serve.

Delivering Food after THE FLOOD

2007-10-30T11:02:00.001-05:00

The first three weeks of August had been rainy. But the damp and wet that had been inconvenient in the garden (delayed fall seedings and rampant weeds in beds too muddy to cultivate), became devastating when we recieved 6.5 inches of rain in about 8 hours overnight on the 23rd/24th.

We'd gone to bed exhausted that night as Thursday had been a long day with chicken projects. Friday promised to be even busier, as we had to harvest for 50 veggie boxes and two markets. As we slept, it rained and rained and rained. When we woke up and went out to survey the garden, we found that fully a third of the garden was under water. Three hundred of our heirloom tomato plants were under 18 inches of water, three quarters of an acre of potatoes were underwater and 400 two week old chicks just put out to pasture had drowned.

When Beth came in from looking at the field that morning, she thought our season was over, surely we wouldn't have a harvest today or any time soon. Jody said "Let's go take a look and see what's left out there. As we waded throught the beds, it was pretty devastating; however, it wasn't a 100 percent loss. In fact there would be a harvest today - there had to be as potatoes floating in the water would be a total loss, if they weren't taken out immediately.

With the help of Ben and Joe (occasional farm staff at Cedar Valley), we proceeded to pull potatoes from the watery muck of vines, mulch, and many thousands of earthworms. We'd definitely have potatoes for the shares this week and enough to hold for next week. Actually, we proceeded to harvest a very generous amount (there was more to salvage than we'd thought) of veggies for our share member's boxes. The next few weeks were a challenge to fill shares as potatoes and tomatoes are a late summer staple. We, also, lost basil, onions, green beans, turnips and two big beds of rutabagas that were planned for fall boxes.

Fortunately, we were able to buy some vegetables in from another CSA farm to help round out our boxes. As soon, as the ground was dry we started seeding fast growing crops (salad mix, radishes, spinach, turnips) that would help us fill boxes later in the season. Four weeks after the flood, we took one week off from CSA deliveries to let the beds we'd been harvesting rest and the newly planted beds to grow. Our members were very understanding. Because we had begunn our season a week late (cold wet spring) and much of our fall seeding was delayed, we decided to add a week on to our share deliviveries. Despite the devasting flood of August 2007, our members recieved 23 out of the 24 weeks of vegetables we'd initially promised in the spring.

It was a trying season, but we were very proud of the value we delivered to our members.

Peas on Earth

2007-07-15T14:55:00.000-05:00

I have picked a lot of peas in the past two days; consequently, I’ve had a lot of time in the hot sun to think. In keeping with my nascent yoga practice, I was trying to be fully present in what I was doing. So, I had a lot of time, in the sun, thinking about picking peas. I learned some lessons about picking peas that might even be relevant to other things. I’ll leave that up to you to decide. (Remember, I was in the hot sun.)

Sometimes the thickest tangle conceals the most rewards. The trick is to
be willing to pull apart the vines to see the fruit.

Make time to
put up the trellis. Having your supports in place before you need them
makes the job much easier later on.

Use as many of your senses as
possible. Sight, touch and even hearing help to find the pod that is
ready.

Take time to reward yourself. A few pea pods, fresh
off the vine help to remind me that a difficult job is
worthwhile.

It’s always helpful to look at things from a different
angle. No matter how thorough I think I’ve been, when I look at the same plant
from a different place I’m almost always rewarded with a few more pods.

A corollary to the rule above: Someone else will always see
peas you missed. It never hurts to get a second opinion.

Know when to say when. Walking back through the row, there are always peas that were missed. It’s important to know when to call a seemingly endless job done enough for today!

Sustainablility

2007-07-15T14:45:00.000-05:00

Because farming is an annual endeavor, each year we have the opportunity to review what we’ve done and make improvements to our business model. Since Jody and I both thrive on change this is a great fit for us. The flip side of this however, is that we tend to want to do, and change, and add too much. There are so many great ideas and so many directions we want to take our business it’s like a huge buffet, and we’re tempted to take a taste of everything. We’ve learned though, I hope, not to put more on our plates than we can handle. When we start talking about all the wonderful opportunities, we have to remind ourselves what our goals really are.
Our objectives are twofold; sustainability and wealth.
Sustainable means something that can continue to grow and thrive. It doesn’t increase at the cost of depleting something else. Because sustainable is part of our business’ name -Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm- we are often asked about it. This past summer Jody came up with a great, succinct way to explain what sustainable means to our business. It means that our farm is a complete system. With the exception of seed, and some raw material for compost, we don’t add outside inputs. Chemical fertilizers and pest control aren’t used. Sustainable also means that we sell food at its true cost; it isn’t deflated by government subsidies or inflated by middlemen. Related to that, it means that we wish to make a living wage off our products. We work hard on the farm and should be able to support our family with that work. Finally, sustainable means leaving this land to our children in better condition than when we began.
Wealth is the other objective for which we strive. That word also requires a bit of definition. My favorite definition of wealth comes from that unequaled source of wisdom: the email signature line. A good friend has this statement under her email signature, “True wealth is a network of mutually beneficial, interconnected relationships.” I love that definition of wealth because it is sustainable. Our wealth doesn’t increase at the cost of someone else’s. It isn’t a zero sum game. This kind of wealth has little to do with money. That has its place too, but it is part of sustainability. We enjoy this kind of wealth regularly on our farm. We have many volunteers who come every week, work hard, share a meal, take home a box of vegetables and thank us for the opportunity. They think that they are getting the better end of the deal and so do we. We work in cooperation with other small organic farms to the benefit of both. We continue to build this kind of wealth throughout our community.
These are the goals that we try to keep in mind as we choose from the buffet of opportunities. This is the foundation we try to build on in our family and our business.