Government regulations and an obsession with food safety are threatening small farms’ ability to sell directly to customers, an American farmer told the Organic Connections conference.
Speaking in Saskatoon Nov. 17, Joel Salatin said the regulatory climate has become one of infrastructure over food quality.
“We are dealing with day to day regulatory hurdles,” he said.
“They put so much overhead on a small operation, a small operation doesn’t see the light of day,” he said.
“That’s a significant impediment.
Salatin runs the Polyface family farm in Virginia, raising animals on grass, operating a woodlot and sawmill, selling products locally and using sustainable farming practices such as recycling waste products.
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He said other impediments are placed on labour, which regulates workers but allow little opportunity for educating would-be farmers through mentoring and hands-on work experiences.
“Older farmers who could mentor younger farmers don’t because they don’t want to deal with regulators,” said Salatin, who saw that as a barrier to young people choosing farming as a career.
Labelling requirements concerning nutrient content work in large-scale production but are not feasible for small processors.
“If you’re selling a million dollars, you can afford to spend thousands, but if selling a little cheese, that’s enough to keep you from getting started,” Salatin said.
Insurance requirements and liability insurance can also stop agribusiness and entrepreneurship in their tracks.
He also questioned why small quantities of farm products need to be shipped in refrigerated trucks, when careful monitoring of coolers and freezer packs could accomplish the same thing for short distances.
Salatin said developed nations have criminalized and dehumanized food production and created large-scale industrial food models.
“We can give Coke and taco chips to our kids but don’t give them raw milk,” he said.
“We’ve been drinking raw milk a lot longer than we’ve been drinking Coca Cola and eating chips and yet the government says one is safe and raw milk is unsafe.”
Salatin believes rural areas could be revitalized by a healthy local exchange of food products.
He cited the example of his home state, where recent legislative changes are permitting home-based businesses to sell directly to the person who will consume the product.
Salatin said some leeway is needed to accommodate new agri-businesses and see what can work, while creating greater “food freedom of choice” and allowing cottage industries to access the local community with value-added goods.
He said the locally produced food movement is growing, as is demand among consumers.
Mary Lundgard, a cattle and lamb producer at Grimshaw, Alta., who attended the conference, said government needs to allow producers to sell their food with fewer restrictions.
She said requirements for building small plants are the same as those for large scale processing plants, making it impractical for small producers to establish local plants for producers.
For her, that means shipping product to Edmonton for processing and then shipping it back to the Peace region in northwestern Alberta for marketing.
“We should have the right to choose where we get our food,” she said.
