A NOTE FROM CHEF BECKY
Dear CSA Members,
There is a compost controversy raging among old guard organic farmers and consumer advocates represented by OCA (Organic Consumer Association) regard- ing the use of manure from factory farms in “organic compost”. One reccent article on the subject was titled: “Waste not, want not; organic agriculture has a dirty little secret”. The reason that ‘organic compost” is in parenthesis is because calling it organic is a stretch. It is sold as organic but most manure available for compost is that from CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) who use antibiotics and GMO feed that is not always “cooked out” in the process of thermophilic compost.
The inherent wastefulness of factory feedlots where feed is brought in and waste taken out creates a huge problem. Where is all that manure to go if it’s not composted? This has been a thorny issue for organic farmers and compost makers for years. In a grass-fed operation, the cows are raised on pasture with a supplement of feed. The cows eat the grass and fertilize it, enabling more feed to grow. It is a cycli- cal process, self renewing. The organic movement has provided a use for waste from CAFOs which would have no other use for it. It would sit in a landfill creating green- house gasses, contributing to global warming. Needless to say, our organic activist friends, compost makers etc, are feeling very betrayed by OCA.
Last week as we were heading out of town for Hawaii, Al was on the phone trying to coordinate communication between Christophe (compost master) and Humberto (our tractor driver) regarding the testing and subsequent spraying of the compost tea that was brewing. It has to be sprayed with 8 hours of completion, but it can’t be sprayed until Christophe gives the green light. He wants to test to make sure that there’s lots of microbial activity so that the trees can more readily absorb the nutrients. Humberto needs to start early so that he can complete the spraying of one batch in one work day. A lot of texts went back and forth as we were rushing to the airport, but it all ended well; Christophe was able to test the batch early and Hum- berto was able to get started right away.
When I hear the issues facing organic agriculture regarding compost in par- ticular, I am so grateful that we have our own compost program. It is well worth the extra management and investment. Buying good “organic compost” was always tricky and never satisfying. Nothing we could buy can comes close to the quality of what we make ourselves. Making our own compost has enabled us to address specific issues like brown rot and replant syndrome. We are not only sequestering carbon but we are making our trees healthy and making our fruit delicious.
