Don't Take Food for Granted

We all agree we need food to live. Drought in Africa and hurricanes in Haiti endanger lives. When the sunny, warm weather of June replaced May's surplus rainfall, Wisconsin't "Fabulous Farm Babe," Pam Jahnke, had good news for her radio audience: corn planting was 91% complete; soybean planting, 73% complete; and oats planting, 96% complete. Potato, pasture, alfalfa, and hay conditions also were coming along well.

     Besides the right amount of sun and rain, food crops require pollination and freedom from damaging pests and disease. The trouble is the neonicotinoid pesticide and glyphosate herbicide that crops, such as corn, soybeans, and alfalfa, have been genetically modified to survive cause bee pollinators and the milkweed wildflowers butterfly pollinators eat to die. Research indicates almonds, strawberries, peaches, avocados, and up to 140 crops depend on pollination. The cross-purpose of treating crops to resist pests and disease by killing the bee and butterfly pollinators many crops need to survive requires a major research solution.

     Monsanto, the seed and chemical company criticized for playing a role in every study that claims genetically modified crops are safe, donated a $10 million biotech lab facility to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in January, 2017. The installation's 28,000 square foot space accommodates 20 greenhouses and controlled environments in shade houses and light rooms that enable the university to do research on a scale with major companies. Although there has been no mention of studying the impact on bees of treating Monsanto's corn and soybean seeds with neonicotinoids or of creating plants that do not attract the insects that can destroy them, these would be excellent projects for what has been named the university's new Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center.

     Meanwhile, small scale farmers are in a position to plant crop seeds, untreated by neonicotinoid insecticide; to grow bee- and butterfly-friendly flowers (colorful zinnias, cosmos, and lavender), milkweed, and herbs; to leave woody debris and leaf litter undisturbed for bee breeding areas; and to avoid applying pesticides and herbicides to blooming flowers, weeds, and possible bee nesting areas.

      Finally, research suggests gardeners who want to discourage mosquitoes from ruining their outdoor activities should plant marigolds, citronella, lavender, basil, and catnip (mint).

I Love Coffee; I Love Tea

South African tea farmers, who formed the Heiveld co-operative in the Suid Bokkeveld, are among the Africans who have learned to play the game. Not satisfied with the low prices middlemen brokers paid, and the subsequent low wages they received for the long hours (up to 10-12 hour days) they worked on tea plantations, they formed a co-operative to sell directly to Fairtrade importers who pay fair prices. Their incomes tripled by dealing with companies, such as Lemonaid & Chari Tea.

     Fairtrade certified co-operatives are a good fit with companies formed to satisfy health conscious consumers who are willing: 1) to pay a slightly higher price for products that use natural ingredients and 2) to treat all farmers fairly and with dignity. In the case of Lemonaid & Chari Tea, the company also set up a foundation which uses per bottle contributions from its specialty drinks to finance solar energy and education projects for co-operative members.

     For coffee bean farmers, current conditions are not this favorable. Rising temperatures and, in some areas, unusual drenching high altitude rain associated with climate change have caused a decline in harvests and an increase in pests and widespread roya, a leaf rust fungus, in Central America and Africa. While several big coffee companies are helping farmers move to higher ground, move away from the equator, develop more resilient coffee plants, and diversify crops, most coffee growers are poor small scale farmers unable to mill and market their own coffee beans.

     Since worldwide coffee demand is growing and coffee yields are shrinking, criminal gangs in Kenya and elsewhere have an incentive to overpower private security guards, pay off police guards, steal entire harvests from storage facilities, and sell stolen bags of beans to unscrupulous or unsuspecting middlemen.

     Coffee plantations also have an incentive to scam coffee certification systems that are designed to recognize farms for good environmental, social, and economic practices. Inspectors for the Rainforest Alliance, the Netherlands' UTZ seal, and the Fairtrade International seal have failed to spot problems in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer. When confronted, farm owners have been known to claim violations were corrected before a deadline, labor issues were resolved, and information about code non-conformities and improved conditions is confidential. Noted certification violations include: false pay deductions for absences, for pay advances and for days off and a failure to register seasonal workers and provide their required medical exams.

     In some counties, government regulations requiring coffee marketers to provide sizable bank guarantees and to obtain export licenses have hampered the formation of coffee co-operatives that can sell directly to companies, such as Starbucks.

(An earlier post, "Coffee Prices Going Up; Allowances Going Down?" also addresses the coffee shortage.)