On Thu, 23 Feb 2006 09:08:27 -0500, Bill Truesdell <bhfarms@SUSCOM-
MAINE.NET> wrote:
>In essence, what you are saying is that all other honey, except organic,
>is suspect.
That's the last thing I mean to be saying, even if it is what my customers
hear. My biggest complaint with formal organic standards is that they
become another least common denominator, in other words, that they
turn "organic honey" into another commodity. Instead of producers and
customers together seeking the path of maximum integrity, a bunch of local
producers are first disqualified and then it's back to a Walmart mentality
of cost-cutting. That's a perfect recipe for irresponsible production AND
consumption.
One way or another I think customers need to be put in a position where
they can choose to support beekeepers that are enriching the community.
There's a lot more to truth than what can be proved in a lab test. I'm
thinking big picture here: I value small, local producers because they make
my community more vibrant, because they make the local economy more
balanced and stable, because they decrease dependency on Chinese labor and
Middle Eastern oil, because they provide opportunities for my children to
make a living in the community, etc. And because I'd rather trust my
neighbor than some faceless market mechanism to provide a wholesome jar of
honey.
As a consumer I want to know, for instance, if the jar of honey I buy is
enriching my neighbor and my community or if it's (and this is all
relative, it's all just shades of gray) enriching the stockholders of
Monsanto and Exxon. I completely agree that sin is universal. Which means
to me that there is no honey that isn't "suspect." And that is all the
more reason not to content ourselves with "organic" or any other minimum
standard. I want to empower the consumer to support what he believes in.
And I want his beliefs to have a basis in genuine knowledge. An educated,
informed consumer might choose to support a beekeeper that is always trying
to raise his standards. Letting my "honey do the talking" really doesn't
seem like enough. My honey is like my fourteen month old daughter: it's
very endearing, but it can't communicate a whole lot.
If I can teach my customer to appreciate the things I do to go beyond
whatever minimum standards, then he might decide those things are worth
supporting. How else am I to make those extra steps from becoming a
competitive disadvantage that undermines the viability of my business?
Perhaps just as important as communication is the face-to-face
relationship. Of course, I need to sell more honey to make a living than I
can know faces, but much more than any legalistic standards, I value the
accountability of a personal relationship. I see the personal, face-to-
face relationship as a mighty enabler of quality and responsibility, and I
see a lot of things in the "organic" standards working against that.
So my concern with the pushers of "organic" is the same as my concern with
the skeptics of "organic": both seem to want content themselves with
different minimum standards. I don't want to accept any end to the
potential for improvement.
Eric
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