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Everyone’s heard the phrase, “Good going!” It’s a sign of enthusiasm, appreciation, and encouragement in response to a positive action. How about adding, “Good growing!” to your phrasebook as a horticultural/agricultural verbal high five to those men and women who raise all sorts of wonderful things for our tables and homes, and to our friends and neighbors who practice good growing methods on their home turf?
If we’re celebrating good growers, does that mean there are bad growers? There’s always one bad apple in every basket (sorry about that), but the answer is “no” if you ask Joseph Gergela, executive director of the L.I. Farm Bureau. His job is to be an advocate of the farmer, so it’s not surprising that he makes a strong case for all farmers being good growers. According to Gergela, both conventional and organic farmers can be called sustainable. In fact, these days, homeowners do more harm to the environment than conventional farmers. In 2000, Audubon magazine reported that homeowners are putting 136 million pounds of pesticides on their lawns and gardens every year, and that’s three—count ’em—three times as much per acre as farmers. We homeowners have some catching up to do as far as sustainability goes.
Defining Sustainability
Sustainability is kind of an abstract concept. There’s no formal certification program for “sustainability” and therefore no defined rules and regulations for what makes something sustainable, so accountability is an issue. Scott Chaskey, of Quail Hill Farm, in Amagansett (a project of the Peconic Land Trust), who’s also board president of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY (NOFA-NY), gave me a simpler definition: Leave the land in better condition than when you first came upon it, and think about the next seven generations before acting.
How do you know who’s a good grower and not greenwashing what they say they’re doing? The only growing methods certified by independent third parties are Certified Organic and Certified Biodynamic. However, many excellent growers are not certified. Some farmers are staunch individualists and don’t want to be beholden to any organization no matter how good they are, and some don’t want to—or feel they can’t afford to—pay a certification agency to be labeled certified anything as there are significant fees associated with certification. There are so many things one can do—from conserving water to using renewable energy sources (fry oil in your tractor, anyone?)—things beyond what we hear about, such as using fewer or no pesticides, and not growing genetically modified crops. NOFA-NY has a program called The Farmer’s Pledge; while not a substitute for organic certification, it’s a personal commitment saying that the farmer will adhere to the ideas set forth in the pledge. When visiting farm stands and farmers’ markets, simply ask any grower what they do to be sustainable; if they have a website, check it out, or ask people who are familiar with the grower.
Integrated Pest Management
One sustainable method being used by many conventional farms is Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The thumbnail definition is that growers use beneficial insects or other natural methods to control “bad” pests, and turn to pesticides and other “ides” as a last resort, not a first action. This is a very good thing. The fewer pesticides and less synthetic fertilizer used, the less petroleum is used to produce them, and the carbon footprint starts to shrink. The bad news is there’s no formal certification for IPM so anyone can say they’re doing it.
As a consumer, you have a right to know how things are being grown if you’re paying for them, so again, talk to the grower. When it comes to IPM, I think of Clarke McCombe, of Briermere Farms, in Riverhead. Briermere is famous for pies, but I love their fruit (though I really like the pies, too . . . especially peach cream in summer). Clarke is actively practicing IPM on the farm. How do I know? Over the past 10 years, we’ve had many short discussions about what they do at Briermere. This weekend, I bought a bag of their IPM Fuji apples that were delicious. So good, in fact, that I called the farm after eating the first one and thanked them for growing such great apples. Never resist the urge to thank a farmer.
There are a number of great growers who aren’t certified anything but are doing their best to do the right things. Another one of them is Ronnybrook Farm. Got milk? You should try theirs. The chocolate milk is soooo good, and I wait every year for their eggnog to surface around the fall/winter holidays. Plus, they come in returnable glass bottles. Very sustainable! Ronnybrook uses the term “all natural,” which again, isn’t certified, and on a certain level means nothing. However, I’ve taken the time to talk to the Ronnybrook gang at their Union Square greenmarket stall, and have found out they use no bovine growth hormones or pesticides, don’t use antibiotics unless the cow is sick, and then don’t use its milk until the antibiotics won’t be in the milk anymore. They also don’t use any additives or preservatives, and the cows are fed grass in the summer (which is what they’re supposed to eat) and corn and silage in the winter (a reasonable thing to do in New York and it’s also okay for the cows). They aren’t from Long Island, but are a New York dairy (a highly endangered species) and you can find their dairy products locally at stores such as Whole Foods and Wild by Nature, and other locations that you can find on their website (www.ronnybrook.com).
Honey Do
Honey can be produced sustainably, but you probably won’t see it certified organic here in the Northeast. An active member of the Long Island Beekeepers Club (LIBC), Jim Fischer has had bees in his life (yes, on purpose) for 20 years. He says it’s nearly impossible to have certified-organic honey because the bees won’t listen when you suggest they stay away from that non-organic managed or certified land. Bees have a flight range of three miles on average, with a one to two minimum, and seven to 10 miles for a really ramblin’ bee. That said, Hawaii and Canada have enough open space for organic certification to be an option. Plus, who knew? The USDA hasn’t settled on what the rules are for organic honey. Email the LIBC through their website (www.longislandbeekeepers.org), tell them with what town you’re in, and you’ll be hooked up with a local beekeeper who’ll be glad to sell you some of their own honey. That saves on food miles, which is a great thing as the average distance food has traveled to get to your plate per mouthful has increased over the past several years from 1,500 to 2,500 miles.
Mr. Fischer feels that a local beekeeper with even a few hives can make a nice side income and be a great source for the neighborhood getting good-quality local honey. If you’re interested in becoming a good grower yourself, you can attend LIBC meetings to learn about bees, consider becoming a novice beekeeper, or go full tilt boogie for the Master Beekeepers program. On June 15, they’re having a Drone Appreciation Day BBQ and will discuss the top 10 tips for Long Island beekeepers, and at July’s meeting, the topic is sex; Dr. Larry Connor, entomologist, will talk about his new book, Bee Sex Essentials (Wicwas Press, 2008).
Better Breeds
Many growers who raise animals for food don’t get certified organic. One of the reasons is that it’s sometimes difficult to obtain certified-organic feed. Does this mean they’re feeding them junk food? Nope! Does that mean they’re not good growers? Au contraire! A good example is Makinajian Farm, in Huntington, celebrating their 60th anniversary of good growing. I call them the “everything with wings” farm as they raise their own chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, and the eggs from some of these critters. They’re not certified organic, but are being raised with the hallmarks of organic growing methods... using no antibiotics, no hormones, raising the birds free-range, etc. Do I trust these people? You betcha! After many years of visiting them and buying their food (not only things with wings, but also vegetables, herbs, and berries from their six-and-a-half-acre certified-organic produce farm out back) and talking to Michael (farmer), Christina (farmstand), and Edward (farmer and patriarch) Makinajian, you get a sense of who these people are. And like most farmers, they’re smart, caring, hard-working people who want to do the best they possibly can for their customers, plants, animals, themselves (they live on the farm so they don’t want to pollute their home), and the environment.
Go Local
There are so many good growers right in our backyards. Support them by buying their food and goods. And, if you’re not already, join in and become a good grower, too, in your own yard or garden (remember, we have to catch up to become as least as sustainable as the farmers). The bottom line was stated best by farmer Bill Halsey, of Green Thumb Farm, who said, “If a farm ain’t economically sustainable, it doesn’t matter what growing method is used because there’ll be no farms left . . . conventional, organic, or any other kind.” This is coming from a longtime certified-organic farmer. Just like the well-known bumper sticker says: Think global, eat local!
Suzanne J. Zoubeck is a graduate of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Master Gardener program and founder of Green Thumb CSA–Huntington. She has yet to meet a fruit or vegetable that she didn’t like.
Be a Good Friend of the Farmer
1. Ask questions but don’t be an inquisitor
You may feel passionate about these issues (as I do), but no one wants to feel defensive about what they spend a lot of blood, sweat, and tears doing. As the saying goes, you catch a whole lot more flies with honey than with vinegar, so please be polite.
2. Don’t ask everything on your first visit, and visit more than once
Farmers like talking to people who are interested in what they do, but it can be discouraging if they feel people are only there to grill them. Remember economic sustainability? While a one-time customer is surely appreciated, the hope is to build a customer base to help them keep farming for the long haul.
3. Be aware they may know more about what they do than you do
I’ve heard tales from farmers about folks coming up to them and, basically, telling them what to do. And these would be people who have little or no practical experience doing what the farmer has been doing for a very long time, or at least longer than the person making the suggestions. While you may have some good ideas, until you’ve formed some sort of friendly relationship with the farmer, they may be not only dismissive of your ideas, but resentful of them as well.
4. Watch the time
The farmer is there to be a farmer first, and a public relations and information officer second. They may be happy to talk to you but there’s always a ton of work to do on the farm, or other customers to attend to at the farmstand. So, please be mindful of their time.
5. Buy something
Farmers will be happier to talk to you if they see that you’re supporting what they do with more than words. Talk is cheap, and you’ll benefit by getting the freshest foods direct from the grower, helping to lower the carbon footprint of your purchase.
Contact information for who and what’s mentioned in this article, plus where
to find local farm-fresh foods.
Who…
Briermere Farms
4414 Sound Avenue
Riverhead
(631) 722-3931
www.briermere.com
Green Thumb Farm
829 Montauk Highway
Water Mill
(631) 726-1900
Long Island Farm Bureau
104 Edwards Avenue
Calverton
(631) 727-3777
www.lifb.com
Makinajian Farm
276 Cuba Hill Road
Huntington
(631) 368-9320
Quail Hill Farm
Old Stone Highway
Amagansett
www.peconiclandtrust.org/quailhillfarm
Long Island Beekeepers Club
www.longislandbeekeepers.org
Peconic Land Trust
www.peconiclandtrust.org
Ronnybrook Farm
www.ronnybrook.com
What . . .
Audubon Society’s Homeowner’s
Guide to Good Growing
www.audubon.org/bird/pdf/pesticideguide.pdf
Northeast Organic Farming
Association of New York
www.nofany.org
Biodynamics
www.biodynamics.com
The Farmer’s Pledge
www.nofany.org/farmerspledge.htm
Where . . .
Farmstands
www.lifb.com/stands_location.0.html
Nassau Farmers’ Markets
www.nyfarmersmarket.com/
www.regionmetronassau.htm
Suffolk Farmers’ Markets
www.nyfarmersmarket.com/
www.regionmetrosuffolk.htm
Carolyn McQuade, Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 08:18 AMAbsolutely loved this story, chock full of great information about how to eat well and healthy on Long Island, thanks so much!!
Claire Kennedy, Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 09:13 PMDon't know what happened - the screen blanked out on me...
As I said.
What do we do when the farmstands import from other states their produce??
I'm there to eat locally grown foods!!
I've been know to turn around and leave the farmstand if the items I'm looking to purchase are not grown there!
Claire
suzanne j zoubeck, Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at 05:10 AMResponding to Ms. Kennedy...It's a matter of talking to farmers. I know at Green Thumb Farm in Water Mill, they were stocking non-organic tomatoes because some folks out there want them. I overheard a lady in a fur coat with bling on her fingers who was driving a VERY nice Mercedes saying how she didn't want to pay more for organic local tomatoes. How about them apples?...I mean tomatoes :) !
However, the farm wasn't passing them off as theirs or organic, so that's fine with me. After all, they're trying to make a living and please customers.
I hear you loud and clear about wanting to eat local. How about calling the farm first and asking what they have and if it's grown there or elsewhere on Long Island? It'll save you the gas. However, keep in mind that if something is from elsewhere in NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI and maybe even MA, it could be considered local. It's not from another country and it's a lot closer than the average 1500 to 2500 miles per mouthful that much of our food is travelling. You'd then want to know where it's from and how long it took to get from point A to point B in terms of freshness. It's about 355 miles from NYC to Pittsburgh, PA. I don't have a map in front of me but that gives you quite a swath to get produce that could be very fresh indeed. If you go to the Union Square farmers market in NYC, there are farmers from the states I mentioned and I have NO problem supporting them. Check it out sometime!
LSemmes, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 03:21 PMVery informative and inspiring to support local growers. I visit Makinajian farm at least once a week to grab a pie and pick up veggies. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Another place to check out if in the Vernon, NJ area is a small cheese-making farmer, Jonathon White, the home of Bobolink Dairy. His cows are grass-fed and cheese made from raw milk (very rare nowadays). He holds tours of the farm, bake bread from their outdoor oven, and may have a chance to taste the morning raw milk right out of the udder! YUM!
Great article Suzanne!
