Thursday, September 8, 2016

Musings: Beware the Extremists

We hear a lot — and it's usually scathing — about “industrial agriculture.”

But as author Miriam Horn, who works for the Environmental Defense Fund, points out in a piece for PBS NewsHour, some of these “Big Ag” folks are at the forefront of conservation and sustainability:

Justin Knopf farms 4,500 acres in central Kansas, producing wheat, soy, sorghum and alfalfa for national and global markets, using synthetic pesticides, fertilizer and GMOs.

Justin uses his residues, cover crops and rotations as his first line of defense against pests: preventing weeds from gaining a foothold and confusing insects. But he still needs to “burn down” those cover crops to enable planting and to beat back tenacious weeds. For both, he turns to Roundup, an infamous synthetic herbicid

Most organic farmers make the opposite choice: avoiding chemical herbicides by tilling. But most soil microbiologists believe that causes greater ecological harm. “If you till to avoid herbicides, you do massive damage to soil microbiology,” says Justin’s mentor, Kansas State soil microbiologist Charles Rice. If herbicide, used judiciously, “allows you to leave the soil intact, it is a net environmental positive. We have fields that have been in continuous no-till for 22 years, using herbicides, with ever more microbial diversity and life.”

Dr. Ray Ward, a legendary soil scientist who runs a private testing lab in Nebraska, has charted a steady microbial renaissance in Justin’s soils: in total mass, diversity and vigor. Justin’s soil carbon, depleted to near zero by generations of plowing, is now more than halfway to the 4 percent carbon levels in native prairie soils. With another decade or two of no-till, says Rice, Justin will close that gap.

The most important point the writer makes, though, is this:

There are, in short, no simple, perfect, universal answers. Agriculture can’t be formulaic or dogmatic because, as Justin says, “diverse ecosystems require diverse practices.” He sees, for instance, “crops and geographies and family circumstances where no-till is not the right solution,” including in very cool and poorly drained soils where under thick residues the soil can never dry or warm enough to germinate seeds.

Justin is not an outlier, but part of a large and growing movement across the heartland states: not just to minimize the damage done by large-scale food production, but to use big, intensified agriculture as itself a path to restoring soil life and a stable climate.

We must move away from the "big is bad, pesticides equal poison, GMOs only benefit the chem companies" mode of thinking. If we are to feed more people — and if Hawaii has a prayer of attaining any degree of food self-sufficiency — we have to evaluate all tools and choose the best option for each situation.

Beware the extremists — those who see everything in black in white, who tell you that various forms of agriculture cannot co-exist, who proclaim this is healthy and that is toxic. They're either woefully misinformed, or have some financial incentive (like Center for Food Safety and Hawaii SEED) in maintaining their dug-in position.

Speaking of extremists, Councilman Gary Hooser is suddenly making like he's Mr. Middle Path, Councilman Collaborative. Huh? Since when?

It started when Jose Bulatao sent out this call to Councilmembers and others, including me:

I'm trying to get others to become a part of a concerted effort to focus with due diligence, our roles and responsibilities in why it is important to "malama aina." I truly believe that this is something for ALL of us to focus upon! We cannot continue to lay the responsibility at the feet of "others", so to speak, when "we" have have been party to the use of chemical derivatives to get rid of weeds and insects, ourselves. So, what I'm really trying to do is to establish avenues of communication when and where we can begin to dialogue with one another respectfully and honestly to do what is "pono" (the right thing) which is OUR shared responsibility. Pointing fingers at one another can only go so far. Finding solutions and being a part of that collaborative endeavor is what needs to be done.

Anti-GMO activist and KKCR host Jimmy Trujillo quickly spoke up, offering to host Bulatao on the radio, hold island-wide "town hall public forum type of meetings."

Uh,I think we've all got a very good sense of where the KKCR crowd is coming from, and they're hardly the crew to be at the helm of any sort of "respectful" and "honest" communication process.

Then Hooser chimed in:

Count me in Mr. B! Anyway that I can help, just let me know and I will be there. It would seem that if we could all get in the same room together, great and positive things could happen.

That's quite a statement from a man who has flat-out refused to even visit a seed farm, yet spins outrageous tales about their practices; who introduced and pushed Bill 2491 in a manner that was intended to be divisive and polarizing; who continues to deliberately lie and deceive, uttering blatantly false claims like “they're suing for the right to spray poisons around schools.” 

I'm not sure how many people, at this point, would be willing to get in a room with Hooser, much less believe he could create anything “great” or “positive” — save for his disappearance from public life.

Kauai — and Hawaii — desperately needs to heal from the trauma inflicted by the anti-GMO, anti-ag movement.

But as I told Mr. B:

When you start the process with some of the original finger pointers, it may discourage participation by the broad group of people you seem to wish to reach. And then you'll be trying to conduct this process within the same echo chamber that currently exists.

It may be best to wait until after the elections before trying to launch any sort of consensus-building process. And a sincere "sorry" from some of the most egregious offenders wouldn't hurt.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, you will never get a sorry, they are thrilled so much land is now available in Waimea and the west side ...exactly what Hi Life wants, no agriculture, more land to sell. Kickbacks to Gary? Even if done through his non profit.

Anonymous said...

Glad to read about no-till here. Topsoil preservation is an incredibly important issue. No-till plus limited pesticides is a far more environmentally-friendly plan than conventional tilling without pesticides

Anonymous said...

Joan, speak for yourself on this issue----you have put down, finger pointed on many anti-gmo ideas and personalities. I KNOW you will have a rebuttle and call me names, but that's how i see it!

Joan Conrow said...

I fully acknowledge that I have finger-pointed at many GMO ideas and personalities, and put them down as hard as I can. However, I am not seeking to lead, or even participate in, a kumbaya process.

Anonymous said...

Joan - "and if Hawaii has a prayer of attaining any degree of food self-sufficiency — we have to evaluate all tools and choose the best option for each situation."

Before European contact and without GMOs or pesticides the Hawaiian's were completely food self-sufficient. Overpopulation is the problem to be addressed. Perhaps Joan can live on red herrings and delusions but the GMO techno fix that Joan is selling won't feed the world and neither will prayers, nor will blaming extremism and everything else wrong with the world on the Hooser.

Anonymous said...

Farmers are too busy trying to make a living to carve out time to engage with people whose only contact with agriculture seems to involve the mouth- to eat, and to tell farmers how they have to farm. It could be an important discourse, but it is way too important to waste time on how a bunch of Luddites "feel". Methods,practices and materials are evolving while Kauai has been mired in Hooser and Bynum's massive pile of bullshit raked to and fro by all kinds of true believers long on cant and short much else. Why would anyone in command of his mental faculties with limited time want any more of that?

Anonymous said...

10:57 - This argument that Original Native Hawaiians were completely sustainable is based on idyllic thinking. People that actually farm, research soil chemistry, and look through the archaeological history of Hawaii have a pretty solid grasp that Hawaiians were going to reach Phosphorus limits to plant production (among other soil limits), just like farming is doing across the globe.

Hawaii could not, and can not sustain 1 million people without degrading the ecosystem. There is no ideal perfect ag system to support Hawaii humans at that level. The limits were being reached, and reached in ways that would subsequently severely limit ag production.

Here is one article, but there is a great deal of good literature about tropical soil weathering rates, and nutrient availability for ag production. You can not always pull plant-necessary chemicals from the sky or permanently recycle them at 100% reuptake. That is nit how the world works.

http://www.pnas.org/content/103/29/11092.full

Anonymous said...

Bynum had been gone from county council for two years and the current council is up for election so get over trying to blame the fat white guy for the current problems that's been plaguing the county for decades.

Anonymous said...

Right from the GMO playbook.

Anonymous said...

The "farmer" of today is a very special person. He is dedicated to growing the best crops for all of us to eat. It is their right to meet and discuss their farming trade. They are not like the protestors using someone's dime. They are not paid to meet like some other wannabes who have a free trip to meet. It really is hard to tell an asshole when to shut up.

Anonymous said...

Gary is already in a room with 6 other Council members. He sure don't do no good vibes on those hallowed grounds.
Gary puts everyone on edge. All you have to do is ask "the little people" in the room, the support staff etc. Gary is discourteous and considered an egotistical ignoramus. He ain't go no couth.
Mason is a close 2nd, a real high-mukamuka.
The staff love Mel, Ross and Arryl. Friendly gents these three are. JoAnn is sweet.

Anonymous said...

Native Hawaiians worked the land, no outside "jobs" , there is no apt comparison for today when we all(unless trust fund babies)must work. So growing food is not the only thing we need to do like before when the land was yours for working it. Now we must pay heaps for housing and if lucky enough to buy 2 million dollar agriculture land, then figure out a way to earn enough money to pay the mortgage. Wanna hint, it wont be farming. Some are dreaming, go back to the old ways means giving up land ownership. Don't hear Gary's friends calling for that do we?

Anonymous said...

the fat white guy wanted all the credit, what he doesn't want to share in the blame?

Anonymous said...

503 the support staff I know won't talk shit about any member. They may have opinions but they keep it to themselves. The retirees, that's another story.

Anonymous said...

Wow, 3:13 pm, great rebuttal. Absolves you from having an open mind and educating yourself, right?

Anonymous said...

Open your mind. Stop believing everything your told to believe by your masters

Anonymous said...

You can't have the pre contact paradise without the Kapu system. That means all the dirty hippies pooping mauka in moloaa get the club, or the cord or the rock.

Anonymous said...

"Obey your masters"

Anonymous said...

6:17 Nope. Just ask any of them. They are not sworn to secrecy. Regular people doing a good job. It is the day to day behavior of people that show their real selves.
An unfortunately Gary don't got no basic friendliness. He is a bigshot.
Of course you can also ask Council members about harmony, manners and good will. They will be open in a critique.
Communication starts with a calm center. Respectful and open. "Fistees and Bite Me--need not apply"
“There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot.”
― Plato

Anonymous said...

What have any council member on Kauai accomplished that they can be so proud of?

Any person showing signs of temperament and throwing tantrums exposes one's character flaws that can't be overlooked.

Anonymous said...

"My reason for believing in extremism—intelligently directed extremism, extremism in defense of liberty, extremism in quest of justice—is because I firmly believe in my heart that the day the black man takes an uncompromising step and realizes he’s within his rights, when his own freedom is being jeopardized, to use any means necessary to bring about his own freedom or put a halt to that injustice, I don’t think he’ll be by himself. " - Malcolm X

Joan Conrow said...

Sadly, the antis are lacking these three important components: intelligently directed extremism, extremism in defense of liberty, extremism in quest of justice.

There's is just extreme stupidity and intolerance.

Anonymous said...

Blogger Joan Conrow said...
Sadly, the antis are lacking these three important components: intelligently directed extremism, extremism in defense of liberty, extremism in quest of justice.

There's is just extreme stupidity and intolerance.

well said Joan! such eloquence in your musings. you should win an award or something for your brilliance, leadership and journalistic contributions to society.

Joan Conrow said...

*Their's