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Lawrence farmers are in a debate over organic certification. Local farmers and their customers have many different attitudes about how their produce is grown.

Certified organic produce offers advantages to customers' health but not always to small farmers' wallets. For other customers, organic certification isn't a concern.

Organic certification is a label given by the USDA to produce grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. There are strict regulations and a detailed process that a farmer must follow in order to receive their certification. Certified organic produce is usually sold for a higher price at market, but some small farmers disagree on the value.

Farmers choose to obtain organic certification for many different reasons. Jill Elmers has been selling at the Lawrence Farmer's Market for nine years. She has always been chemical-free but was just certified six months ago.

"I think the certification is something people understand," Elmers said. "It's regulated by the USDA. However, I know that means a lot of hoops to jump through."

            Elmers said the main perk to certification is that she can sell her produce for a higher price. Becoming certified organic was also a personal goal of Elmers.

One major deterrent for many small farmers is the cost of organic certification.

Owner of Hoyland Farm Bob Lominska was certified from 1994 until last year. He said he didn't see the point in certification anymore.

 "There just really isn't a good reason for people to be certified on a small scale," Lominska said. "It's really expensive and takes a lot of work."

He said he'd prefer to buy from friends that he knows grow well. Buying local, chemical-free produce that isn't necessarily certified organic is a better option.

            The question of cost for organic certification is a difficult one to answer. After talking to many farmers, certified and not, and scouring the USDA Web site there's still not an exact answer.  

The USDA is in charge of organic certification and the United States actually has some of the most extensive legislation for organic farming. Statistics show, however, that the United States isn't ahead in terms of organic land hectarage.

Another difficulty with organic certification is that, according to a report by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, the USDA does not regulate fees for certification.  The USDA regulates the certified label, but not how much it costs to obtain it. The costs vary depending on the agency and farmer uses for their inspections.

Growers must hire independent certifiers or certifying agencies for inspections. Some certifiers charge a flat rate based on acreage and some charge a base fee and then charge an assessment based on sales. Both fee structures are intended to make it scale-specific so a small operation is not charged the same as a large operation.

Certification for small farms can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Lominska owns 69 acres and paid $750 a year to have his land certified. This may not seem an outrageous price, but statistics show that the incomes of many small farmers make this price just out of reach.

Source of Farmer's Income

The graph shows farmers' farm earnings versus off-farm income. In other words, it shows what a farmer makes from selling his farm products versus other income he or she brings in from other jobs.

Not only the farmers are having problems with the cost of certified organic. Rose Huggins has shopped at the Farmer's Market for over 30 years. She said she didn't pay much attention certification.

            "I'm at an age where I should be paying more attention to what I'm putting into my body," Huggins said. "But it's very expensive."

She said she came for the fresh, local food and because she knew where it came from.

Aside from the costs of certification, many farmers have trouble understanding the the complex process. This is another deterrent for many farmers who don't want to spend hours searching through regulations and legal jargon.

Crop farms have a list of very specific requirements to be certified. The major requirement is three years with no application of prohibited materials such as, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or Genetically Modified Organisms. They also have to keep detailed tabs on everything they use and their overall plan for their farm. This is difficult for small farmers because in between extensive paperwork they also have to grow their crops.

After a grower's first certification, the process doesn't end. Farmers continue paying fees, hosting inspections and filling out paperwork every year.

Margaret Tran, the University of Kansas coordinator of E.A.R.T.H., said the root of the problem with organic certification for small farms is that the system is set up to marginalize them.

 "The process of certification is set up for large farms and that can be seen in all the paperwork," Tran said. "We need to level the playing field between the two if it's going to work for the consumer's benefit."

The Merc, 901 Iowa St., carries organic, chemical-free and conventional produce from local and not local farms. Produce Manage Linda Cowden said that many of her customers only eat organic food.

Cowden said the Merc tries to buy as much local produce as it can. However, because local farmers can only produce for three months in the summer, only eight percent of the year's produce is local.

She said there are some other difficulties with buying produce from small farms. One small farm may not have the quantity a store needs so it's necessary to work with multiple farms. Cowden said she works with 25 to 30 farms a season.

"It is easier to get it all from one place and not put the puzzle together," Cowden said. "But it depends on the level of commitment to do the extra work, to make it happen and to support the local farmer."

For a farmer to sell to the Merc, they must have at least one industry standard case of produce, Cowden said. For example, an industry standard case of cucumbers is 20 pounds and an industry standard case of lettuce is 24 bunches.

If farmers aren't growing enough to sell at the Merc, they have to find other options. Because most chain grocery stores don't buy local produce, many farmers find themselves at the Farmer's Market. There is an extra cost there as well with a minimum fee of $60 per season.

Barbara Clark, owner of Maggie's Farm, has sold at the Farmer's Market for 15 years and is an example of the apparent trend with Lawrence farmers. She said she used to be certified organic but isn't anymore because of the cost. Clark said she grows by the same standards and gets the same prices for her produce as if it were certified.

There's an element of trust that's established between the customer and grower," Clark said. "They know my practices and that's good enough for them." 

Problems with the livestock industry.

In the small town of Gorleben, Germany, thousands of protesters gathered at a crossroad. They were there for the annual demonstration against the transport of nuclear waste. The protesters linked arms and formed lines to block a towering truck that was headed straight for them. In the distance they could see the small faces of German officers behind the wheel.

It was the late 1990s. Ben MacConnell and his soon-to-be-wife, Sarah Rooney were two of the protestors in the crowd.

Soon a voice bellowed from a speaker. In German, an officer ordered the protesters off the road. If they did not move, they would be sprayed off like ants with pressure hoses.

As the officers turned the hoses on, the crowd covered itself with a tarp a local farmer had donated. High-pressured water blasted against the hunkered crowd and a chorus rose.

"We all live in a yellow submarine..."

"It was alright for a little while," Rooney said, "until you saw the German's boots."

The officers yanked the protesters out from their shelter, line by huddled line. They looked for weak spots on the protesters' bodies to incapacitate them. An officer reached out, pulled MacConnell's hood over his head and punched him in the stomach. The protest was quickly coming to an end.

When you meet 36-year-old MacConnell, you probably don't think of a radical protester--he wouldn't mention it either. After all, in just a few years he went from high-pressure water fights and nuclear power plant invasions to 10-hour workdays in a room the size of a closet.

When he graduated from college, MacConnell volunteered with several organizations and worked on six different campaigns to protect the environment. He now works for social and economic justice through community organizing at the Direct Action and Research Training Center in Lawrence. He is the founder and recruitment coordinator of the DART Organizer's Institute. The institute introduces people to the field of community organizing with classroom and field training. After their training, the participants become full-time organizers in one of six states where the center operates.

MacConnell started the institute after his experience with a national search for his replacement at one of the center's affiliates. The criterion for his replacement included two years of community organizing experience. He said he started calling organizations for referrals and quickly found out that no one was training organizers.

"People had drive and passion, but not the experience," MacConnell said.

He underwent field organizing training with Green Corps in 1997 and looked to them for help developing his program. The institute was up and running by 2001. He ran the first 6 years of the institute in a closet-sized room inside his house. He said he worked 10 to 12 hours a day and did the recruiting, training and all the administrative work by himself.

"A lot of non-profits start like that," MacConnell said. "One person starts it up and does it everyday."

Sunil Joy, DART associate recruitment director, started in 2007 and was the second addition to the team. He said MacConnell's job took a lot of hard work, initiative and most of all passion.

MacConnell said he does his job because it's needed and because he believes in the local work the center does. He said his work also has a spiritual aspect in what God thinks is fair. People should have a say in their community and citizens should be treated with mutual respect from their public servants.

AmeriCorps VISTA Keyarash Jahanian also works at the center. He said the work that four people are now doing used to be MacConnell's job.

"He's very driven," Jahanian said. "His passion can almost be intimidating."

MacConnell said community organizing is a noble profession but he's not interested in working directly with the poor or inciting hope.

 "I want to bring about structural changes to empower people. Not just feed them," he said.

He has come a long way from his days volunteering overseas to working

8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in an office. But he still maintains values he acquired from his experiences. A large salary doesn't come with non-profit work. But even with a one-year-old son, he said he and his wife have never worried too much about the financial aspect of his work.

"She and I went into a program overseas where we had $35 a month," MacConnell said. "More is less. It was a whole culture we were going through together and we shared a lot of common interests."

Rooney shared a story that showed how both of their lives have changed since their "hippie radical days."

MacConnell and Rooney were in Czech Republic in the late 1990s with a radical anti-nuclear group. In an attempt to prove that a nuclear power plant wasn't secure, they trekked through sewer tunnels to find a way to break in.

At one point, he turned to Rooney and said, "I hope our lives can be this exciting forever."

"We don't do that anymore," Rooney said, "and it's not that exciting. But he did end up climbing over a fence and onto a tower to wave a flag."

As a kid, Commissioner Mike Amyx remembers his grandmother planting daffodils every spring in downtown Lawrence. She was a member of the flower club and her group tended its flowerbed at the corner of 8^th and Massachusetts Streets throughout the summer.

The City of Lawrence will have a new troop of volunteers this spring to help with city beautification. Facing budget cuts, the city is looking for citizens to plant flowers in parks and downtown Lawrence. Amyx, who is behind the plan, said the city commission was evaluating budget cuts and the possible loss of the alcohol sales tax and needed to be creative with solutions.

Amyx said, "We tried to look at things the public would enjoy doing. Everybody likes coming downtown."

Crystal Miles, the city's horticulture manager, said the city also needs volunteers because the positions which performed the planting in the past no longer exist. Miles said it is the result of normal downsizing in spring 2008. The city either stopped funding the positions or left positions vacant.

The city uses volunteers for other projects but this is the first time they have asked for volunteers specifically to plant flowers. Amyx said Lawrence has a great volunteer effort throughout the community but projects with people helping people are more common.

Miles said, "We're very enthusiastic and had a nice response." 

The city has received offers from about 75 volunteers but expects about 50 to actually fulfill hours Miles said. Some of the volunteers are students, teachers, retirees, public officials and a Boy Scout troop. She said one downtown employer even gave some employees time off to volunteer. Miles is making a database of the volunteers so she can call upon them again to help with later planting and other volunteer opportunities.

The first round of planting will be Thursday, March 26 at 9 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, March 28 at 9:00 a.m. to noon. The volunteers will work in groups of 10 to 20 to plant pansies downtown. Miles said the pansies go in a month and a half earlier because they are frost tolerant. The second round of planting will begin in May with annual flowers in more parks and public areas.

Miles said the value of each volunteer is currently about $15 per hour. That means in the first round of volunteering the city will have $3,000 of work done for free.

 

Amyx said, "A lot of the time things just happen and we don't always realize the dollar amount to that."

The commission is always looking to see if there's a better way to use volunteers' talents he said. It not only helps save the city some money but it also helps set pride in the community.

"I know there are people willing to help and with a little bit of direction it can be a pretty rewarding deal," Amyx said.