Echoes of Raw Milk Crackdowns As Authorities Go After Vermont Compost Producer

I’ve had a hard time buying pastured chickens over the last couple years. The only place they seem to appear in my experience is at a Vermont farmers market I frequent, and it seems whenever I find a farmer who sells them, he or she has just sold out or is taking orders for two months out, when I’m not sure I’ll be at the market.

So last time I was there, in June, I took the name of a farmer who said he’d begin having them by July 4, and today went to contact him to see about reserving a couple for when I go by the market tomorrow.

I see on its web site this note: “All of our produce starts are grown in Vermont Compost Co. potting soil. Karl Hammer does an unparalleled job of meticulously blending raw feedstocks to make a compost-based soil that is fertile and weed-free. Karl is currently facing a regulatory challenge to his small local business that could shut it down.”

It turns out the state is making life very difficult for Vermont Compost Co. and another local producer of compost.

An article in a local publication, “Seven Days”, lays out a tale of seemingly arbitrary regulatory enforcement that sounds a lot like the experiences of raw milk producers over the last couple years. In this case, it seems a politically connected neighbor complained about Vermont Compost and, faster than you could say “Vermont regulators,” the wheels of regulation began turning…in the wrong direction for Vermont Compost.

Of course, for every action, there is a reaction, so now some number of farmers committed to producing nutrient-dense food, like my hoped-for chicken supplier, are in danger of losing an important part of their soil enrichment.

If the regulators want to cripple sustainable farming, there’s certainly no better way to do that than to go after the soil. From the sounds of this article, the authorities don’t really appreciate the impact of what they are doing. In a system that doesn’t acknowledge differences in food quality and nutritional values, compost is simply dirt, a building product to be regulated along with concrete and plumbing.

Comments

[Sylvia]

"run by Bob Foster, the governor’s brother-in-law.

Is Foster facing scrutiny? Not at this time."

I see it is not what you know, but who you know. Justice indeed. It is obvious who they are listening to.

[Kirsten]

There is a new broad-leaf herbicide that has been wreaking havoc for gardeners in Great Britain. It has retained the power to kill plants even after passing through the digestive tract of a ruminant animal and being composted for over a year. Aminopyralid is being sprayed on rangeland in the USA as well.

[Don]

idairy.org
7/18/08 news release 70% of US dairies now NAIS registered.

[Henwhisperer]

Yup, Vermont only pretends to be "green". Same deal for the Intervale. It is more total bs and proof, like the 7 Day article said, it's not what you know, but who you know.

[Sylvia]

http://www.kellysolutions.com/erenewals/documentsubmit/KellyData%5CNC%5Cpesticide%5CMSDS%5C62719%5C62719-524%5C62719-524_FOREFRONT_R_P_SPECIALTY_HERBICIDE_11_1_2006_1_23_20_PM.pdf

http://www.apvma.gov.au/publications/downloads/prs_aminopyralid.pdf

Kirsten, they just keep poisoning the environment and us.

[Sylvia]

Don,

I looked at the web site you linked,at the bottom of the page it had in faint words; "This material was made possible, in part, by a Cooperative Agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). It may not necessarily express APHIS’ views."

If they don't express the same views then why would they be affiliated? Follow the money....