This morning, I noticed a new message in my inbox. It happened to be a recruiting mesage from none other than Monsanto. It read:

"Dear Brian,

I am reaching out to you, because I would like to network with you and find out more about your future career goals. You have the type of background that Monsanto values and I would like to connect to learn more about you. Can we schedule some time for a telephone call?

Cathy X"

Here is my public reply:

Dear Cathy,

Thank you for your message. I prefer to respond via my blog, so I hope you don't mind.

My future career goals include helping people boycott Monsanto and its maddened pursuit of money and global domination. I believe that a genetically diverse flora, composed of open-pollinated members, is not only critical to the existence of the human race, but it is part of our shared birthright. We also deserve the ability to live in a world not polluted by petro-chemicals, greed and manipulation.

As you know, Monsanto is primarily a chemical producer. One of your famous products, Agent Orange, was used to destroy countless acres of vegetation and caused health problems wherever it was used. Monsanto started acquiring seed companies in order to create vertical markets for its chemical products. As a result, innumerable farmers have suffered cancers too horrible to describe.

Your company has a stated goal to own 100% of the seed market worldwide. To achieve this end, Monsanto has developed a radical genetic manipulation program. The nearly-uncontrolled and nearly-unchecked nature of this program has resulted in crop contamination via cross pollination. That is likely the mildest result since, to my knowledge, there has never been a scientifically adequate test of genetically modified organisms.

Never in the history of the world have humans developed something as insidious and dangerous as the Terminator gene, also a result of Monsanto's efforts. This gene would devastate farmers across the globe by denying them the ability to do what humans have done since the beginning of agriculture: save seed. This is, by definition, a core element of agriculture. Yet, your company wants this to end.

At every step, Monsanto and I disagree. Since you mentioned my background, I assume that you mean my involvement in both marketing and farming. As a chemical-free family farmer, it is impossible for me to ally with your group. It goes against everything that I value and respect. Part of my motivation to start farming was that I wanted to provide my family with food free from undisclosed genetic modifications and routine chemical contamination.

As a marketer, I easily see through the lies that your organization spins. Marketing, in its best form, is connecting people with the products and services that will improve their lives, entertain them, fulfill their needs and raise their standard of living. Your company wants to enslave people by removing their ability to act in accordance with Nature and live without spending money with your corporation.

I hope that you have met your goal of learning more about me. Of course, I will not be a good fit for your organization or its culture, so I will decline a telephone call. I wish you the best when it comes time in your career to find a new position. And, I hope that it is soon.

Yours,

Brian

I've been thinking about survival of the fittest lately and how it pertains to me as a farmer.  As part of our mission, we are trying to preserve heritage breeds of both plants and animals.  But sometimes I wrestle with the question, "Should we just let some breeds die off?"  Those who save their own seeds understand that only the seeds from the best plants will be kept in order to create a better product the next season.   The same has been true with animal breeding.  I see the value in  this, but what if a plant or animal just doesn't have desirable traits? 

Our Sumatra chickens are a good example.  Sumatras are beautiful birds, but that seems to be about all they have going for them.  I'll admit, I purchased them because I saw them and thought they were pretty; that's about all the thought I put into it at the time.  Now, having had them for nearly a year, I am wishing I'd thought about my purchase a bit more.  To begin with, they are small.  Not a great bird for butchering since there is little meat on them and because they have black feathers, they don't look all that pretty once they are plucked.  Also, they are stupid, or stubborn, I'm not sure which fits the bill.  I am constantly having to herd them into the coop in the evening while the rest of the birds just know it's time to go in.  They lay very small eggs and they are quite mean to the other birds.  However, I have discovered that they are listed as a critical breed with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  Well, that's just great!  Now I feel like I HAVE to keep them around! 

So, I wonder....Which is the right path?  Work towards creating the best breed even if that means some will become extinct or keep the flawed, regardless of their weaknesses?  Is there a middle ground?  With a name like Black Sheep Farms, you can guess that we will always stand up for the little guy, but what will that cost us?

~Kelly

"These are people who will do anything, and we mustn't be optimistic about their character." - Wendell Berry, speaking about agribusiness corporations

I admit that I'm afraid. I think it started when I read Joel Salatin's book Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front. At least, that's when I realized the full scope of what I was getting myself into.

We became interested in farming as a result of our disgust with the American food system. We attribute our people's decline in health to be directly correlated with the decline in food quality. The pursuit of money through shortcuts is killing us and our environment. Never-ending chemical sprays. High density animal feedlots. Genetic engineering. It all goes against the nature of Nature to wring more dollars out of the public.

As a response, we decided to start farming in the opposite direction and support what we valued in food. Care. Flavor. Respect.

But, as I learned from Salatin, my actions are a threat to the singular vision of Corporate America and their allies in government. Time after time, small farmers who produce healthy foods are being harassed by government officials who do not share their vision. Another book, The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, is showing me just how far the government will go to protect their corporate friends/donors.

You might be familiar with the case of Percy Schmeiser. If not, run a quick search on him. It will strike fear into your heart and shake your sense of justice.

While I am afraid of the threats facing people who value their food freedoms, I am glad to have friends who support us and our farm. They remind me why we need to continue our pursuit of pure, real food. I am proud to work for their trust, health and freedom.

-Brian

Who likes to wait for anything? Nobody! That's why Kelly and I were hard at work in the greenhouse during February and March. We started lot of seeds, watched then sprout and watched the weather reports to determine when we could transplant them. We were eager to get to summer!

This Spring, we had lots of rainy days. Rain means a lot of different things on the farm than in the city. We love it because rain is evaporated seawater, and it contains lots of trace minerals that plants need. It also means that most planting waits for another 48 hours while the soil absorbs water and dries. Lots of rain meant lots of waiting.

After we finally transplanted our precious peppers, tomatoes and eggplants... more waiting. See, these plants have tropical origins, so they love heat. So do melons and squashes. We have had exactly one day in July when the temperature reached 90F. One.

So... we wait. Kelly and I have been dreaming of tomatoes since our seed catalogs started to arrive in December. I can still remember the aroma of a Cherokee Purple, hot from the midday sun, bursting with juice and flavor. The texture of an honest, ripe tomato. It almost makes me tear up. Sniff.

As farmers and eaters, we choose foods for their flavor, their genetic diversity and their visual appeal. We don't grow hybrids. We don't grow "early" anything. It means that we wait. The weather has pushed us behind, to be sure, but our Nebraska Summer will come through. I hope.

Bring on the heat!

-Brian