We really enjoyed the two days at the conference in San Antonio’s Pearl Stable September 12-13–the presentations, panel discussions, wonderful lunches, and of course, the movie Farmageddon. 

Monday’s keynote speaker was Dr. John Ikerd, author of Sustainable Capitalism, A Return to Common Sense and Small Farms are Real Farms: Sustaining People through Agriculture.  Dr. Ikerd was raised on a small dairy farm in Missouri and received his degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri.  He worked in private industry and then spent 30 years in professorial positions at several universities before retiring in 2000.  He spoke about the need to reform farm policy to encourage sustainable farming.  Although Dr. Ikerd was very concerned about conventional farm practices in the US, he expressed hope that change is possible.  He said that our current conventional agriculture system is not sustainable and will collapse eventually.  More about Dr. Ikerd . . .

Dr. Ikerd was also on a panel with Patty Lovera discussing the consolidation of our food supply.  Patty Lovera is the assistant director of Food & Water Watch where she coordinates the work of the food team and focuses especially on meat inspection, labeling, and dairy issues.  Dr. Ikerd and Patty Lovera talked about the huge problems resulting from the consolidation of manufacturers and processors in our food supply which has limited competition and reduced the freedom of entry and exit into the food market.  The monopolized food supply system has also hindered making information available to the consumer. 

After lunch on Monday, there was a panel discussion of how to help the hungry to have access to afforable, healthy food.  Brad Stufflebeam of Home Sweet Farm, Matt Hess of World Hunger Relief, and Jeremy Everett, of Texas Hunger Initiative were panel members.  Often local and government regulations make it difficult to provide healthy food to those who need it.  Another problem is that many people no longer know how to cook foods from scratch using home-grown produce.

The last panel on Monday discussed Food Safety and Local Foods.  Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, was unable to attend because the Texas wildfires were too close to his home.  Other panelists included Mickey Morales of Houston’s Highland Village and City Central Farmers markets and Erin Flynn of Green Gate Farms.

Monday evening the movie Farmageddon was presented in the Pearl Stable conference room.  It is a powerful film which shows the devastating effects of the FDA’s raids on family farms and private food co-ops.

Tuesday morning Patty Lovera and Leslie Provence of Community Food Security Coalition discussed the farm bill process and how it might be influenced.  Judith McGeary–attorney, farmer, food activist, and founder of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance which sponsored the conference–spoke about the USDA’s proposed rule on Animal ID.  Howard Vlieger of Verity Farms whose motto is “Premium Natural; Nothing Else” presented the latest news about the dangers of GMOs and how far they have penetrated the US food supply.

Tuesday afternoon a panel discussed What Can Farmers and Consumers Do to Fight Back Against GMOs?  Panel members included Cameron Molberg of Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill; Howard Vlieger of Verity Farms; and Dan Ravicher, attorney and Executive Director of the Public Patent Foundation.  Panel members discussed the poison we eat, stating that 70-80% of grocery store products in the US contain GMOs.  Dan Ravicher’s organization PubPat “filed suit on behalf of 60 family farmers, seed businesses and organic agricultural organizations against Monsanto Company to challenge the chemical giant’s patents on genetically modified seed.”

Raw Milk: The Truth and How to Communicate It was the last topic discussed on Tuesday afternoon.  Panel members were Brian Cummings, Cummings & Co., operator of EatGreenDFW.com; Ramy Jisha, DVM, Texas Daily Harvest; and Mark Shannan, DC, an Austin chiropractor.  Dr. Shannon presented a detailed review of the safety and health value of raw milk.  Ramy Jisha and her husband own an organic dairy and produce and deliver low temperature pasturized, non-homogenized dairy to homes and stores. They sell raw milk on the farm.  She gave a good overview of what it means to own and run a certified organic raw milk dairy.  She thinks about 100 cows, the size of their herd now, is about right.  Too many cows cause the process to become too impersonal., knowing the cows personally one-on-one allows the farmer to notice problems before they become serious.

The delicious buffet lunches were prepared by Dai Due using local, donated sustainably produced foods.  Monday’s main course was meatloaf made with grass-fed beef ,while Tuesday’s lunch was Mexican food based.  I regret not getting photos of the buffet tables.