Twin Nash

A long time ago, a silly, little boy tried to write a silly, not-so-little book.  In that book he wrote about two trees.  The writing is clumsy, but some key concepts are there…

                …Two tall silhouettes, their branches slightly swaying in the night breeze, caught his attention and he forgot about all else.  As he walked over to the stream, the ground descended gradually until it leveled out, and then he was underneath the branches of the closest tree.  He remained very quiet as he approached, and then slowly extended an arm and placed his hand against the trunk.  It was a bigger tree than the Nash near Malenthir’s Dwindi—this one would take at least two persons to fully embrace its girth—and much older, judging by the bark under his fingers.  He felt all around the trunk and as high as he could reach for any chink in the protective bark, but found it solid and whole.  The young syclyxer wrinkled his brow with frustration, for he could not imagine tearing any of the bark off.  It would be something akin to sacrilege to do so since he did not know the tree well enough to judge where its life-veins would be found.  Even then it might seem an action too arrogant in the face of its age and, what struck the syclyxer in the twilight, as its majesty.  And yet he had a desperate desire that seemed to be rising with a force built on days of holding his curiosity back.  He ran his hands over the bark again to double check, but found nothing different.

                Then he decided he might as well give the other twin a look.  The roots, it seemed, of both trees had grown into the stream and were dense enough to dam the water just slightly.  This made a small swelled pool on the southern side of the trees that was too deep to cross without soaking one’s clothes.  On the northern side, however, the water was shallower, though swifter, and several protruding stones made a dry crossing easy.  The syclyxer nimbly hopped over and drew near to the second Nash.  Running his hands up and down the trunk, he found the bark as impenetrable as the first.  His internal tension only grew stronger and at last he sat down to think, trailing his heels in the small pool. 

                He could see stars reflecting in the water as they peeked through the reflection of the branches above.  There were small ripples blurring the lights in the water and with the accompaniment of the running water on the other side, the syclyxer was soon drawn into a meditative equilibrium.  He did not know how long he had sat there or what his thoughts had been when, seeing the reflections of the branches in the water, he thought of the roots that must lie underneath.  These were, by nature, funnels for multiple life-veins and of course would have little, if any, bark to protect them.  Not caring to sleep in wet clothes later on, the young syclyxer stripped and slipped in quietly.  The water was not too cold, at least not compared to the night air, and leaning back slightly to counterbalance the small but steady tug of the current, he began to feel around at once for the roots.  There was a whole network of them creating a mesh that was responsible for the pool, and it was no hard task to find good handholds coming from both trees.

                Starting with a root from the Nash on his left, he gripped it with both hands and grew still.  He remembered his uncle’s instructions, but found it difficult to relax in his growing excitement.  He still had a lingering meditative calm, however, and regaining the proper frame of mind, he slowly sensed the growing ability to probe.  He had the sensation that his mind’s eye entered the life vein and was traveling downward in some current of the sap.  It was a strong current—rich, vibrant and somewhat intoxicating.  Then it took him, willing or not, and sent him rushing deep into some far recess and soon he was no longer aware of himself as something separate from the sensations he felt.

                He was old, perhaps ancient, and the weight of such ‘ageness’ was heavy beyond measure, though he bore it with the immense strength of the dark earth itself.  Yet that was the skin, the mere crust of who or what he was.  The sensations plunged deeper, realer, and with increasing intensity.  Then there was an expansion of the awareness and he became the life-vein; a river of growing momentum, like a huge body of running water that was narrowing towards its center.  The rushing grew quicker and wilder, and what had started as ripples were growing into white-foamed rapids that smashed and churned and bounced along.  Faster and faster he went till the intensity and excitement threatened to go beyond exhilarating.

                All this had been producing friction and he became aware of a growing heat all around.  Then it was inside him, filling him up till al at once he was ablaze.  He became fire, roaring with flames that rushed upwards with infinite variety.  He was consuming, ever-consuming, but every devoured bit was converted to creativity.  The twisting, flickering, dazzling-colored flames rose higher and higher till he felt himself shoot upwards ith impossible energy.  Then suddenly there was a shift and he felt light as air, as free to move and twirl and hiss as wind itself.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps he was simply unresistant to any push or pull or force or pressure that cared to toss him about.  It was all the same to him; he loved it either way.

                But it was too much and small mind that was attempting to contain all the sensations could do so no longer, and began to separate itself.  The mind pulled away and somewhere a grip relaxed and followed suit, and then he was Athir once more.  His head and shoulders that were still above the water, were drenched, and he would have thought he had collapsed into the pool if he had not tasted the salt on his face.  He was breathing hard and sat for a long time till his respiration grew steady and the excitement coursing through his blood dissipated.  His reflex was to process what had just happened, but he found his mind blank, unable to contain the experience within any thought.  He was much too tired to fight and so let receding waves of the experience wash over him.

                He had no idea how long the ‘vision’ had gone on, nor how long he had been sitting there in the pool afterwards, when he found himself following the impulse to reach out for the roots of the other Nash.  There was resistance within him, but he was too worn out to identify it or obey it.  Before long he felt himself being pulled down in the current of the life-vein.  Again he was old—ancient with the immeasurable weight of his age—yet bearing it with the equally indeterminate strength of the earth.  This time, however, the sensation did not leave.  This was no skin or crust; or if it was, the inside was just more of the same.  On and on it went—the same ‘ancientness’ and the same strength to bear it.  It went on until at last he no longer noticed it and was aware only of an all-encompassing and serene stillness.  There was no thought of the turbulence before, no thought of even the stillness now.  Only a secure stability that brought thought to a perfect, peaceful rest.

                But this also was too much for the small mind and it retreated, separating itself.  Again the hand followed suit and Athir suddenly gasped for breath like he had been under water far too long—only this time his head and shoulders were dry.  He shook himself over to make sure he was all there, and was glad for the little tug of water around his body that reassured him he was alive.

                He was about to get out of the pool when suddenly he sensed movement above him.  He tilted backwards and looking up, could see branches swaying in some breeze above.  He laughed, for it made him feel jittery and restless like a toddler that cannot help but squirm.  But then he noticed that it was only the Nash on his left that moved while its twin remained motionless.  Perhaps there was no breeze, or else it was getting stronger, since the branches were beginning to sway significantly.  His attention became fixed straight above him where harsh scraping noises were occurring.  Then he understood the noise as he watched the swinging branches that hung over the pool colliding with those of the other Nash that remained still.  The movement only grew and the scratching turned to heavy thuds as the collisions became more forceful.  Then twigs and leaves and bark began to rain down and the syclyxer had to shield his head.  He heard the thwacks of other impacts to his left and realized that not only was the swaying Nash damaging the other one, it was going to break itself apart.  It felt so wrong and this astonished him, for though the intensity of the earlier sensation had been too much for him, it had seemed right and good.  But now what had begun as creative had turned destructive, purposelessly.

                He kept waiting for some change, but the collisions only grew louder and the debris coming down, heavier.  He realized it was not going to stop and suddenly he was horribly afraid for the lives of the trees.  It was becoming dangerous to remain where he was, but on an impulse he lunged for the roots of the Nash on the right.  “WAKE UP!” he screamed with all the mental force he had.  He felt his plea penetrate deeply and was astonished at his own power of urgency.  Then he felt the response, like a heavy sedimentary level near the earth’s foundation rising from below.  The tree itself seemed to rise upward and spread its branches over the other Nash till it was contained.  Then it began to constrict with irresistible strength and authority, causing the movement of the other Nash to become cramped and restricted.  Relief flooded over the syclyxer and he sighed heavily.  By now both trees had grown completely still though the right one remained in its posture of smothering the other.

                Athir, however, was a quick learner and a growing suspicion soon filled him.  The air around him already seemed stifled like what he could only imagine it might feel deep within the earth.  He had heard of certain people who buried their dead in the earth and for the first time he understood the connection and significance.  But he did not care for death, at least not in this context, and knew that the lives of the trees were being threatened again.  He knew what had to be done and placed his hand over the root of the Nash on his left.  He spoke with his mind to rouse the tree, but found his sense of urgency gone and his mental functions groggy.  The stillness was getting increasingly oppressive and with a great effort, he roused himself and spoke again.  To his relief he felt a low murmur of something from below.  He thought he could relax again, but the slight tremor never grew louder.  He mustered his will once more and attempted to coax whatever it was below.  He thought perhaps it had become a ripple, but it would need more force than that to grow.  Such a revival he realized, was going to cost him something.  Some portion of his life for it to feed on, he supposed.  Was it worth it?  There was little hesitation for he wanted the tree to live and so he gave, though with reserve.  It was enough, and the ripples began to grow into waves, and the waves traveled up the trunk to the branches that tossed and shuffled and shifted till they were breaking loose of the inert branches that engulfed them.  A swaying began and the Nash on his right recoiled back to its normal stature.

                This time the syclyxer allowed himself no time for relief and watched carefully, hoping the motion would level out at some point.  But it did not.  I was as persistent as momentum itself.  Noises grew and the debris began to fall and Athir moved over to the other Nash once more.  The pattern was consistent and the syclyxer soon found himself shuffling back and forth, invoking the forces of life and death in turn.  He knew he had to find a balance and desperately tried to control the rises of motion and stillness to that end.  He tried holding back on his urgency, but if the response was not strong enough it would settle back down and hten he would be fighting two momentums to invoke a second response.  Yet every time the response was enough it would grow beyond its need and dominate with increasing insistence.  He was attempting the impossible of balancing forces far greater than himself on the point of a needle.

                Then at last, by some fluke chance, there was a semblance of equilibrium.  He happened to be at the Nash on his left and its branches were swaying slowly while the branches of its twin were just barely holding on to their network of a cage.  When they looked like they were about to give, the syclyxer shifted over and coaxed.  Then then the motion started dying and he shifted back.  He went back and forth several times, just barely hanging on to the precarious equilibrium when he got the idea of holding roots from both trees in separate hands.  This mad e things easier and he thought perhaps the impossible might be feasible after all.

                He never knew how long he had sat there, straining for balance.  Eventually he became aware that his body ached, and especially his shoulders and neck, which were burning.  But his head ached too and his eyes stung from trying to stay focused on the branches above that he might know which tree to encourage.  He began to wonder if it was worth it, but every time he did, the equilibrium would be offset from his lace of concentration.  He resolved that he must continue till he could no more, for he would not let the tree destroy themselves.  But as his struggling continued, a rising enmity began to tug at his conscious mind.  When at last, at the risk of upsetting the balance, he acknowledged it, he was surprised since he knew it was directed at the trees themselves.  How could that be, had he not held them as sacred?  But he was enslaved and miserable and they were the source of it all.  He could not remember ever feeling so wretched and he was beyond exhaustion.  Finally, hating himself now as well for giving up, he let go with his hands, too tired and frustrated to do anymore.  He lay in the water, half floating, half standing, and closed his eyes.  Somewhere in his brain, it registered that the Nash on his right must have won out since he could  hear nothing and felt no leaves or bark falling down.  Yet this time he did not feel the suffocating weight, for his detachment made him immune.

                His anger began to subside while guilt and a sadness took its place.  He had been a fool to probe on his own.  Who knew what kind of irreparable damage he had caused with his inability to keep things under control?

                “O Mahelil!  What have I done?” he groaned.

                He was on the verge of tears when he noticed the water around him had grown warm.  Quite warm in fact, and it felt very soothing.  He opened his eyes and saw nothing unusual, but he could feel the frustration washing out of him.  Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, he watched the Nash on his right shrink back to its normal shape.  Athir nearly laughed aloud with relief, so overjoyed that things would be all right again.  Then he sensed a change as the water seemed to be creating some sort of pulse.  The twin Nash began to quiver as if in answer and the syclyxer waited expectantly.  Nothing changed, however, and he got eh peculiar impression that the trees were waiting for something as well.  Then it came, but this time it was within him, like a voice saying, “Now take hold of the roots.”  He was reluctant to do so, but whatever the voice was, it insisted.

                Slowly, and amazed at the calm he now felt, the syclyxer took the roots—one in his left hand and another in his right.  The pulse in the water began to grow in intensity and it took ahold of him.  It filled him and then went through him into the Nash on his left.  The familiar ripples and waves traveling up the trunk sent the branches swaying once again.  There was a moment of apprehension for the syclyxer, and then he felt the motion of the tree pass through him to the Nash on his right.  This time the rippling traveled up its trunk in similar fashion as it had with the one on the left.  Only now, this Nash took the ripples and waves and steadied them, weaving them into patterns so that by the time the motion had traveled up to the branches, they swayed in a dance of complex yet exact precision.  This too, Athir felt come full circle and pass through him back to the Nash on his left, all the while feeling himself throbbing with the pulse from the water.  The pattern traveled upwards, but now the tree took it and added more or just changed the swaying as it pleased.  This in turn passed through the syclyxer and the other tree formed the motion into something consistent again.  Then back it went; and then back again, until Athir was pierced with a joy he never forgot for the rest of his life. 

               

Two Trees

I don't know if anyone is still reading this blog at all, but just in case, I thought maybe some might appreciate what's being discussed in another forum.  Nate, I hope you don't mind...

1st post:
Here's a slight variation on the creation story that I like:

There are two trees in the garden.  One is the tree of the declaration of good and evil, the tree of judgment, judging one's self, judging others, declaring people, things, and ideas to be good or bad, in or out.  The other tree is the tree of life.  Every day we have a choice.  Do we choose to live life or do we choose to categorize?  It is impossible to do both.  The story has come to be one of a fall from grace with an angel keeping us out of Eden.  But I think the angel is implicit in the choice we make when we categorize.


my response:
Hey Nate,
Is your version of the of the creation story a good one?  Is the choice for life a good choice and the choice to categorize a bad choice?  The knowledge from the tree of good and evil is implicit in everything we do and say.  That's why I believe it makes most sense to understand it in light of being aware of oneself.

The declaration of good and evil is an aesthetic declaration as much as anything else.  "This pan on the stove is hot!  I will therefore use a hot pad" is not that far from "stealing my neighbor's things leads a whole host of problems, including a nasty feeling inside.  I will therefore be an honest, trustworthy person."   Judgement that causes and in and an out, and us/them mentality comes from a slew of other motivations separate from knowledge about what is good and bad.  Usually things like selfishness, insecurity, pride, and greed. 

When the fruit is tied to awareness, the angel is just as effective as the impossibility of returning to the womb.


Nate:
I like that.  Back to the original myth though, would you agree that it seems to be talking more about the disequilibrium that comes from a judgmental orientation than about the danger of disobedience?  There's nothing in there about God's purity and the filth of sin as cause for expulsion from Eden.



me:
...But as for the Genesis story, I don't think you can read the story 'as it is written' without seeing a theme of disobedience and punishment.  The Lord is pretty pissed and curses all parties involved.  By the time you get to the cherubim with a flaming sword, the story really breaks down.  The Lord and whoever he's hanging around with at the time, whether the trinity or some angel pals, feel threatened by the self-awareness of the humans.  Gen. 3:22  "The Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.  He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and live forever.'"  Same sort of threatened god you sense in Genesis 11 with the tower of Babel.  "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.  The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.'"

I suspect, like Daniel Quinn, (author of Ishmael) that the genesis story (like the tower of Babel) was not originally Jewish and was tweaked and stuffed with extras to account for so many of the problems men seemed to be faced with.  I would not be the first to see blatant parallels to the Greek stories surrounding Prometheus, whose actual name means forethought or foreknowledge.  A Titan, credited with creating man from clay, Prometheus is most known for his gift of fire to humankind.  Along with this he is credited with gifting us with civilization and science (even animal sacrifice for the gods); basically those things which involve knowledge of the analytical type which requires self-awareness.  Zeus, of course, is pissed and has Prometheus tortured eternally.  In some versions, Zeus not only tries to keep fire away from humans, but withholds "the means of life", which would enable humans to get all there work done without effort.  No toiling in the fields by the sweat of one's brow if we had been allowed such gifts.  On top of all that, Zeus sends down Pandora with her jar/box of evils.  Here is the source of disease and pain.

The best explanation that I've read that takes in the nuances of the genesis story without spinning off into weird conclusions came from C. S. Lewis book Perelandra.   In the book there is another version of Adam and Eve on Venus.  On the planet covered almost completely by water, 'Eve' lives on a floating island.  It is forbidden for her to spend overnight on any fixed land.  After she resists temptations from the 'devil' she ends up establishing her home with 'Adam' on the fixed the land.  The earthling human involved is appalled until it is explained that the prohibition was simply a matter of timing.  This fits well with the concept of evil beginning as a privation of good.  Any 'sin' in such a context as the genesis story would have to be a warped virtue (knowledge in and of itself is a virtue).  Thus the 'punishment' for disobedience can be seen as much as simple built-in cause and effect for misuse or mistiming.  Timing fits in well with the idea of self-awareness.  We all spent the first chunk of our lives being oblivious to ourselves being an entity is a specific context, with specific connections with specific people and specific cultures etc...  We simply lived and took everything that came our way for granted.  Within this stage there are plenty of things completely inappropriate to be involved in that will later be good things.  Things like lofty thoughts of philosophy and theology.  Sciences.  Political activism.  Or the obvious, like sex.  I think it telling that when God confronts Adam and Eve about eating the fruit, their first reaction is to realize they are naked.  And instead of reacting by saying "Awesome, dude!  Look at me and what these dangling things between my legs do!"--instead they felt shame; not unlike a sexually abuse child who struggles with having healthy sex for the rest of his or her life. 

I think the concept of timing with knowledge is quite central and relevant to our species.  Particularly in our technological world we live in today.  We can send people to the moon, talk on Skype clear across the globe, build cities Babel couldn't even dream about, and a gazillion other utterly impressive things, but we do it without much thought to consequences to each other or the earth we live on.  More personally, too, religious families often never learn this lesson.  Churches spend so much time shoving theological concepts down children's throats way before they are at an age to appropriately handle or comprehend them.  I grew up since before I can remember being told that my sins had been nailed to the cross.  Even as an adult I have very little idea what that actually is suppose to mean.  As a kid I had weird visuals of squiggly things leaving my body, going back in time some 2000 years and somehow being skewered on the wooden beam with a bloodied Jesus hanging and breathing heavily as he watches these squigglies descend on him.

So now I can answer a 'yes' to the disequilibrium that comes from a judgmental orientation, because such an orientation is an example of having knowledge without the maturity to handle it properly.  However, with the genesis story as it is written, it is hard to get away from disobedience, punishment, and even God and company expelling from Eden because they feel threatened.  I guess at that point it depends on your view of how you read Scripture. 

GMO's

Here' my latest version...

A VERY COMMON QUESTION WE GET THESE DAYS:  SINCE YOU ARE A GRASS-BASED, FAMILY FARM CONCERNED ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH ISSUES, WHY DON’T WE USE NON-GMO GRAIN?

Short answer:  First and foremost, we want to support our local mill and surrounding grain producers.  Second, non-GMO is not always an environmentally responsible option.  Not only does non-local carry a greater fossil fuel dependency, many non-GMO grains are grown with a higher quantity or more potent pesticides and herbicides than GMO grain.  Third, non-GMO can be price-prohibitive.  The Organic option, which ensures a level of environmentally responsible methods as well as a non-GMO product, is often twice, if not three times, as expensive.  Organic grain is not local and some of it is supplied from as far away as China.  (story: imported grain)  Since non-GMO grain would have to be delivered in bulk, we would have to invest in some serious storage infrastructure, which would not only be a huge upfront cost for us, but would end up sacrificing a significant amount of quality, which would in turn not provide our animals with optimum nutrition.  This is due to the simple fact that once grains are milled their nutrition quality quickly deteriorates as it sits around waiting to be used.  Fourth, while the research pointing to negative health aspects of GMO has been slow to gain credible consensus, we are much more convinced of the detrimental aspects of routine antibiotics and non-fish animal by-products in our feed, as well as the positive benefits of outdoor grass-based systems.  With this in mind, we are not willing to sacrifice local infrastructure or environmental responsibility while hiking our prices for an issue that is not our top priority.

THE ISSUE OF GMO FEED IN MORE DEPTH:

Although our feed is freshly milled and free from any sort of medication, it is not GMO free.  We feel this is the best option for our farm for issues of distance, price, storage, local economy, and other complicating factors.  Though this explanation is quite lengthy, there is a flow of thought from start to finish.  The following headings are linked to different sections for quicker viewing.

INTRO

GRAIN VS. VEGETABLES:  a sack of potatoes ≠ a sack of wheat

LOCAL SOURCE: how local is local?

A TRUE ALTERNATIVE?   green-washing the non-GMO

‘SUPER ORGANISMS’ & GMOs:  Nature's response

A TALE OF TWO SYSTEMS

                 a.  THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX

                 b.  AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

THE CONSUMER'S HEALTH

CONCLUSION

LIST OF FEED OPTIONS (including what ideal feed-grain operation might look like)

INTRO  

                The issue of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) has come a long way from its beginnings some 20 years ago.  Today all corn and soy used for animal feed, unless otherwise stated, is nearly guaranteed to be genetically modified.  It has taken decades, but we now see a huge rise in concern over the use of GMO’s.  We at WT Farm like the fact that we are taken to task by our customers about our use of regular feed for our animals.  People are growing concerned about what they put in their bodies as well as the effect such food has on environment, economy and even gastronomy.  However, the GMO issue is quite complicated and is not a separate issue to be addressed in a vacuum.  Every year at the farm we revisit the GMO issue and debate the pros and cons among ourselves, so we thought it worthwhile to write up some of our thoughts, both as an explanation for our decision as well as an opportunity to give some framework and context to the issue in relation to animal husbandry as we see it.

GRAIN VS. VEGETABLES:  a sack of potatoes ≠ a sack of wheat

                To begin with, I want to stress that growing grain is a very different sort of process and operation from growing vegetables and fruit, especially as you try and scale it down for local use.  One can grow vegetables intensively on a small amount of acreage, and, with excellent management and a commitment to sustainable practices, can produce not only a significant quantity, but a significant variety of produce of the highest quality.  To meet the enormous quantities of grain that animals such as chickens consume, the scale of any operation that could actually make any sort of profit has to be a great deal larger and would require vast amounts of land, machinery, financial resources, and expertise.  At this point in time, in contrast to corn and soy, the vast majority of vegetables are not genetically modified.  Consequently to make the pledge to grow and sell non-GMO squash is a very different and a much more easily attained goal than to make the same claim for eggs or meat.

LOCAL SOURCE:  how local is local?

                Our closest sources for non-GMO feed that might possibly have the quantities we would need for our animals are presently between 100-150 miles away.  Much of their grain will also be from additional distances, predominantly from Pennsylvania.  Immediately, the definition of local comes into play.  One element of stressing local is to address our culture’s addiction to oil.  With conventional food having, on average, traveled thousands of miles to get to our plates, central Virginia and Pennsylvania are definitely an improvement.  However, just a 20 mile drive from our farm is a family owned mill, one of the last remnants of local infrastructure supporting agriculture in the surrounding areas.  Not only do we highly value the very personal connection we have with those that run Big Spring Mill, but they keep alive the dwindling grain growers in the area.  Local soy is not an option as it is not grown in this region, but the mill is able to source at least 50% of their corn from farms within a 100 mile radius.  When dealing with thousands of tons, this is an impressive contribution to the local economy.  To make up the rest of their grain needs, Big Spring Mill does buy grain from as far as the Midwest and they make no distinction between non-GMO and GMO, mixing all their grain together.  While this may deter some from buying their product, the local contribution they make to agriculture seems invaluable to us and is the single most important reason we are not willing to make the switch.

A TRUE ALTERNATIVE?  green-washing the non-GMO

                There are other reasons beyond the local issue that also give us pause in the GMO debate.  Some of these relate back to the scale of grain growing that I mentioned earlier.  The present public outcry against GMO’s has created a growing demand that is outpacing the supply within the marketplace, but the scale and equipment it takes to grow grain in any significant quantity means that those who are already set up to grow grain are the ones who are in the easiest position to meet this demand.  While a demand for organic, non-GMO local vegetables can be relatively quickly provided by small farms, even ones that are starting up with minimal infrastructure, the same is not true for grains.  This means that it is often the case that the farmers growing non-GMO grain are the same conventional GMO grain producers who have set apart a portion of their land to be designated for the non-GMO market; this is known as a split operation.  (Split operations are also common among large-scale Organic operations.)  Whereas the Organic label requires the use of non-GMO seed, there is no requirement for conventional non-GMO grain to follow any sort of organic protocol if it is not labeled as such.  This is significant, not because we hold a grudge against such producers, but because such growers have a mindset and methods of growing food that do not share the values that are important to us as people involved in the sustainable movement.  These days, ‘non-GMO’ being a byword, the average consumer assumes the label is accompanied by less pesticide, less herbicide, less synthetic fertilizer, seeds from a non-Monsanto source, and all around a more organic approach.  However, unless the product is accompanied by the Organic label or you are personally familiar with the grain grower, there is absolutely no guarantee that any of this is true.  This is a classic case of separating an issue within a vacuum.  In fact, it may even be true that some of the practices by non-GMO growers are more detrimental to the environment than the regular GMO grain growers.  Whereas there is a growing general hatred towards the Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, which is used in tangent with the genetically modified crops labeled Roundup Ready, it is not the most environmentally destructive herbicide in and of itself.  As it has been explained to me, Roundup, an herbicide in the class of glyphosate, has relatively little direct soil activity and only kills any foliage above ground that has not been genetically modified to resist Roundup. Clearly no herbicide is benign, even to the soil, but we cannot forget that many of the older, more conventional herbicides were even more poisonous, directly killing bugs and seeds and the entire ecosystem below as well as above the soil in a nice euphemism called sterilization.  This was one of the reasons why Roundup was originally touted as environmentally friendly.  It’s all about what you are comparing yourself to.  Even when claims are made concerning more pesticides being used, it is important to know if we are comparing glyphosate (foliage only) poisons or atrazine (soil sterilizing) poisons, or any of the other many categories.  There is no question that there are detrimental environmental effects from the ubiquitous and constant use of glyphosate, but when weighing the options and operating in the real world, we are reduced to choosing the lesser of evils.  

‘SUPER ORGANISMS’ & GMOs:  Nature's response

                The quantity of herbicides and pesticides used leads right into the issue of ‘superbugs’ and ‘super-weeds’.  I believe it is important to remind people that genetically modifying plants themselves is not what leads to resistant bugs and weeds.  What leads to epidemics of resistance is the method of growing grain, which requires mass amounts of poisons as well as fertilizers.  It is because the Roundup system worked well that it quickly became the standard and has been used in unprecedented quantities across the country.  I am not an expert, but I believe that any poison used so prolifically and repeatedly, without discretion, would result in resistant organisms.  It is simply a response of Nature to the modern methods of agriculture, not a unique trait of GMO’s.  So what I find lacking in a simplistic approach to the issues, is that a demand for non-GMO grain without a demand to change the methods, is not much of a gain, and in fact can blind us to other sustainability issues that can be just as, or at times even more important, than genetic modification.  If nothing else, I hope I can get across that the issue is not quite as clear-cut as some may have us believe.   

A TALE OF TWO SYSTEMS:

a.  THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX

                I find it an interesting cultural phenomenon that GMO’s are where ‘green’ proponents seem to be drawing the line.  A nerve has been struck and the emotional fervor invested in the issue has taken me by surprise.  What does not take me by surprise is the development of GMO crops and the fact that multinational companies and government regulation agencies are willing to ‘experiment’ on a vast population with minimal thought to ‘safety’.  Since WWII we have been dumping chemicals into our ecosystem at unprecedented rates.  Sure, we no longer spray DDT in our streets, but there are thousands of unregulated or poorly regulated chemicals (many of them much more potent than glyphosate) not only in our food and our soil, but polluting our air and water as well.  Has not this disregard for health and nature, in the form of ‘experiments’, been the norm?  And it is not just agriculture.  There are systemic issues revolving around plastic, carbon emission, rare minerals used in our cell phones, mountaintop removal, and a whole host of other issues that enrich a relatively few at the expense of both other people and nature herself.  In light of all this, GMOs are the logical icing on the agro-industrial-complex cake; a small cog that fits perfectly in the agendas of multinational corporations whose goal is to make money while giving little thought to the destruction of the environment, the health of the consumer, or how their unconstitutional claim to intellectual property of life disempowers farmers as well as entire populations overseas who have less means to fight the agro-industrial-complex than we do here in America.  What I am getting at is that I don’t see the strategic advantage of making GMO’s the single most important litmus test when it is only a relatively small part of a large system.  Even if GMO’s were banned, the multinational corporations would quickly adapt and their systems would be fully intact maintaining their monopoly infamous for their disregard of the environment, health of the consumer, and disenfranchisement of farmers. 

                b.  AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

                The existing system may have its catastrophic faults, but it is the system in place and consequently feeds the vast, vast majority of our population.  While it is imperative to build an alternative system, the task is quite daunting.  Even without the pressure of impending environment, economic, and social disasters, the task of constructing a food system that can compete with the present one shored up by decades of government subsidies and corporate success, borders on the impossible.   Too few people realize the extent of scale needed for sustainable agriculture to be a viable alternative, and just as few feel the urgency.  Such exponential growth as needed, coupled with the time factor of impending energy crises, vital resource crises, and global warming crises, makes it impossible for a young agricultural alternative system to meet everyone’s criteria of an environmentally and socially responsible system.  How does one maintain integrity in the face of such tensions?  As I see it, integrity is upheld by understanding that an agricultural endeavor is more than just a sum of its parts; more than just a sum of its issues.  Part of a sustainable system’s distinction, is the acknowledgement of viewing the system as a web of interrelating parts that work synergistically and which are difficult to separate into different, individual categories.  For a grass-based operation, the pasture is the center ‘hub’ of the web.  This is our energy source; one of nature’s solar panels, whose long term efficiency should be a model for us as a society.  Around this hub we literally rotate our animals.  Feed-wise, some of our animals, like chickens, only get a portion of their needs from the grass and bugs, while others, namely ruminants, can be 100% grass-fed.  However, figuratively, the hub is surrounded by other strands of the web: environment issues, energy issues, health issues, local economic issues, animal welfare issues, farmer welfare issues, as well as health and gastronomic issues.  And while a grass-based system makes huge leaps towards a more socially and environmentally responsible system, we the farmers, are the first to say that our system is far from perfect.  Such an alternative system is a constant diplomatic give and take of literally hundreds of issues all trying to settle into place to keep the farm an intact and living whole.  We have issues of breeds and genetic diversity, distance, feed quality, infrastructure, scale, to name just a few—all being juggled against our need to be financially viable in order to continue farming. 

                So when the issue of GMO’s is addressed, we can’t simply say GMO=bad therefore take it out of our system.  Any addition or change to the system, especially one so difficult to attain, is going to occupy a very distinct space within the ‘web’ of our farm, and potentially shove others out.  So if we see that incorporating non-GMO’s into our operation is going to raise prices significantly as well as negatively impacting the local infrastructure so dear to us, we must weigh the options.  And when you factor in that non-GMO grain is often raised on operations that are not very different from the status quo, this gives us even further pause.  The next time you buy meat or eggs from a farm feeding non-GMO feed, do yourself a favor and ask the farmer if they know what kind of system the grain was raised in.  What types of herbicides and pesticides were used?  Where was the seed originally bought?  Is the grain grown as a mono-crop, or do the farmers practice crop rotation as well as animal grazing on their fields?  Are synthetic fertilizers used?  What sort of distances does this grain travel to get to the dealer and then to the farm?  Like I have said, these issues aren’t within a vacuum, separate from each other.  And if you are satisfied with the answers, then by all means, buy the product.  

THE CONSUMER’S HEALTH 

                So if you have gotten this far, you are likely wondering why I haven’t yet addressed the health aspects to the consumer.  Two reasons: first and foremost, because this is the area where I feel like I can speak with the least amount of authority.  And second, because this is where the rubber meets the road for most and I am very wary of rocking the boat when such emotional fervor is usually accompanied by both sides of the GMO issue.  Putting aside all the systemic issues of intellectual property, increased usage of poisons, and a whole host of environmental, economic and social issues, I personally don’t see much conclusive evidence showing that consumption of GMO’s is directly detrimental to our health.  I have looked in detail at some of the more famous studies, particularly that of Seralini with rats and the more recent Carman/Vlieger study with hogs.  I say this knowing I risk a very strong backlash from many of my sustainable food allies, but the science in the research does not hold up to close scrutiny and I believe it detrimental to our alternative food movement to use these studies as debate points.  I personally, particularly as a hog raiser, would not put my reputation on the line for such research.  The key to putting things in perspective, I believe, can be found in the wording of the studies that claim GMO food is safe for health and environment.  Over and over one finds the phrase ‘AS safe as conventional food’.  The unfortunate reality is that very, very little of our food does not have some detrimental consequences either directly or indirectly.  If we go looking for these consequences, we will find them in any food system.  In light of that, I believe it is a matter of choosing which evils we are personally willing to live with and which ones we will attempt to avoid.

                Does it bother me that introducing genetically modified food into our lives is, in effect, an experiment on our population?  Yes, but though I am unhappy about it, I am used to living with this morally gray aspect in just about every facet of our society.  In addition, this genetic modification experiment has been going on for two decades already and we have not delineated direct correlation of GMO to the general un-health.  The data is still rolling in, but our epidemic of obesity and diabetes has a clear relation to our glut of high fructose corn syrup and sugar, as well as the accompanying Omega 3 issues and such.  There is a very strong argument that government subsidies of corn are far more responsible for our health epidemics than the consumption of GMO’s.  (Upcoming documentary) In fact, we know for sure that aside from GMO’s, numerous aspects of modern agriculture, as practiced today, are responsible for a whole host of health issues from blue babies, to antibiotic resistant viruses, to e. coli outbreaks, etc…  This is not to even mention the health of ecosystems being devastated, whether within the soil, in our waterways, or in the dead zones along our coasts.  When we place the GMO and health issue alongside all these scientifically established disasters, I personally feel the GMO issue distracts from these more vital systemic problems.

                As writer and poet, Sandra Steingraber has phrased it, we are all living downstream.  With the plethora of chemicals, pollutants and carcinogenic material ending up in our air, our food, and our drinking water, it is actually remarkable how little glyphosate or even the genetically modified DNA has shown up in our systems considering its ubiquitous use.  Perhaps atrazine, PCB’s, grain subsidies, routine antibiotic use, to name but a few of the plethora of known problems are simply too old hat and boring for us to spend our time and energy on.  In my opinion, to actually confront any of these issues without addressing the faulty and destructive systems that keep generating such problems is like fighting the proverbial hydra.  Chop off one head and two more will grow in its place.

CONCLUSION

                The last thing I want is for someone glancing over these thoughts to walk away with the assumption that Weathertop Farm thinks GMO’s are perfectly fine.  I trust our customers have a good sense of the complexities of the issues of our day.  The fact that I put more emphasis on other ‘green’ issues than on GMO’s is as much a strategic choice as anything else.  Sustainable agriculture is an attempt to start, maintain, and grow an alternative system that is both saner in its environmental, social and economic responsibilities, and less destructive than the systems in place today.  We, as an entire planet, are headed for crises of global impact.  Food and water will be at the heart of it all.  The hidden costs of modern agricultural systems are already catching up to us, and unless we have other systems in place that have been tried and proven effective, we will suffer a great deal in the inevitable transition.  Time is running out and we must choose our battles all the more wisely.

                Finally, I wish to say that I consider myself open-minded and am happy to learn more about any of these issues, as long as the discourse is levelheaded and respectful.  I am saddened by the tone of the arguments one finds these days in the public square, and consequently have written these thoughts with a great deal of trepidation.  In the end, we are all on the same boat, the same planet.  The crises are here at our doorstep and we cannot afford to lose our heads.

LIST OF FEED OPTIONS

In the search for sources of feed there are typically 4 general categories of feed to choose from:

1. Conventionally-grown pre-mixed feed: available at your local farm store or mill, already packaged.  Sometimes this feed is medicated and often contains a small amount of animal by-products.

2. Conventionally-grown feed that is custom-mixed: this is what we use here at Weathertop, we take a recipe down to the mill and they custom-blend the feed for us by the ton.  That way we ensure that the feed does not contain any medications, antibiotics, or animal by-products that we do not want, and instead we can add nutrients & minerals according to our recipe.  

3. Non-GMO conventionally-grown feed: this is feed mixed from non-GMO feed grains (non-GMO corn, non-GMO soy, etc.), but otherwise are grown conventionally and may have significantly higher levels of pesticide & herbicide levels than the GMO-conventional grains.  Our closest sources for non-GMO in large quantities tend to come from Pennsylvania or Ohio.  This option tends to be somewhere between 25%-30% more expensive than what we get at our mill.

4. Certified organic feed: feed made from organically-grown grains (by definition these are non-GMO as organic standards prohibit their use, and should have only USDA organic–approved chemicals used in their cultivation).  The extension office at Virginia Tech published a paper in 2009 (VTex2009) about Organic-feed grain markets.  They explain how “the U.S. imports 8 times more organic grain than it produces.”  80% of imported grain comes from China, some of this is organic grain.  Not only is the organic option the very opposite of local, but it can be 2 or 3 times as expensive as what we get at our local mill.  

5. Above and beyond:  We have never grown grain ourselves, but we have heard of a few operations that we find impressive and approach the ideal.  Typically non-GMO, but not necessarily labeled Organic, these environmentally responsible operations inevitably include rotations of crops, some even include a rotation where the land is grazed by animals, and the herbicides or pesticides are used at a very minimum, and when used, are also rotated.  These operations are typically focused more on encouraging the natural health of the soils than the bottom line.  However, though they may not make as much money for their grain, because the land is used in different and compatible ways, it can be used for other sources of revenue such as other cash crops or even meat.  Find us a source nearby like this and we will gladly use their grain.