SCARED FARMERS

I'm in Vienna waiting to board to cross the Atlantic on my way back from Poland after a week of visiting and talking to farmers.  Yesterday's seminar from 9-4 helped bring clarity to the themes that kept rising throughout the week.  I finally put my finger on it this morning:  fright.

                  The same is true in the U.S., which is why I'm well into writing FOOD EMANCIPATION:  UNSHACKLING AMERICA'S SUSTENANCE, but I don't think it's to such a degree as it is in Poland and perhaps all of the European Union.

                  As one farmer said yesterday, "we've traded Communism for the EU."  Another one chimed in "they've killed everything.  It's a disaster."  After 47 years under the thumb of the Soviet Union, the culture became more intimidated, more subservient, and just scared. 

                  My day-long seminar yesterday was primarily a pictorial virtual tour of Polyface and it was constantly interrupted with "we can't do that here."  It seems to me like what American face at the processing end of food the Polish farmers face at the production end.  In other words, in the U.S. we farmers can pretty much do whatever we want in production.  But try processing, cooking, packaging--anything value adding to garner the convenience food dollar--and that's where the draconian food police crack down. Not so in Poland.

                  I think the difference is because the U.S. does not have a food culture.  Poland does.  Of all the 30 countries I've been in doing ag seminars, Poland for sure is number one for food.  Wow, what a wonderful week of dining pleasure.  America, in contrast, doesn't care a lick about food and therefore has no cultural desire to protect heritage food options.  Poland does.  America is all about production; Poland is all about dining.  These starkly different cultural preferences dominate the regulatory climate.

                  In Poland, if you can jump through the production stuff, the processing and kitchen requirements aren't nearly as bad as they are in the U.S.  Goodness, you should see the eggs in stores.  It's illegal to sell a washed egg.  And they don't refrigerate them.  So in the store the eggs are filthy.  In the U.S., one speck of anything renders it "inedible."  Again, America is way more interested about cosmetic perfection than dining quality. 

                  The production regulations start and end with animals.  Plants are generally outside the scope of any control, except you can't cut a tree without a permit, even on your own land.  Patrolling veterinarians in Poland visit farms and have broad authority to determine infractions.  Anybody who knows me knows I'm all about complex animal relationships.  Eggmobiles, pigaearators, stackable rabbits, pigs, and chickens--it's all a beautifully complex and pathogen-confusing natural diversity that encourages overall health. 

                  Not so Poland.  You can't mix species.  "The veterinarians won't allow it," I was assured over and over during various moments of the Polyface pictures.  A building with cows can't also have chickens, or pigs.  A building with ducks can't also have sheep.  All species are heavily segregated to prevent contamination.  But the greatest contamination occurs when you have mono-species without dead ends from other species.  It's such a basic ecological principle that species diversity creates immunological stability that you have to wonder what it would take to get through to these European veterinarians how nature works.

                  I'm a lover of pole barns due to their easy construction and low cost, but I saw not one in the week of driving around the country.  I asked these farmers why and they said "building inspectors won't allow it.  Every farm building must be enclosed so whatever is inside is protected from outside air."  As if the air is somehow a nefarious element committed to hurting your animals.  Really?  As a result, our Polyface winter protection for cows and subsequent carbonaceous diaper for pigaerator compost--it's all out of reach due to veterinarians and costly building requirements. 

                  In our county, we can build virtually any farm building without a permit.  It's your land, your cows, your place; who cares what a livestock shed or barn looks like?  As a result of the Polish overbearing regulatory environment, experimentation with different ideas becomes stigmatized.  When I concluded the day with them, I encouraged them to aggressively question the why, with both bureaucrats and elected officials.  How do you know building compost with pigs behind cows is harmful?  Has anyone done an experiment? 

                  Therein lies the worst cost of regulatory tyranny:  prohibiting breakthroughs from today's problems.  The government officials are paranoid of African Swine Fever and Avian Flu, but the farmers I talked with saw both of those problems as symptomatic of industrial chemical confinement farming.  I agree.  But their hands are tied by the farm police to offer an alternative.  Most breakthroughs are break-withs--leaving entrenched paradigms to embrace new thinking. 

                  In the entire week and traversing much of Poland, I saw exactly three cows outdoors--all in a barn corral on the same farm.  I only saw 3 or 4 farms with any fences whatsoever.  Animals are simply not outside; this is consistent with what I've seen throughout Europe.  All animals are confined in tight, masonry barns that stink to high heavens and are cold, damp, and dark (no windows).  I can't imagine a worse way to raise animals, and yet this is the protocol and it's not a suggestion; it's administered by an army of government veterinarians and inspectors. 

                  Outdoor chickens must be completely netted to eliminate any possible interaction with Red Winged Blackbirds or Robins.  Can't have chickens commiserating with feathered cousins.  Tut tut tut.  Pigs can't touch noses with any other animal, so require two fences--the outside being a physical, non-electric one--to protect them from touching any animal outside their paddock.  Consequently, almost nobody invests in pastured pigs and those who do find it nearly impossible to move them as frequently as they should, which creates moonscapes, which isn't good. 

                  I finally looked at the group, which couldn't have been more enthusiastic and gracious, and said "It's time for a revolution."  They agreed.  I hope they can succeed, not just for themselves, but for the health of their animals. 

                  Wouldn't it be nice to get the farm freedom of the U.S. with the culinary freedom of Poland?