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41439 330th Ave NW
Stephen, MN 56757
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Betsy's Blog

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Why do you need a label on your food?

1/28/2015

2 Comments

 
It's always important to surround yourself with smart people.  That was proven valuable last week as I participated in the Minnesota Ag and Rural Leadership (MARL) program in St. Paul.  We split into groups, and set off to visit different areas in St. Paul and Minneapolis.  I traveled to the Global Market, where we met with immigrant shop and restaurant owners who brought a little bit of their homeland to the middle of Minneapolis.  Other groups traveled to a shelter for teenagers, a low income housing unit, and the Hmong market. 

We all came back with broader minds, but there was one comment from the Hmong village that stuck with me.  At the Hmong market, there aren't many signs about "organic" or "cage free eggs" or "pesticide free."  It's not your usual farmers market where farmers are usually putting up signs about all the great attributes about their food.  One of our group members is Hmong, and she said they don't need labels.  Labels are just replacements for relationships.  If you know the grower, you don't need a label.  Let me repeat that:  Labels are just replacements for relationships.

I thought back to the global market I visited, and sure enough, the immigrant booths really didn't have much for labels.  You could buy mexican, or middle east food without looking at labels. The baklava look delicious in the box and it was a just a simple box.  The meat was labeled Halal, but that is a necessary distinction. 

It was only the more traditional American food stands that had labels.  There were free range chickens and eggs, Minnesota honey, and locally produced cheeses.   I still have my doubts about the gluten free pasta that was made with "locally sourced brown rice." We have wild rice in MN, but I've never seen brown or white rice in Minnesota.  Maybe someone reading this can help me find a brown rice field in Minnesota.

So think about the labels next time you buy food.  We need labels because we don't have relationships with the growers.  Whenever I support GMO food, I get called a shill for Monsanto.  Whenever I mention I'm a wheat farmer, I'm told that the new varieties of wheat are evil because they cause gluten intolerance.  And now autism is added to the evils of wheat.  Maybe if people had relationships with farms, they'd understand farming, and say thanks for the food. 
2 Comments
amy
4/24/2015 08:29:40 am

I think it's great that you can pass down generations of farming but what you choose to ignore is that it's all about profit, not having relationships with food but doing business with a giant corporation jeopardizing human health at the same time. It's great that your business can continue but at what risk to others? RoundUp ready seed origins are harmful & large farms knowingly use it so they don't lose a crop to pests.

Reply
Betsy Jensen
4/27/2015 10:39:45 pm

Amy, thank you for your concern. This year around 20% of our farm acreage will use Round Up, and Monsanto technology. Most wheat comes from public varieties such as University of Minnesota, North Dakota State and South Dakota State. There are private wheat varieties as well, but the majority of spring wheat seed is public. Our edible beans are non GMO. I do hope that someday we can plant GMO wheat that is resistant to disease and insects. We don't need RoundUp Ready wheat, but I would love fusarium resistant wheat, or aphid resistant soybeans. I have a long wish list of GMO crops I'd like to see in the future. I would love to see public institutions develop GMO crops. Unfortunately, the regulatory requirements are very cost prohibitive. That gives large private businesses the edge. The more hurdles that are put up for GMO crop approval, the bigger the advantage for private companies. It is an unfortunate consequence.

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    This is what I get for majoring in agriculture economics at North Dakota State University.  A farm near the Canadian border, far from any delivery restaurants or shopping centers.  Sometimes in life you get nothing that you prayed for, and yet so much more than you asked.  Life doesn't have to be easy to be wonderful and blessed.

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