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Category Archives: Organic

Farming is an entrepreneurial business.

Written on November 18, 2011 by Roland Van der Meer in Organic, agriculture

Farming is the epitome of entrepreneurship. It is not easy work. It is a business that first requires an understanding what the market wants: How much does the market need, what can you sell and to whom? Then you have to figure out if you can grow it for a certain cost and still make a profit. If you approach it any other way you will most likely fail. Like any other new venture, it all starts with the market.

A recent article in the New York Times, “Young Farmers Find Huge Obstacles to Getting Started,” sites many of the issues of getting into farming and how hard it is. Many farmers cannot affordthe land, and even if they can, they have a hard time getting the farm working and selling the produce at market. Yes, it is hard to run a farming business.

By way of example, suppose I decide to sell pencils. Everyone needs pencils, right? They are always consumed. So I buy the wood, lead/graphite, metal, and rubber, and then I purchase the machines to roll stamp and press the pencils. And finally I rent the building to do all this in. I spent all my capital to do this. Then I go to the corner store and ask him to buy my pencils to sell in his store. The store owner (being the nice local merchant he is) ask how much I will charge him for the pencils. I tell him, “$1 a piece, they are locally made”. He tells me, “I buy pencils from my supplier for 25 cents, and I don’t think my customers will buy $2 pencils.”

Then I pursue the option of opening a corner vendor kiosk and selling my pencils direct to the customer for $1 each. I sell a few, but within a year I am out of money, out of pencils and out of business. That’s when I say this is a hard business. Yes it is.

So what went wrong? I did not understand the market, the customers and the customers’ need to get a product at a specific price. It’s that simple.

When you read the article about how tough it is to be a farmer and how many new farmers failure, put this in context: They say that 22% of new farms turn a profit the first year. That is great actually. But only 1 out of every 5 farmers make it all the way to sustainable profitablility. How many other new business start ups fail in the first 1 to 5 years? How many actually make it through that long, hard start up phase to actually make a profit? 1 in 5. Sound familiar?

Farming is also unique in that one learns to farm through trial and error. Failure of a crop is inherent in farming and then you learn to do it better.

The top 5 reasons for business failure are:

1. Lack of experience

2. Insufficient capital (money)

3. Poor location

4. Poor inventory management

5. Over-investment in fixed assets

All of these elements are within the control of the new businesses owner. These reasons apply to farming and business. A well thought out business plan mitigates these issues.

Farming is a hard business but you need to start with the notion of the market and then you have a fighting chance.

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Good Food Is The Answer To Many Issues

Written on August 30, 2011 by Roland Van der Meer in Economics, Organic, agriculture, stewardship, sustainability

What is good food? First and foremost, Good Food is food that tastes great!

But it is also real food, grown right, prepared right. It is healthy for your body and healthy for the environment. If we grow real food the right way we heal our environment. We create great soil that nourishes the food that nourishes us. This same soil rich with biology will be rich with minerals and store gases and hold water. It is fundamental to a healthy environment.

Good soil does not run off in the rain. Good soil is rich in its biology that for every 1% increase in biological mater in soil will hold water like a sponge, 20,000 gallons per acre.

A friend of mine recently, cited that we need to appeal to people’s greed. Greed for sugar. A carrot grown in a rich healthy soil can have a Brix count(amount of sugars present) of 30, while a industrial grown carrot, 5 to 10. Ask yourself or anyone, “Do you want to eat this sweet delicious carrot or this cardboard rendition?” One costs 25 cents the other 10 cents, but which would you eat?

In a wonderful interview of Alice Waters in a United Airlines Magazine, She said,” We need to pay for it. We need to pay for the food and pay the people who produce it. That’s profound and terribly important. We still think we can get it for free. And you know, it’s that idea that we have been indoctrinated to believe that food should be fast, cheap and easy. And it’s really that kind of thinking that is destroying the world.”

She is talking about the environment and our health. The environmental damage from our industrial agriculture damage is undisputed. The damage to our health is dramatic. Our processed food industry is not about real food or health. It is about tricking our bodies to eat more of a bad thing. Our bodies also have to eat more to get anywhere near the nutrients that we require. The rest we store as fat and then comes Diabetes.

The chart above that summarizes what has happen to us as we journeyed down the industrial agriculture road. Our costs of food fell from 17% of our household budget to 6%. Inversely our healthcare budget has gone form 7% to 17% of our budget. There is almost a direct correlation. This is not entirely due to food, but a very direct correlation to the food industry and diabetes with all its co-morbidities is the major driver of cost in our health system.

Industrial agriculture is also the major driver of our environmental issues, from the methane released by our industrial livestock systems to our releasing of fertilizers and pesticides into our ground, water and air. This culprit needs to be fixed.

Amazingly this is in our control. This is the one area we can tackle if we focus. We need to understand cheap food is not good for anyone nor is it really cheap. The true costs to us as people and our environment is huge. We just lost track of what is really important.

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The Right to Grow Food and Then Some

Written on June 9, 2011 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Organic, agriculture, sustainability

Last summer my family started our own garden in our yard. We thought we’d picked a reasonable size of five, 6’x4’ beds. We planted the usual things, lettuces and tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and zucchini, with a few herbs like basil, dill, thyme and rosemary. We planted and waited. And boy did it produce! It produced so much, and so often, that we had to give it away to family, friends and neighbors. Everyone who crossed our threshold was sent home with a large brown bag of vegetables. We even had one friend who stopped by daily to hand pick her dinner salad. Realizing we couldn’t give it away fast enough, my youngest daughter wanted to sell the excess lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a makeshift farm stand converted from her old lemon-aide stand – how fun, how harmless and how entrepreneurial.

So a couple months ago, I read in the San Francisco Chronicle about Novella Carpenter and her Ghost Town Farm being shut down by the city of Oakland, ““. You can check out updates to her plight on her blog Ghost Town Farm

Thinking that she was doing the right thing, improving her town while at the same time providing fresh, wholesome, locally grown produce, Novella did the same thing as my daughter, although on a much larger scale. From all appearances, it seems like a win-win. But the city doesn’t see it that way. They step in and say she isn’t allowed to grow and sell without a zoning change and permits to sell. Ostensibly, Christine is breaking the law.

I think the laws need to change. We should be encouraging, not discouraging, this type of neighborly endeavor. This was not a commercial operation designed for making a living and commercial profit. It was undertaken to make the neighborhood better. It engaged the community, and more importantly, the kids within that community, and showed them what could be done with a plighted piece of land all the while showing them how food is grown. Pretty powerful.

So back to the law prohibiting her from selling her produce. You have to realize what it was trying to achieve. It was designed to protect neighborhoods so no one person creates a business that then changes the character of that particular neighborhood. No one wants lots of people and cars and parking and all the issues that come from a commercial downtown setting to come to their neighborhood. But a little local corner farm stand wouldn’t have that same affect. It encourages people to walk, to socialize with their neighbor’s, to eat and shop local, and to have pride in their neighborhood. We have to rethink our laws and policies in these difficult economic times. We have to have to be flexible and adapt and design rules of governance the match the needs of society.

Community gardens create neighborhoods and put people in touch with nature and the food they eat. Allow people to dig in and help and learn and grow to be food smart. Isn’t this what it is all about?

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Water is the Key to Life in India (and everywhere else)

Written on November 12, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Organic, agriculture, sustainability, waste water

“We don’t have a water problem now, we had a good Monsoon.” Yes, that is as long range as most people think. After a drought for 4 years, and water tables falling further then any where in recorded history and well beyond where people believe it has ever been, yet the issue is not in the forefront of peoples minds now. So why worry?

So lets go back in history. It is fascinating is to see how well designed the forts and palaces of the 15^th and 16^th Centuries were. Two of the most beautiful are the Amber Fort in Jaipur and Fatehpur Sikri on the way to Agra. They were both built around the same time as the Taj Mahal. Water was harvested from the entire complex. Every drop of rain water flowed to catch basins around the palace/fort, which was usually a beautiful and very deep stone pool. Water was drawn up by a system of ascending ox driven, rotating wheels with buckets and aqueducts on the buildings ending up in the water holds on top.

Then water was used to its fullest and most beautiful potential. High pressure, gravity fed water fountains were used for entertainment and tranquility. Innovative air conditioning systems cooled the royalty. Cloth hung over dripping pipes atop open breezeways and chilled the air. Lastly, the water was used for drink and bathing. All this water was filtered and channeled back to a lower catch basin only to be used again. Some of the wastewater was also filtered and channeled to the gardens and fields if possible.

Some of the first damning was done in India, to capture more of the run off and rain from the Monsoons. This enabled cities to thrive where before it was barely possible to exist. All this innovation was dramatic back then. Today, India is at the point it will need a new set of innovative ideas to collect, store and distribute the water that comes but one season a year.

Water is an issue that potentially could bring the country to a standstill. This will require long term planning with corporate drivers and government policy in alignment.

As I continue my travels across India, I am constantly impressed and amazed at this country. It moves increasingly forward in its chaotic and frenetic way, a way that defies logic. Yet it works, things get done. Through the frenzy, problems are solved and results delivered. “Anything for profit,” gets addressed sooner or later. The government is like any other: Good intentions but difficult in delivering the results. But I fully expect that India will figure this out and come through with some very creative solutions.

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India Bound…

Written on November 4, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Economics, Energy Efficiency, Organic, agriculture, stewardship, sustainability, waste water

I am heading over to India to understand and learn more of its culture, business, opportunities and challenges. As we all know, India is a vibrant economy that drives and thrives with chaos. It is an amazing country of wild entrepreneurs that see no limit to what they can do and that push the impossible through.

Their issues are many as India grows at 9% per year and pushes any conceivable obstacle out of its way. The predominately young population now thinks the sky is the limit. The good life is ahead. The middle class is exploding, the under classes are striving. Education is so highly sought after that kids travel hours everyday to learn.

But the scariest thing I just saw was in my partner’s recent presentation on the state of conditions in India — He is from there, and he pointed out that the biggest issue he sees for India is scarcity of water and power.

Wow! Power is scarce. Every building and every hotel needs its own diesel-powered generator because every week (many times a week) the power is shut off. Residences live without power for up to 8 hours a day. Their grid is immature and their power generation is a decade behind the growth. They are building power generation plants and unfortunately, many coal fired ones.

Water is much scarier issue. India is running out of water. The aquifers have been drained to the point where there is less then one year’s supply of water now (after the monsoon) and at one point they had less then 150 days of water left.

China is building its dams up in the Himalayas and diverting any water they can to themselves. India is building dams to divert water from Pakistan. Conflict is looming and everyone is scared. No one wants to face the hard facts. Even the power of the growing monsoons that flood the cities and countryside for months are no help. Monsoon water isn’t caught stored, filtered or used well.

These issues will cause mayhem in India. But don’t count them out! A rethinking of these systems is needed and new types of infrastructure need to be built. But, as is classically Indian, it will not be done in the methodical Chinese way but rather in the helter skelter approach that India is famous for.

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Going Local is Good for the Economy and Well Being

Written on October 29, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Organic, marketing, sustainability

A lot has been written about what has happened to America’s Main Street? Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Costco moved in.

If you drive around the country you will see many of our downtown Main Streets are empty. The independent retailers are gone; they couldn’t compete. The simple reason: Why would consumers pay 10% more to shop downtown? Go to the big box store and save. But did you really save anything? Never mind the fact you bought three times as much as you needed. Have you spent your money wisely? Maybe, but are you better off?

Those great little shops on Main Street are gone, and so are the people you knew who ran them. The job loss hurts the local economy, housing market, etc., but worst of all you lost part of your community and that cozy feeling of walking down the street and knowing the people who run the shops and others that walk there, too. That great feeling you get when you stop in a store, say, “hello” and then stop for a cup of coffee because you just happen to be there getting things done.

Buying local has many meanings, but keeping your neighborhood shops in business is probably the closest to home. In this era of convenience what could be more convenient then knowing the people you buy from? Who will look out for you, advise you and find what you need? Relish and cherish your community — and that starts downtown.

The real discussion that we need to have is: What is the economic optimization for any community, whether it be a town, city county, state or country? We need to rethink the idea of lost cost producer.

Wal-Mart is now going to buy locally more often. Why? To reduce its supply chain costs. Measured not only by the dollars but the negative externalities, such as the packing, the refrigeration, the trucks and gas used to bring product in, etc. But what they are really doing is looking at the total cost equation and then realizing that they are helping the local economy. Many big box vendors are looking at sourcing locally, as well. Sears announced it is now giving the local manager ability to procure local products that people want in their market. Good idea.

However, this will not help Main Street, although it does begin to help the local economy. Economist Robert Shoemaker wrote about these ideas in “Small is Beautiful,” promoting the idea small working farms with less mechanization, which employed more people and made for a better society overall. Paul Hawken wrote “The Next Economy” and talked of a new way to look at economies: The real issue is we have think about the entire systems and the impact that we seek.

What do you most value and what are you willing to do to create that environment that you want to live in?

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Why Aren’t Our Homes… Better?

Written on October 22, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Community, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Organic, global warming, investing, stewardship, sustainability

I came across a set of pictures the other day comparing the home building industry to a couple others. The first two pictures compared the framing and building of a house in 1910 and one in 2010. What is shocking is that they looked the same! Now, side-by-side stood two other sets of pictures that were great examples of the progress of two other industries. One in transportation, which showed the horse and buggy opposite a beautiful BMW 750; and one in the communications industry, which had a photo of a candlestick phone opposite an iPhone. Doesn’t that just say it all? We have not evolved our most basic of industries: Housing.

In fact, one might argue that we have gone backwards. From the nice villages, built from the center out, where every resource was shared to one of wasted suburban sprawl. I don’t need to cover the issue of environmental design here, but I really want to address the building and construction aspect of housing.

In the US, we have not begun to use the technology that is available today. From basics such as how a foundation is created, to how houses are framed, to wall construction, to electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, as a country we are positively backwards with our old school view. For a good lesson in the next generation materials, components, modular fabrication, electrical, plumbing, etc, visit Japan or Europe and see first hand how homes are built. You will see that not only are they very functional and practical, but incredibly beautiful as well. There are few design limitations in today’s state of the art solutions.

These new homes overseas are energy, heat, water, and light efficient. And you don’t feel as if you are in outer space. A new home can use less material, less electricity, less water. It is all in the design and layout, the materials, and the systems that you install.

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Energy efficient home in the Wine Country” describes how one home owner had to invest over $1.2M to make her 2000 sq. ft. home “passive.” Come on really, passive? A log cabin or a stone house can be passive although probably not very comfortable. At BioLogical Capital, we studied a new development in the South East of the US and looked at the best housing solutions. It turned out the ideal design was based on the old slave homes. Those homes maximized airflow and minimized sun exposure during the summer and reversed that in the winter months. This is not the modern definition of today’s passive homes but this worked well.

But really this is the future for the US, and it has been elsewhere for the past 20 or 30 years. It is all about energy and resource efficiency, which is critical. If our homes and offices could reduce power consumption by 50% or more and reduce water consumption by over 50% in this country, think of the savings and environmental impact.

A very energy efficient home, or passive, home can be done with careful design and forethought to minimize expense and time. Simply put, the passive house is a well insulated house built almost air tight and employs a simple heater exchanger to allow for cooling or heating and air flow. This wasn’t really advisable for the past several decades as the materials in an air tight house can make you sick. Careful attention to furniture, floor coatings, carpets and the like are critical. It will also require great insulation and windows. The systems that are required are: A solar water heater couple with on demand heating elements, appliances from Europe or Japan, passive and LED lighting and smart power management for electronics, grey water and rainwater catch and recycle systems for all but potable water. It is also essential to pay attention to the materials. Are we still using sheetrock for instance and the poor insulation materials from Home Depot? What type of sustainable woods, metals, installation, etc. is used? To close the loop we need to think about the recyclability of the house. Everything should be able to deconstructed and be reused. This is a completely thought out designed solution.

Everything that I am wrtiting here has been done before. For thousands of years, building a home has been hard and expensive and when it is no longer needed or wanted the materials have been reused in the next home. There was little waste because materials came at great expense. Today is a very different scenario. Let’s stop taking our material world for granted and minimize impact all-round.

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Additional thoughts on the managed range cattle operation

Written on October 1, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Energy, Organic, agriculture, agroforestry, cattle operations, sustainability, waste water

So how can you best summarize the impact of a managed range, mob grazed, cattle operation? The following table sheds light:

1 liter of fuel for 450lbs of beef vs 1 liter of fuel for 1 lb. of beef
Soil diversity impacted
Denser cattle per acre
Free food year round
Less carbon generation
More carbon sequestration
Less methane generated
Labor reduction
Less machines needed
Less water loss
Less soil loss
Healthier farmer, family and community

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Putting the Organic Back Into Organic

Written on March 28, 2010 by Roland Van der Meer in Economics, Organic, agriculture

“It is about time that we have standards for organic and sustainable farming that actually mean something.” has been a cry heard throughout the nation. Well as a response to the claim that the federal label “Organic” has been hijacked or if not significantly diluted by big commercial interests to meet a very basic set of requirements; the new administration as at last responded.

This is a first step, is big and if the momentum continues we could have some real teeth into how agricultural products and livestock are produced and sold. The solution to sustainable production that is good for the environment and healthy to eat is very complex. Documented by Food Inc. and other documentaries and papers, we have a very entrenched system that was developed for good reason. To solve the equation of being feeding a growing population cheaply. That has been accomplished. What we failed to see is what the consequences were going to be.

We will need to great the awareness and the willingness to act and change our behavior. Our health is at stake, but we don’t recognize it until it is self evident. Some have suggested that diabetes and High Fructose Corn Syrup could be the next Tobacco scandal and lawsuit. I don’t think this is the case. Although the costs of the consequences are going to be much higher.

We Have a long road ahead to bring solutions into this space and many creative minds will be put to task.

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