By Tim Scott
I was referred to over the Christmas break by another landholder as “The Greenie”. As a farmer this was a new experience for me. My stance on the importance of weeds in healing soil, the role of domestic animals in regenerating landscapes and the stance I have that food production and ecology can, and should, simultaneously improve rather than be compromised, often puts me at odds with the “purist environmentalists” hugging their native trees and living off kangaroo grass seeds and koala droppings.
I believe, at some level the comment was intended to be derogatory, and that alone is a sad indictment on our situation. So, after the initial shock passed, a few cups of chamomile tea later (because Greenie’s don’t drink beer or rum do they?), I started to think it through. As a farmer, isn’t this the message we have been trying to get across to the broader community all this time? We are the custodians of the land. We want to leave it better for future generations. We want healthier soil, cleaner water, less chemical residues and more biodiversity than was in the landscapes past generations have left us?
“Farmers – The True Environmentalists” is a slogan that comes to mind- but are we? It occurred to me what a different place the world would be if every farmer was labelled a “Greenie” (and was). If every farm was a showcase of ecological abundance and all food produced could carry a certificate that rated the production system of the system under which it was grown in terms of environmental contribution? Is it that we currently have so little imagination we see that the only way to make a good living from the land is by depleting it using “conventional” (or post war) extractive techniques? The mining of resources for food or bulk mineral production is Australia’s bread and butter. Instead, shouldn’t the environment be the ultimate “value add”?
It’s often said that there’s no such thing as cheap food. There’s just food where impact, somewhere along the chain, isn’t been measured and therefore costed in. If we operated in a truly transparent market, and you, as a consumer knew how your food was produced, without any greenwashing, wouldn’t that make buying decisions easier? Being closer to those who grow your food helps. Supermarkets and long distribution chains cause information blockages so auditable programs backed by National Standards around Organics or Pasture Raised are required to fill the gap.
One example is Ecomeat™ that was launched late last year as an Organic, Grassfed Beef brand where verifiable ecological improvement is linked to every package of sensational food. What is measured and how? There are many measurement systems that are already under trial for Biodiversity, Soil, Aquatic Impact and so on, even including community impact as a measure. Carbon measurement gets much of the airplay currently, but it is only one small part of the picture and I would argue not that meaningful in real terms.
To fully measure if we produce food (and live) in a Nature Positive way however is no mean feat. Customers of Kandanga Farm Store have been hearing about this for several years now as we continue to trial and report back on different ecological verification models. Our aim, in the next decade is that landholders can make as much profit out of the ecological contribution their farming provides as they can from the food and fibre they produce. Regenerative techniques enable both these income streams to exist and increase simultaneously.
The Greenie Farmers, true agroecologists, producing food with intergenerational equity; or even better – regeneration, will be rewarded. Finally doing what’s best environmentally on land will also be the most profitable. Food consumers will eat more nutritious and ethical food and live in a time where humans find our balance with the rest of nature. Pricing equality will come from seeing (and measuring) the whole picture with farm environmental credit income making ecologically credible food less expensive, in real terms, to consumers than conventional or factory farmed alternatives.
Maybe I am a Greenie after all, and I know I’m not the only one!
