FOUNDER OF ETHICAL FARMING
Simon Illingworth is a graduate of the Sir Vincent Fairfax Fellowship in Ethical Leadership, he is a regular key note speaker in ethics, anti-corruption and culture, he has a property in South West Victoria and sells cattle and garlic throughout Australia. Simon appeared on ABC’s Australian Story which won journalisms gold quill and SBS’s Law and Disorder which won a Logie award. Simon’s autobiography ‘Filthy Rat’ is a best seller and he regularly appears on radio and television.
Latest article – Living ethics
Lastest media interview – On the Land – Colac Herald. coming soon.
Western Victoria and South East South Australia Rural Report: Monday 26th March 2012 – 26/03/2012
Our Happy Cow
(yes the smile markings are natural)
WHY NOT ORGANIC?
Organic farming isn’t a problem, I like the idea. It’s a good one. But, organic farming appears to have lost some control. In short it’s gone mainstream and lost it’s niche element. Like any industry that expands exponentially – problems arise and the checks and balances of who becomes an organic farmer and who doesn’t gets watered down and the policing of the rules doesn’t keep pace. What we read of Organic farming these days is that there is evidence of rorts and deception, some organic farmers spray at night, some use chicken manure sourced from cage egg farms, some buy cage eggs and label them as organic or free range and so on (for more info. see articles below).Generally, rorting happens when people don’t embrace the values and/or principles underpinning the rules. So what is the trigger to get non-believers to go organic? Organic food is richman’s tucker, which sounds harsh, but the fact remains that consumers pay more than triple for organic food. So, many organic farmers are only organic because there’s a buck in it. They’re riding on the back of good people who stick to the rules.
Why don’t we increase the penalties for rorting? Increasing the penalties for rorting does not work because if the risk of being caught is minimal then greedy people will rort and decieve irrespective of the penalty.
Most people think organic farming is unquestionably, morally right. But that is open to debate. For every additional farm that doesn’t spray herbicides or pesticides (for example) reduces food yield. This is occurring in a world that is already short of food. We agree with Prof. Norman Borlaug who is quoted below.
“While the affluent nations can certainly afford to adopt ultra low-risk positions, and pay more for food produced by the so-called “organic” methods, the one billion chronically undernourished people of the low income, food-deficit nations cannot.” Norman Borlaug Nobel Peace Prize Winner
The problem isn’t organic farming, it’s over population that is the problem. If and when we get our World’s population under control – I will happily register my farm as organic.
So what do we do in the meantime?
1. Find a system that farmers believe in and value,
2. Create a system that flexes with new technology and ideas, to increase productivity and yield, and
3. Increase the risk of detection for rorting.
Ethical Farming Model.
Ethical farms do not have inflexible ‘etched in stone’ rules. Unlike organic farming, ethical farms weigh up the pros and cons of new technology and seek to constantly improve farming practices. We strive to achieve the greatest yield (crop size) that is sustainable for our lands long term prospects. We value transperancy – so we welcome questions about how we operate.
Whilst we do not have specific farm sizes in mind, this model is best suited to small hobby farms and large family operated farms. Large corporate run farms are unlikely to be granted access to our farming model because of the transient nature of farm workers on these properties and a perceived lack of commitment from off-site operators.
Some of the dimensions we consider:
The Sunlight Test
The sunlight test assumes our customers are watching how we grow our food. So, if we wouldn’t do it in front of you – We don’t do it.
Juggling the upside with the potential down side – Farming is a constant battle of changing parameters, severe weather, locust plagues, flood, drought etc. So tackling these challenges requires continual risk assessments.
First, we ask ourselves; What are the options available to help fix this problem? Then we ask, Which option will create the most good (upside) with the least bad (downside)?
Examples – When possible we use biodegradable sprays instead of using a tractor in eliminating weeds from our planting beds (tractors emit lasting amounts of co2 while our sprays are biodegradable).
We often use local chicken manure or seaweed products for fertiliser instead of pelletised, environmentally unfriendly fertiliser that’s shipped in from China or Egyptian Phosphorous Rock (which is used in bio-dynamic farming) which, you guessed it, comes all the way from Egypt. But if it’s not viable we’ll use the pelletised fertilisers.
Philosophy
1. Human life is important to us. “We are 6.6 billion people now. We can only feed 4 billion. I don’t see 2 billion volunteers to disappear.” This comment from Bourlag was in response to the fraction of the world population that could be fed if current farmland was convered to organic-only crops.
Whilst ethical farms happily cohabitate with organic farms, we believe that very few people have thought of the repercussions and negative impacts that organic farming is having on under developed nations.
2. Continual Improvement. Ethical farms seek to continually improve; we look to advance farming technology through information sharing and forums. In simple terms that means we weigh up the pros and cons of a renewable energy use for example , but if it isn’t going to work we’ll use petrol until technology catches up. And when our animals get sick we’ll give them the care they require, when they require it. We don’t let our animals suffer. We use preventative natural remedies but, if that doesn’t work we’ll use the latest medicine prescribed by a vet. The organic industry bans many veterinary medicines, which we believe, is cruel and unethical. Note: There is a legal withholding period after medicines are administered to an animal. This ensures the animal is clear upon consumption.
3. We Promise to Speak the Truth. Ethical farms promise to speak the truth about how your food is grown from one season to another. That means, on occasion, we will tell you we’ve used a biodegradable spray. As previously mentioned we will not sit back and watch insects destroy entire crops when the world is short of food.
4. How far away was it grown? Food miles. Just because a product is organic doesn’t mean it hasn’t travelled 6,000 km from China in refrigeration before it gets to you. Indeed, if our product matches your local product; buy local. We can live with that.
5. We are a mainstream, non radical concept. Being ethical farmers doesn’t mean we’re tree-huggers or vegetarians (though they are welcome as ethical farmers and we like people with strong views) but we aren’t extremists. The extremist group PETA is not an ethical organisation for a range of reasons, none more so than, the fact that they disrespect females by stripping, they sell nude photos and one of their high profile members, Pamela Anderson, who had appeared on TV ads for KFC, later joined PETA and then slammed KFC treatment of animals as unethical. Ethical farmers weigh up the options, new technology and make decisions based on common sense (and occasionally eat KFC). Incidentally, many intensive chicken farms say that chickens savagely peck each other if they are free to roam without constant supervision. There is, most certainly, stock losses at free to roam and organic chicken farms. There has to be, simply because they deny animals certain treatments that would be administered by a vet. Perhaps the middle ground would be better conditions, bigger pens and proper vet care. That is what we’re about – getting farming right.
Governance
Organic farming is governed by the organic accreditors whos’ very existence relies on fees from accreditted organic farms. So it is not in the interests of organic accreditors to deny a farms’ organic application nor is in their interests spending money on governance if the only feasible result is to discredit their own accreditation and /or to ban a farm that pays them money.
On the other hand, ethical farmers are chosen for their good character, their commitment to the cause and their belief in the values and principles that underpin our model. Farmers can only join our model by being vouched for (recommended) by a current ethical farm member. The members’ commitment to our principles and the ‘all-for-one and one-for-all’ communal ownership of our concept increases the risk of detection for the same rogue operators who have infultrated organic farming. Ethical farmers encourage transperancy and whistleblowing to keep the integrity of our concept intact.
Want to Join?
We own the ethical farm idea, but we are willing to share it. In the meantime if you want to join or you have a suggestion as to how we can improve our methodologies, feel free to email us.
Simon Illingworth
simon@ethicalstrength.com
A HANDFUL OF NEWS ARTICLES
Organic farms yield less produce
AFP | April 26, 2012
Organic farming seeks to limit the use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers, but critics suggest lower crop yields require bigger swathes of land for the same output as conventional farms.
This would mean parts of forests and other natural areas being turned into farmland, undoing some of the environmental gains of organic tilling methods, they say.
The new study by Canadian and American researchers, published in Nature on Wednesday, found that organic yields are indeed as much as 34 per cent lower for some crops – 25 per cent less overall.
Fruit and oilseed were the best performers – yielding just three per cent less, in ideal farming conditions, than conventionally grown crops that benefit from chemical pest killers and nutrients, the researchers found.
Organic farming of cereals and vegetables, however, yielded up to a third less produce.
“Today’s organic systems may nearly rival conventional yields in some cases … but often they do not,” said the report. The findings contradict those of earlier studies that organic farming matched, or even exceeded, conventional yields.
High agricultural productivity is becoming ever more important as the world’s population grows, and food demand with it.
An international expert panel said last November that global food production must rise by up to 80 per cent by 2050.
Study co-author Verena Seufert of McGill University in Montreal told AFP the findings pointed to a mix of organic and conventional farming for the future.
“We identify, for example, legume crops and perennial crops as performing better in organic systems than annual and non-legume crops. We also see that organic systems do much better if the farmers apply good management practices,” such as crop rotation and effective pest and nutrient control.
“We identify the situations where organic does well and we also identify the situations where it does not do so well, for example under irrigated conditions where the conventional yields can be just so high that organic agriculture can’t match these yields.”
A single system of “either organic or conventional is much too simplistic,” said Seufert.
“We should try to learn from those systems that perform well in terms of yield but also environmental performance and just adopt the systems in those places where they do well.
“At the same time we need to address the problems that organic systems have shown.”
The study also found that organic yields rose over time as soil fertility and management skills improved.
Organic myths.
by simon Illingworth
I produce 4 ton of garlic, raise 200 calves, I have an aquaculture licence for trout and teach corporate ethics. I started farming five years ago and considered organic accreditation. It is one of the fastest growing industries in Australia and consumers pay up to triple for organic food.
But scratching the surface I found the rules for organic farming to be inflexible to the point of being etched in stone and also kind of ‘hippy-like’ weird. Being an ex-detective, the facts interested me more than the continual spin thrown at me of ‘nature’s goodness and purity’. The fact is the health debate between traditionally grown food and organic is marginal to the point of irrelevant and a recent study found it tastes the same too.
A farmer has to pay annually for organic accreditation too. The recipient of this money is also the token policing body ensuring organic farmers comply with the rules. A serious conflict of interest, with results to match. That sealed it for me. I went with traditional farming and made some rules based on ethics; and founded ethical farming.
Five years later, the organic industry’s back is against the wall, with tests and studies clearly showing health benefits and taste claims are highly questionable. Now the organic industry is spinning the idea that organic farming is more ethical, suggesting traditional farmers aren’t.
Is organic more ethical? Very few people know how draconian the organic rules are. Like the rule of not giving sick animals some veterinary treatments. What happens to them? Well, many die. For nothing. Rich inner city hippies have led us to believe that organically farmed animals are always healthy and treated humanely and, on the flip side, that traditional farmers don’t care. If I was a dying animal requiring antibiotics I know which farm I’d prefer to be on.
Farming technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, and many sprays are biodegradable and frog friendly amongst other things. What’s morally wrong or unethical with using them? The massively successful genetically modified ‘smart’ seed that helps feed millions of starving people overseas is also taboo to the organic religion; it’s not true seed. I’m pretty sure you don’t need to be a true botanist to be ethical but you do need to value life.
Is an organic China grown vegetable still organic after it has been refrigerated and transported 6000 km to your supermarket? You bet. But it’s hardly ethical buying considering the transport emissions. Yes, China’s chasing the organic dollar too.
The lure of high returns tempts even the non-believing Australian farmer to go organic. But if that happens our Nations food yield will reduce further and someone somewhere in the World dies of starvation. The only way to avoid that is to turn some of the remaining old growth forests into farms to fill the food-void that organic farming is creating. Is any of that ethical?
Ethical farmers weigh up situations with advances in technology; they’re flexible and consider how many people they can feed while balancing the long term health of their land. An ethical farmer won’t watch insects destroy acres of food when people are starving overseas.
I’m not anti-organic, but the world won’t cope if organic farming goes mainstream.
Simon Illingworth
Egg supplier fined over ‘free range’ claims
Leslie White | September 5, 2012 WEEKLY TIMES
The cartons featured pictures of the owner surrounded by chickens labelled “Rosie’s Free Range Eggs”.
The Federal Court issued the fine for conduct from April 15, 2010 to October 2010.
ACCC commissioner Sarah Court said the incident showed the ACCC would prosecute egg suppliers who “act unlawfully”.
“The ACCC takes action in cases such as this to protect consumers and also to protect other egg suppliers who accurately label and supply eggs,” Ms Court said.
The court ordered owner Rosemary Bruhn publish a corrective notice in The Advertiser newspaper and also send letters to affected suppliers telling them about the outcome of the court proceedings.
Ms Bruhn will also have to pay the ACCC’s legal costs of $15,000.
The Telegraph London
Organic food is no better for you than the traditionally grown even though it may taste better, say researchers. Despite the perception that organic food grown without artificial fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals, is more pure, nutritious and virtuous, scientists have said there is little evidence that it is healthier.
- There are no convincing differences between organic and conventional foods in nutrient content or health-benefits
A review of 237 research studies into organic food found the products were 30 per cent less likely to contain pesticide residue than conventionally grown fruit and vegetables but were not necessarily 100 per cent free of the chemicals. They found no consistent differences in the vitamin content of organic products.
- There were higher levels of phosphorus in organically grown food but the researchers said this was of little importance as so few people were deficient in this. The only other significant finding was that some studies suggested organic milk contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acid, which is thought to be important for brain development in infants and for cardiovascular health.
Dr Dena Bravata, a fellow researcher, said that, beyond their perceived health benefits, people also bought organic products because of taste, concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment and animal welfare. The research was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal.
The group cited two studies comparing children consuming organic and conventional diets, which found lower levels of pesticide residue in the urine of children on organic diets, though the levels of pesticides in both groups of children were below safety thresholds.
Organic chicken and pork also appeared to reduce exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but the researchers said the health implications of this were not clear. The group said the research was difficult because of the various ways organic food was tested, other factors that affect nutrient levels such as soil and weather, and the effect that organic farming methods may have.
Prof Alan Dangour, a senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the review showed that “there are no convincing differences between organic and conventional foods in nutrient content or health-benefits”.
A spokesman for the Soil Association claimed that the method used by the researchers was not suitable for comparing crops, while a previous study had found that the differences in nutrients between organic and conventional produce were “highly significant”. He said a Dutch study, mentioned in the review, found that children aged two were 36 per cent less likely to develop eczema, if more than 90 per cent of the dairy products they consumed were organic.
Read more:
Justice on organic fakes
Leslie White
April 21, 2010
HEFTY prison sentences have been handed down to overseas businesses selling “fake” organic and free-range produce.
The prosecutions and outcomes are the result of major investment in enforcement agencies, organic sources say.
- Should Australia be tougher on organic certification breaches?
- Have Your Say now in the form below
UK company Heart of England Eggs managing director Keith Owen was jailed for three years and ordered to pay 3.25 million ($5.4 million).
The Worcester Crown Court found the Heart of England Eggs sold 100 million eggs from cage chickens as organic and free-range and sold imported eggs as British between 2004-06.
Suspicions were raised when British egg industry figures pointed out there were more eggs being sold as organic and free-range than the country produced.
Similar concerns have been raised in Australia.
The free-range industry asserts that more than 30 million eggs a year sold as “free-range” are from either cage or barn chickens as there are not enough free-range chickens in Australia to lay the number of eggs labelled as such.
US authorities have also been tough on fake organics.
US company Sel-Cor Bean and Pea Inc owner Basilio Coronado was jailed for 24 months and ordered to pay more than $US500,000 ($540,500) after being convicted of fraudulently selling products as organic.
He was also found to have made false statements regarding the status of his products.
Mr Coronado was found to have sold 1.50 million kg of conventional milo (sorghum), 179,680kg of conventional pinto beans and 27,400kg of conventional garbanzo beans as organic.
Organic Federation of Australia chairman Andre Leu said the prosecutions had followed considerable investment in enforcement agencies in those countries.
“It’s well documented there are people who get ill from the smallest amount of pesticide residue – there is a health issue here,” Mr Leu said. “Our regulators don’t take that issue seriously even though there is good science to that effect.”
Organic Food Chain director Ivy Inwood said the cases were in stark contrast to policing of “fake” organics in Australia.
“Hopefully the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) are looking at it,” Mrs Inwood said.
Hello, I’m currently growing a purplish, hard stemmed garlic quite successfully and want to plant a small commercial crop next season, about a quarter acre. Would you be able to supply planting stock, maybe a mixture of types would be interesting, and at what cost? I don’t plan to get ‘big’ or compete with any large grower but simply to make use of my retirement usefully.
I have 10 acres of land and a reliable water bore and currently have an acre of vegies incl. Various types of garlic. Tasmania
I’ll be in touch to get you set up. But to get any seed to TASSIE means extra cost for a certificate and the usual ‘frig’ around with Government Departments so we avoid it… Happy to help with instructions and guidance.
Hello Simon
I am interested in learning more about your ‘ethical farm’ concept, as it seems to fit well with what we do. We farm alpacas for fibre in the Otways, and have our fleece (and that of others) processed in Victoria into luxury knitting yarns.We avoid applying ‘nasty’ chemicals to the land and the animals, but will drench animals who need it, and will use veterinary treatments as recommended when an animal is ill.
In my view ‘organic’ is one of the most over used (and loosely used) words in our language.
Can you tell me a little more about what you are doing in this area?
You are exactly the type of farm we want to join us. I’ll be in touch soon. Simon
Some people are just nice guys, some are heroes. You are both.
Hello Simon,
Having been involved with the Agricultural sector for many years, I totally agree with your concept of the “Ethical farm”.
While I agree that some Chemicals are bad for food crops, I do think that organic farming (as it is practice) leaves many questions unanswered and subject to fraud.
By the way, I have yet to come across an inorganic food crop (flora or fauna) which ever way they are produced.
Gday Simon
We are in startup in the Northern Rivers with a small herd. I am keen to eschew the conventional livestock market and seek to develop a coherent ethical basis for a profitable outfit. I am interested in your ideas and having a deeper understanding. Thank you for all the work you have put in to bringing us your site. Regards Denis
HI Simon, I think the combination of ethical and “traditional” is an interesting idea. Although what traditional means is anyones guess! My concern is the store you place in biodegradable chemicals, many which contain phosphates and zeolite, which once in the water table creates all kinds of havoc. But it is “biodegradable” Too many products enter our personal systems as well, and while food miles are important, I think our health and that of our local regions is more so. Just my opinion though
Thanks for the comment Mike, I might do some research on your ideas
cheers simon