[BCFSN] Price for broccoli per pound?

[seflett at telus.net]

Very well written Cathleen. I really appreciate the broad scope and
reference to cumulative impacts to wild salmon. After our conversation in
Ottawa, I thought more deeply about how we didn`t even discuss the systemic
issue of organic certification and an how an ag centric focus and
techno-bureaucratic framework has fragmented and reduced a more holistic
Indigenous food system in the forests, fields and waterways to silos and
sectors (i.e. fisheries, agriculture, forestry, water etc...) that have
made Indigenous people invisible. The certification is a governance issue.

Thank you for being such a good friend!

Dawn

Dawn Morrison,

BC Food Systems Network
Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty
C/O 555 East 55th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C, V5X 1N6
Mobile: 778.879.5106
Email: dmo6842 at gmail.com
Website: www.indigenousfoodsystems.org






On Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 4:18 PM, Eisler, Corinne [VC] <Corinne.Eisler at vch.ca
> wrote:

> A powerful sensible,  ethical,  and wise letter Cathleen.  Let us allow
> the precious salmon to follow their natural lifecycle, for all of the
> reasons you stated.  Thank you for this important work.  Sincerely,
> Corinne
>
>
>
> *From:* food [mailto:food-bounces at bcfsn.org] *On Behalf Of *Cathleen
> *Sent:* 10 June, 2015 3:38 PM
> *To:* BCFSN
> *Subject:* [BCFSN] A position paper on organic aquaculture
>
>
>
> FYI, here is a letter I sent to the group who came to the Canada Organic
> Standard Technical Committee meetings last month to discuss how to
> integrate the currently voluntary organic aquaculture standard into the
> Canada Organic Standard. In the end the proposal to integrate was dropped
> as it would clearly not have passed with a large majority or maybe even a
> majority at all. However, I felt there was more to be said and so I wrote
> the following:
>
> Dear Tim and the Aquaculture team,
>
>
>
> I want to start by saying that I am glad that we had a face-to-face
> meeting and along with the rest of the Tech Committee, I could get a sense
> of what you are trying to do. I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get back
> to you, but this has required considerable thought and consultation with
> Food Secure Canada and some of its members and allies.
>
>
>
> As I mentioned at the meeting, I have a number of concerns which relate to
> the possibility of a genuine Organic aquaculture standard (whether or not
> it is integrated with the Canada Organic Standard).  I noted that your
> proposals are very much focused on maintaining the health and integrity of
> the organic products and processes, and it seems that much less, if any,
> attention has been paid so far to the broader Organic Principles which
> begin the document:
>
>
>
> *Principle of Health* – Organic production should sustain and enhance the
> health of soil, plant, animal, human and planet as one and indivisible.
>
>
>
> *Principle of Ecology* – Organic production should be based on living
> ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help
> sustain them.
>
>
>
> *Principle of Fairness* – Organic production should build on
> relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment
> and life opportunities.
>
>
>
> *Principle of Care* – Organic production should be managed in a
> precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being
> of current and future generations and the environment.
>
>
>
> All of these indicate that organic production must be integrated with the
> environment in which it is practised, and be practised in such a way as to
> “sustain and enhance” that environment. Bluntly, if you indeed want to
> follow these principles, I can see no way to practise ocean-located net
> pens. They are an environment which cannot be isolated from its
> surroundings and the fish and other aquatic life there. There are
> inevitably escapes and inter-breeding with wild stocks, not to mention the
> outbreak of disease which can spread readily to wild populations. Even for
> a well-managed ‘organic’ enterprise with lower stocking densities, these
> are real issues. Together, the cumulative risks of disease from proximity
> to caged salmon, and the fact that the salmon’s amazing genetic imprint
> does not contain coding for this kind of lifestyle which makes them more
> susceptible to disease, puts into serious question the whole system of
> ocean-located net pens.
>
>
>
> There is an ethical as well as a practical problem here. The Organic
> Standard reflects a vision which is couched in language of respecting
> integrity and natural systems. I think that many practitioners of organic
> farming might use the term ‘reverence’ in this context. The life- cycle of
> the Pacific Salmon is one of these systems which many revere, and the Adams
> River, which hosts the largest and best known migration, has been nominated
> as a World Heritage Site. The Sockeye salmon migrate for hundreds if not
> thousands of kilometres from their natal stream high in the interior,
> through river systems to far out in the open ocean, and then back again
> four years later, with striking changes in their bodies as they battle
> their way upstream until they spawn and die. The fish are in a web of
> interdependence with the wildlife (bears, eagles) that feed on their dead
> bodies, the high mountains whose snow-melt provides the cold water in the
> rivers that they need, and the majestic trees that both cool the water and
> are nourished by the remains of their carcases and the droppings of their
> scavengers. It is not surprising that the Secwepemc (Shuswap) and other
> peoples in the region describe the salmon as sacred, reflecting the
> interweaving of relationships that is basic to Indigenous thinking.
>
>
>
> How can the principles of ecology and fairness be applied to the
> confinement rearing of a migratory species?
>
>
>
> In fact, the question must be raised about the suitability of what are in
> effect “factory farms” for an organic designation, even if they are located
> on land, and especially if they are not part of an integrated system where
> the leavings of one species provides the feed for another in an elegant
> closed loop. (Please note, I am simply suggesting that the question needs
> to be discussed.)
>
>
>
> One of the most important concerns of the Technical Committee was, of
> course, just this question of feed and its provenance. This includes
> concern about the balance of pelagic fish and other protein sources in the
> feed for farmed fish; some scepticism of the label “sustainable fishery”
> for the pelagic fisheries on the basis of a state sign-on, without
> third-party verification; and the fact that it takes 1½  pounds of [wild]
> fish to grow one pound of salmon. Again, these are concerns which require
> more discussion of the evidence available to show that the proposed
> aquaculture is indeed sustainable and adheres to the Organic Principles in
> that regard.
>
>
>
> In the interests of full disclosure, I need to note that this is an issue
> about which I have been passionate for a long time. I am a Newfoundlander,
> and you can still reduce me to tears just by mentioning the demise of the
> Northern Cod. I also lived for nearly ten years in Secwepemc territory,
> close to the Adams River and Lake Shuswap, and the experience of paddling
> my canoe in the midst of swarming, bright-red fish powerfully reminded me
> of the early explorers to the Grand Banks, who reported that the cod were
> so plentiful you could catch them in a basket. These are not, to my mind,
> minor matters, and they need careful and respectful consideration if we are
> to contemplate a certified Organic Standard for Aquaculture in Canada.
>
>
>
> Thank you for listening.
>
>
>
> Cathleen Kneen
>
> June 10, 2015
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Cathleen Kneen
>
> 2746 Cassels Street
>
> Ottawa, ON, K2B 6N7
>
> 613-828-6047
>
>
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