Canadian Fair Trade Ag Produce

[grassfarmer]

Parsley, How convincing an argument do I need to make? If folks prefer to stick their fingers in their ears and sing "la,la,la,cwb-evil,la,la,la" they aren't going to hear it anyway.This thread needn't have been just another anti-cwb one anyway as it started on a valid topic.
Anyway the things you describe about individualism and standing back from the pack pretty well describe what I'm doing - I'm a cattle producer running a breed association of a breed most have never heard of because I believe they have the economically viable traits that most "commodity" breeds lack.
I agree that individual farmers themselves know what is best for their individual farms. We have different cattle, we manage them totally different to the average producer and we are building a high margin marketplace for their beef through direct marketing.

I am that person you describe standing apart from the crowd AND I'm an NFU member and there is nothing incompatible about the two. The NFU does not seek to control anything I do as an independent businessman.

[silverback]

So agstar knows best about which tractor brand we should be buying as well?

Anyone who doesn't have red equipment is just stupid?

Let me think, how many tractor choices were there in the old soviet union? Combines?

What kind of marketing system did they have?

Hmmmmmmmm... maybe RedStar77 would be a better handle?

[agstar77]

So you think branding food organic that is no better nutritionally or purer , but more expensive,is better than cleaning up the enviroment? You really are out for the money. Do you really think the disadvantaged can afford your Branded produce or only the Yuppies? Most of the unwanted substances in all food are a product of our modern culture not the fertilizer or pesticides we use. So until you stop driving your vehicle and using all the junk we don't need don't tell me that Organic labelling will make a difference.

[parsley]

I find your reasoning ability consistently lacking reason.

Organics has always been about:

1. Marketing locally produced food.
2. Growing what the consumer wants to eat.
3. Getting more money from the consumer into the farmer's pocket.
4. Being environmentally conscious.
5. Value-adding in our communities
6. Standing behind our product 100%, with our names on our bags and an audit trail to boot.

If you don't like the goods, please don't buy them agstar. You are fortunate to have that choice.

I would suggest that you concentrate on what you do best.

I can't seem to recall what your best is....


Oh, yes, whining, berating, and trying to claim organics was the CWB's idea.

Right.

Parsley

[TOM4CWB]

Agstar77,

JUST How do you think the water and air get poluted in the first place?

As I clearly stated, conserving energy and preserving our environment are goals we spend cash on every day... Balance my friend... Balance.

Clearly the CWB ran until 1993 without putting anyone in jail or stopping farmers from an independant opportunity to return a premium gained by hard work, risk, and individual initiative. The CWB is going to reward Organic Growers with a partial reprieve by charging $5/t instead of $20-50/t for export licenses.

We all know this did nothing to create a "fair trade" price for our grain, as this was not an objective worthy of discussion when I brought it up.

I was told By CWB Managers that buyers could care less what we got.

I don't believe this is reality for a mili-second... people of integrity work on the principal that a deal is only a good deal... if it is good for both sides! Taking the export risk premium of $20-50/t away from growers with initiative... stopped the trade for the most part, did not keep the price up, and added an insignificant amount to the pool accounts.

A failure on all sides to attaining a "fair trade" price for our grain.

Now, Agstar77, how do we get the CWB on track, and make it a "Fair Trade" based organisation?

[agstar77]

Nice platitudes , but I see you really never denied anything I said about organics. I never mentioned the big bad bogeyman on Main St.

[parsley]

First of all, agatar , you say:


1. "Good old supply and demand except we have not learned to choke off supply."

So obviously you want to stymie production.

Then, of all ridiculous things, you say, " People with large disposable incomes can afford to satisfy their fears".

So you want less food, and who is going to be able to afford it, agstar?

You currently seem to resent rich people paying a premium to organics, so if there is less production, the rich can afford to pay more, but what about the rest?

Or are you also planning on selecting the people who are allowed to purchase that limited supply?

Catholics can starve, Baptists get to eat, tall people starve, shorties get to eat, men starve, women get to eat, Nigerians starve, Saudis get to eat.

Hey, you're on a roll, agstar!


Here sits agstar, legs crossed in yoga position, daisy in hand, "It's like..man... picking petals on a daisy...he eats, guess she doesn't, ... theys eats, guess thems donts...."



2. BRANDING is the CWB's hot new vision. You used the word. Branding.


3. Safety issue: You want to have a debate on the food safety issue? I thought the topic was Canadian Fair Trade.

I'm not afraid to wade into that debate, agstar, but I don't think this is the appropriate thread.

I will make one statement about it.

Ask any person in Canada this question:

"Do you prefer food grown with or without pesticides?"

For organics, the consumer, the eater, the food preparationist, the parent, all of them, are always right.

Listen to your consumer replies and quit being an obnoxious peer.

Parsley

[parsley]

And remember, agstar, your favorite consumer probably lives in Somalia.

Mine is a high income family in North America.
We cannot be business partners, agstar. We don't even talk the same language.

Parsley

[Lifer]

Can you be fair to everyone?

The CWB continues to work to be fair to all wheat growers in western Canada through pooling. Have they been successful? (now that is a rhetorical question)

What is fair?
Calculations made for one farm do not necessarily apply to another. Each of us may look at it differently. One might think I should make more then a hockey player because I work harder then a hockey player.

[TOM4CWB]

Lifer,

We know the CWB Buy Back is not any answer... stopping a 40t sale at a $2000 premium that is paid mostly because of higher risk, more work, to in turn distribute to pooling folks in a 12mmt pool... is insane and does nothing for anyone.

We should look at what coffee and chocolate people do, as well our Supply Managment folks have some good ideas as well!