Letter to the Editor of the Vineyard Gazette by Ali Berlow, Exec. Director of IGI
August 15, 2007
Dear Editor,
Thank you so much for your true commitment to covering agriculture and the issues surrounding food in our culture. It is an informed public who will create and mandate for healthier food in our world.
I so appreciate Julia Rappaport’s recent piece on the Island Grown Initiative’s pastured poultry pilot program and our mobile poultry processing unit (MPPU) but it concerns me that two critical aspects were left out of the story. It is a complicated issue. That I recognize. However, in the interest of true understanding please allow me to offer some clarity.
Aside from the obvious freshness of the meat that comes from animals who’ve not had to travel off-island to be harvested…it is the absence of transportation that greatly reduces stress to the animal. Harvesting on the farm, done with the utmost care and skill, is the most humane method of all. So for these animals and for the farmer, the MPPU process is indeed humane, in the truest sense of the word.
In addition, for many of the island’s farmers, this affords them the opportunity to raise multiple flocks, growing poultry from spring well into November. Consequently growing cycles need no longer be inextricably linked to boat schedules and peak seasonal fares. Given how close the margins can be for the small family farmer, anything that supports their ability to make ends meet, makes for a stronger local farming community. To that end, Island Grown Initiative (IGI) made the decision to invest in the MPPU because we viewed it as an investment in the farms and the farmers themselves.
In the evolution of IGI we have come to realize small steps build strong foundations. It’s not three moves and it’s all better but rather something as seemingly insignificant as keeping the cycle of raising chickens from farm to table completely on our island shifts the balance just a tiny bit more into our local agriculture base’s hands.
Food has become such a charged issue. In the end, local farmers consume locally -- and as local consumers, we can have faith in what they are putting on the table to feed their own families. As a community, by understanding the levels of improvement the farmers are able to attain makes IGI'S mission that much more compelling.
As always, I appreciate the forum.
Warmly,
Ali Berlow
Executive Director, IGI