Today was a long trip in the car, but worth the effort. First we came to Des Moines where we saw the Capitol building up close and met with the Lieutenant Governor. It was pretty impressive to see some of the inner workings of the state government and to talk with such an influential woman, even if for only a brief time. From there we went to a new area of Iowa where the flatland becomes more hilly, and so the erosion is worse and the soil isn’t quite as rich. Here we went to the second property of the Wallace Centers of Iowa, the farmhouse in Adair County where Henry A. Wallace was born. We enjoyed lunch prepared by Chef Katie Routh, who also who prepared our dinner at the Wallace House in Des Moines on May 15th.  Then we heard about the Wallaces from Diane Weiland before learning about the garden from Mosa. The Wallace Center CSA employs organic practices (non-certified) and has a number of acres, but only has about 11 acres of land good for row crops. They also had about 4 acres of orchard trees with apples, apricots, pears, and peaches. The entire area to me looked like a scaled-up version of the Furman Farm with two or three greenhouses and otherwise familiar seeming practices. Personally I dislike that the organic standard (which is a nationally regulated label) and has so many detailed requirements that it forces organic producers to rely so heavily on its higher prices. Acquiring the standard requires prohibitive amounts of work, and without the clientele interested in paying the higher price here in this part of Iowa there is no motivation for the farm to certify itself.

Diane also made the point that organic standard originally focused on more than just an input standard; it was similar to the local food movement in knowing who produced the food and the standards used to grow/produce it. Bringing the connection of people to their farm eliminates the disconnect that many people have with their food now and that disconnect is a big cause for the lack of concern about what they buy. This applies to far more than food, but why would someone buy organic or even healthy food if all of it is just “from” the supermarket. It’s why there are people who believe only healthy food would be sold (there are those who feel McDonalds must be healthy or they wouldn’t be selling it) or that food doesn’t come from or affect anywhere beyond the supermarket. Making the connection would help people really understand what they’re choosing when buying food and to think more deeply about some of the issues around it (or at the very least relate to them more). I’ve read a bit about the original motivation of organic producers through sustainability, but didn’t expect that to be something discussed at the local gardens (i.e., does organic bananas meet most of these goals?).

Lastly we helped Mosa out a little bit by thinning a row of green beans which was planted a bit too thick. We saw the rest of the farm and called it a day.