[compost_tea] Re: CTTF testing requirements

From: ericgoodenough <sfo_at_gwi.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 12:31:10 -0000
It's possible that my call for "cost sharing" of ACT testing incited
Doc E's ire.  If that's the case, I apologize.  My "cost sharing"
suggestion should more appropriately have been aimed at our
agicultural institutions who claim to be serving farmers and
consumers, but seem to take their cues more often than not from agri-
chemical companies.  There are a precious few sustainable ag and
extension service folks making inroads, but these people are
mavericks and must fight the status quo.  Who was it said science
only acknowledges new paradigms when the adherants of the old
paradigms die?

Sorry, Elaine, didn't mean set you on fire.  (I did suggest that I
would rather send all my testing funds to SFI for meaningful
biological testing)  My intention (though poorly stated)was to
challenge USDA, NOP, Extension Services, Aricultural Stations,
University Systems, foundations and "supermarkets fo the world" to
make a sustainable contribution for a change.  I won't hold my breath.

--- In compost_tea_at_yahoogroups.com, soilfoodweb@a... wrote:
> The testing being required is simple FECAL E. coli tests.  Not
coliforms, not the other pathogens, but the normal indicator of fecal
contamination. 
>
> Compost tea brewers will need to test compost used in compost tea,
and if that is pathgen-free, then life is fine, use the tea without
restruction. 
>
> If pathogens-levels are below restricted levels in the compost, but
still present, then either do not add anything to the compost tea
brew that will allow pathogen growth in the compost tea - such as
molasses or other sugars - or test the final compost tea to make sure
you did not grow pathogens in the tea.   
>
> Please note that SFI is just about finished developing a 3-hour
turn-around test for E. coli using molecular probes.  We will be able
to do Salmonella, Shigella nad other human pathogens as well.  I just
have to get back to the lab, and finalize the testing, to get this
one available at all SFI labs around the world. 
>
> You will be able to test your compost tea at 18 hours into the tea
brew, and get the data back before you need to use the tea.  Believe
me, the Idaho lab is chomping at the bit to get this test!  they can
guarantee that each tea brew sold is E. coli-free, or at levels below
any concern by the USDA or EPA.
>
> -----
>
> We HAVE to finish the testing that shows the aerobic conditions,
with proper aerobic beneficial organisms, result in NO pathogens in
the compost tea. 
>
> I tried to get that work done before the CTTF finished, but there
just wasn't time in my life.  Some of you folks out there also seem
to think I'm supposed to pay for all that testing out of my own
pocket!  That really ticks me off, that somehow its wrong for me to
be paid for my work.  
>
> Let me ask those of you not wanting to pay for testing - Do you
give away the food you grow to all the hungry people in the world? 
what is wrong with you that you ask for money for the produce you
make?  what about the workers in your fields?  Do they not insist on
being paid? 
>
> My lab technicians have families, rent, and groceries to pay for. 
There are costs for the lab to stay in business.  Rent for the
laboratory does not magically appear at the end of each month. 
>
> You want SFI testing to be free to the growers?  Fine, you provide
the money to pay the lab techs, and SFI will be happy to do the
work. 
>
> SFI has done, and still does, a great deal of research work, funded
from the samples we process.  The Compost Tea Grant, for example. 
SFI is footing most of the bill ($750 out of $1000 worth of testing)
for the Compost Tea Grant for 2004.  All we are asking is that
participants pay for $250 of that testing.  This is practically
unheard of in the world of commercial labs.  And yet there's a group
of people crying "for shame" that we should ask for even the small
amount of support asked for! 
>
> Walk a mile in the shoes of any lab offering testing services, and
a different tune develops about "free" testing.   Quality data
requires trained technicians.  Quality techs don't work for free. 
You get what you pay for.  Pay nothing for the data, and the data you
get will be worth nothing.  
>
> --
> Elaine Ingham
> President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
> SFI Corvallis, OR
> SFI Port Jefferson, NY
> SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
> SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
> SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
> SFI Culiacan, Mexico
> SFI Jerome, Idaho
> http://www.soilfoodweb.com


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Received on Mon Apr 26 2004 - 14:04:38 EDT

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