Organic grower wants to put people to work

By STEVE BROWN

Capital Press

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. -- During a recent tour of organic farms, prospective and starting farmers got an earful about why to do it.

Lyle Stanley, who described himself as "a functioning anarchist," raises a variety of crops at Gee Creek Farms. He told his visitors, "Farming is the best lifestyle in the whole world. You get exercise, family time and some kind of living -- but not money living.

"You won't make it with dollar signs in your eyes. It's first philosophical and spiritual."

Stanley said he grows for 10 farmers' markets, for a large community-supported agriculture arrangement and for wholesale. The key to making it work, he said, is to be a dependable producer.

"I'm the largest organic farm in the area," he said. "I'd like to tell you it's profitable, but it's not. Everything goes back into the farm."

He said his goal, both personally and as an employer, is to put people to work.

Milling organic flours, he said, has added three jobs.

Another idea he's pursuing is starting a series of farmstands -- "like a Plaid Pantry, but in a tent." Plaid Pantry is a chain of convenience stores in Wester Oregon and Washington.

Besides vegetables, the farmstands would have flour, organic meats, organic cheese and value-added lines from local producers.

We don't need more-efficient lifestyles, we need less-efficient lifestyles. We need to work harder. ... Work real hard and you're gonna add 20 or 30 years to your life."

But work alone is not enough, he said. "You've got to do something unusual. Give people something wholesome. ... Look for a creative crop, not just something for rich people.

"I teach doctors at the farmers' market how to eat," he said. "There's no reason why our bodies should age."

Besides amending his soil with lime and chicken manure, Stanley said he goes beyond what's required by adding trace minerals. "You've got to do this. Otherwise you're a jerk. People count on you for their nutrition."

Reaching down to pull up a plant from his field, Stanley pulled off a few leaves and started to munch. "We need to make organic agriculture work. I grow food for average-income people."

That creativity reaches beyond the needs of the stomach, he said.

"People want entertainment. You're not going to sell them just food; sell them something that will lighten their souls," he said.

Stanley's voice raised as he described his frustration with the American food system: "Two things a human being needs are good food and good neighbors. Zoning has to recognize the land is where we belong.

"If we lose our farmers, we lose the source of our food."