Mark Benson's Letter to Minister Dombrowsky

Mark Benson, manager of Harvest Haven Health & Market Farm, wrote the following letter to the Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Leona Dombrowsky:

Minister Dombrowsky,

I ask you to support the appeal of Matthew Dick to your Ministry against the entirely unjust tribunal hearing that stripped him of the right to raise turkeys with access to the outdoors. As a graduate from Tokyo University of Agriculture Master's Program in Bioindustry, and as an organic poultry farmer, I find the reasoning behind this ruling to be absurdly lacking in scientific evidence.

There is NO evidence that has ever shown healthy poultry, raised with access to the outdoors, to be susceptible to avian influenza spread from the wild bird population. The only poultry population at high risk of susceptibility to Avian Influenza is that of unhealthy birds contained in outrageously dense populations, with limited air flow and high humidity, sitting constantly in layers of their own feces, such as found in commercial poultry barns; perfect conditions for the incubation and spread of disease. In these conditions, disease is barely held in check by prophylactic antibiotic dosing, which is responsible for heightened antibiotic resistance in human pathogens.

Turkeys and chickens are not so different from humans. We do not thrive when deprived of sunshine, fresh air, good food, and exercise, never mind sitting in our own feces crowded shoulder to shoulder in a high humidity room eating rendered animal guts. Birds given high quality food and a healthy environment have better immune systems. It is that simple.

If confinement was the answer, how did the avian influenza outbreaks occur in regular poultry operations? Obviously, viruses are able to enter the barn through the air-intake system, doors, or with workers. The logical conclusion is not to try to keep the virus out of the barn, but rather lower susceptibility of the birds and eliminate the unhealthy conditions conducive to viral incubation.

When we started to raise turkeys on our farm, we encountered all the health problems that make turkey rearing so infamously challenging. Instead of turning to drugs, synthetics, and commercial rations, we researched holistic options. We fed the turkeys greens, gave them probiotics, used natural disease-fighting agents like garlic and cayenne in their feed, and overcame health problems that the conventional poultry industry declared impossible. Our turkeys are now the picture of health.

Our turkey losses are nearly zero, a huge contrast to conventional operations where loss is much greater. The feathers of our birds are brilliantly white, firm, and clean, in contrast to feathers of the birds raised in commercial barns, which are soiled with feces, weak, and scruffy, lacking lustre. Our birds’ organs are so vibrantly coloured and healthy that the provincial inspector comments on them each time we take the turkeys to slaughter. He tells us how good the birds look compared to what he is accustomed to seeing on kill lines from conventional poultry operations.

Finally, our customers, some of them diagnosed as "allergic" to meat, can not only eat our meat without a problem, but tell their friends and neighbours about the dramatic difference in flavour, texture, and quality compared to conventional fare. This is not rocket science; it is just doing things right rather than what is “economically efficient” or what “modern agricultural science” dictates.

The Turkey Farmers of Ontario are defending a feeble position with pseudo-science, in the interests of greed, trying to eliminate viable competition that contrasts their gross deficiencies in bird health and humane husbandry standards to something much better. They are desperately trying to defend a substandard product by ensuring there is nothing superior with which to compare it.

Should not our governments be honouring and supporting the efforts of Matthew Dick and other progressive farmers who strive to find a safer and more sustainable way to produce healthy food for our population? The health of the population starts with the farmer's soil and husbandry practices. How much longer will the government be partner to unbridled corporate greed unleashed on our country's agriculture, costing us health and future sustainability?

Mark Benson

Click HERE to read the notice to which Mark responded.