[permaculture] what is "politics" exactly...?

Scott Vlaun scott at moosepondarts.com
Tue Dec 11 11:16:53 EST 2007


Thanks Scott,

I guess that is pretty much how we've approached our work with SoC  
over the years. What really drives us, besides supplying thousands of  
gardeners with good organic seed, is knowing that we support lots of  
small scale, diverse organic seed-farmers all over the country, many  
who are active in permaculture. They get paid for maintaining lots of  
open-pollinated lines, some of which were or are in danger of  
extinction. For many, the seed crops are the difference between be  
profitable and struggling.

Along those lines I have been visiting the farms of some of the Seeds  
of Change growers over the last 2 years to photograph the farms and  
farmers for the catalog and interview them for the Seeds eNewsletter.  
The last one we ran was with Don Tipping, a committed permaculturist,  
teacher and CSA Grower in Southern Oregon. Here's a link if anyone is  
interested.

http://www.seedsofchange.com/enewsletter/issue_64/ 
farmer_interview_four.asp


Scott Vlaun
Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future

450 Main St. Studio 2
Norway, Maine 04268
207-739-2409 Studio
207-890-4099 Cell
http://www.moosepondarts.com



On Dec 11, 2007, at 10:51 AM, Scott Pittman wrote:

> I am able to work with various corporate entities because, so far,  
> they have
> been willing to accept my conditions of work which are basically  
> the pc
> ethics.
>
> I am not trying or interested in, reforming the corporations that I  
> work for
> but I am very interested in the landscapes and people who are  
> involved in
> one way or another with those corporations.   In the case of MARS  
> it is to
> work with cacao farmers to increase diversity and income so that  
> they aren't
> at the mercy of any commodity crop be it cacao, coffee, or palm  
> nuts.  I
> found that MARS was very supportive of my project to create  
> sustainable
> situations for the farms and farmers of Haitian farmers.
>
> This is not to say that I believe that MARS Corporation is  
> sustainable, nor
> can it ever be.  Over time all of the large corporations who depend on
> transportation from around the world for their survival are doomed to
> extinction.
>
> For now I am happy to use corporate money to create better lives and
> environments for the people who are producing for the corporations and
> trying to create models where the farmer will continue and prosper  
> long
> after the corporation has ceased to exist.
>
> I see this as a very different approach to Green Capitalism which  
> has little
> to do with the well being of the worker or the producer but rather  
> is still
> driven by profit for the stockholders, and for the top executives.   
> How do
> you make corporate monocropping a fulfilling and ecological work  
> even if it
> is organic??  How is it possible to work within any corporate  
> structure and
> maintain your joy of life, and creative spirit?  I think it is by  
> convincing
> oneself that Lincoln Towncars, and MacMansions are the stuff of joy  
> and
> happiness.  I further think it is by ignoring the thousands under  
> you who
> can't afford their rent let alone Lincolns.
>
> For the first time in history total corporate wealth exceeds total
> government wealth that is a scary reality, since we know that  
> corporate
> wealth is divided between a very tiny minority of the population and
> government is more and more in service to the corporate sector  
> instead of
> the people.  This is an obscene reality that is crushing the life  
> out of our
> communities, or schools, our rivers and forests, and our future.
>
>
> Scott Pittman
> Director
> Permaculture Institute
> www.permaculture.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Scott Vlaun [mailto:scott at moosepondarts.com]
> Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 2:38 PM
> To: permaculture
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] what is "politics" exactly...?
>
> Scott,
>
> I really appreciate the thoughts below and your commitment to
> changing the system. As someone who has worked for Seeds of Change
> for many years promoting organic seeds, I often struggle with issues
> about capitalism that you bring up below, no matter how important the
> overall mission of the company.  Since you, and other leading
> permaculturists have also worked for SOC and its parent company M&M
> Mars on Permaculture and sustainable production projects, how do you
> see that as different than what Hawken, McDonough and others have
> done to reform industrial capitalist enterprises?
>
> It seems like we need to be working on all fronts; to stem the tide
> and change the paradigm. Having that kind of capital to make big
> projects happen isn't perfect, but it can be useful.
>
>
>
> Scott Vlaun
> Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
> Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future
>
> 450 Main St. Studio 2
> Norway, Maine 04268
> 207-739-2409 Studio
> 207-890-4099 Cell
> http://www.moosepondarts.com
>
>
>
>
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