Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On May 15, 2007, at 12:44 PM, Gloria Morris wrote:

>  My place will never be a "farm"
> and I don't have 8 kids to help with labor! But as close as I can  
> come to
> the pleasures of that simple life ... I am working my way toward  
> living that
> way. Who knew it would become slightly fashionable? < grin >

More will follow Gloria's example. Rural migration has typically  
followed economic trends. The economic tide is still coming in but  
the rocky reef is building. The price of city life, including  
commuter gas woes, is high, but so is employment income. Organic food  
was once a fad but is now a serious portion of the world food supply.  
"The United Nations defines organic agriculture as a "holistic" food  
system that avoids the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides,  
minimizes pollution and optimizes the health of plants, animals and  
people. It is commercially practiced in 120 countries and represented  
a $40 billion market last year . . . ." (http://www.usatoday.com/news/ 
world/2007-05-05-un-organic_N.htm) Urban locavorism is today but a  
fly speck on the economic wall; an indulgence of young people who  
have more than they need and wish to be identified with environmental  
fashion. The practice will grow as more identify with Gaia as a  
threatened organism.

And the beat goes on.