Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["art corbit" <art_c@cox.net>]

I was truck farming about 35 acres back in the mid 60's. I raised several
items for local sale to super markets and road side stands. I also sold a
lot to local people that would stop by and pick up a few pounds of this or
that. I also contracted peas, okra, squash and sweet corn to a local freezer
plant. I could get 10 times as much for it in local sales as I did from the
freezer plant. I would buy extra seed and plant a little more than what I
had contracted just for local sales. We also canned and froze a lot of it
for our own use. That corn on the cob for Christmas dinner made the whole
thing worthwhile. These little farmers markets now might not look all that
important but some day they could very easily keep a lot of people from
going hungry. If you have the money to buy it you can cann and freeze it
just as good as if you raised it.We have 3 or 4 of them here and every time
you go in there it is full of people that are not just looking, they are
buying .

Art


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] preparation / was commune way of living


>
> Local Food Directories
> http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/localfood_dir.php
> http://www.foodroutes.org/about.jsp
>
> It has been estimated that in the US the average item of food has traveled
> 1500 to 2500 miles to reach your dinner table.
> http://www.foodroutes.org/faq10.jsp
>
> Why is buying local important?
> http://www.foodroutes.org/faq11.jsp
>
> Food Economics and Your Food Dollar
> http://www.foodroutes.org/hottopic.jsp?id=4
>
> Adding Values to Our Food System: An Economic Analysis of Sustainable
> Community Food Systems
> http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/foodsys/addval.htm
> This extensive paper, prepared for the US Department of Agriculture,
> examines the economic viability of sustainable agriculture to determine if
> it is cost competitive with industrial agriculture. It argues that under
> certain conditions of production, processing, and distribution,
sustainable
> agriculture is highly competitive with conventional systems. In
particular,
> this study shows that farmers can maximize their revenue by selling
> directly to the customer rather than going through the industrial
> agricultural marketing system. Additionally, it finds evidence that
> sustainable food systems can offer local communities a viable means for
> economic development.
>
> paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
> ---------------
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Livingontheland mailing list
> Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland