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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] from Newmans Own Organics, Guide To A Good Life, by Nell Newman
  • Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:02:01 -0700


from Newmans Own Organics, Guide To A Good Life, by Nell Newman
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl&st=sl&qi=I2xBxQyBBqAYlSwYYOQ8dpuuSyk
_8613620516_1:6:80

"By one estimate, for every calorie we eat, 10 calories of energy have been
used to bring it to use" (p. 5.)

"Technology, not the earth's natural rhythm, is assumed to hold the answer
to every problem. Want bigger yields - use this industrial fertilizer ...
want to eradicate bugs? Spray those chemicals. The irony is, after decades
of these practices, the bugs are only getting stronger and the land less
fertile. In many parts of the country, the soil is literally drying up and
washing away. We might wonder why any farmer would employ such self
defeating methods, but the American farmer no longer holds the keys to his
or her own future. The suicide rate among farmers and ranchers is three
times the national average. Shattered families and ruined soil are the
unfortunate legacies of corporate agribusiness. In 1920, 80% of the
consumers dollar went directly to the farmer. Now it's 10%. Since 1969
we've lost 800,000 small farms. (p.5).

"Given all this you have to wonder why any farmer would go organic. And
yet, more and more are converting every year. About 8000 farms are
certified organic today, and the Organic Farming Research Fundation knows
of another 12,000 to 15,000 in the process of converting. Each year sees a
30% growth in the number of organic acres ... once a farmer is no longer
dependent on one crop, he or she enjoys a measure of economic stability.
Also, what's good for the land is g ood for the health of family farmers
and workers." (p14)

"... I've heard other farmers say 'organic farming is fine on a small
scale, but we have to feed the world'. They're forgetting that there are
farmers all over the world growing on a small scale and they're feeding
billions of people" . (p.14)

"What his viewers may not know is that (Rick) Bayless (TV chef) is a
zealous supporter of sustainable agriculture. He's a director of the Chef's
Collaborative, an association of American chefs devoted to this cause.
'With me it's first local, second organic', he says. 'I believe that if we
save our local farmers then we have a chance to reform them. But if we let
them all go out of business, we have no one to talk to'." (p.17)


paul tradingpost@lobo.net







  • [Livingontheland] from Newmans Own Organics, Guide To A Good Life, by Nell Newman, TradingPostPaul, 02/15/2007

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