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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Food That Travels Well

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Aliza" <realfood@wonderfulfarm.com>
  • To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Food That Travels Well
  • Date: Mon, 6 Aug 2007 21:05:10 -0700

LOL - or if they would eat it it would be over cooked and mushy - no offence to any uk members - I too noticed the incorrect comments about having to use grains or other concentrates to produce lamb. My pastures are not that great but my girls make me nearly two nice lambs a piece each year on pasture only. I have about a 180% lamb crop annually without pushing the ewes. They do get hay in the winter (third trimester and or/nursing ewes) but other then that they do it all on the grass with suitable free choice minerals. the trick is to use the right sheep. Currently I raise cormo and cormo crosses (fine wool and meat dual purpose) but I have my eye on a flock of tamarack sheep because they do it even better. I know a woman who raises dairy sheep for cheese on grass only. She is averaging 3 1/2 pounds a day of 23%milk and her lactation lengths are like 240 days. If you know anything about dairy sheep that is amazing on grass.

Aliza


----- Original Message ----- From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 8:18 PM
Subject: [Livingontheland] Food That Travels Well



I located the entire article. It's flawed. What it does is compare total
energy input using low inputs + long food miles to high inputs + short food
miles.

"University scientists expanded their equations to include other
energy-consuming aspects of production - what economists call "factor
inputs
and externalities" - like water use, harvesting techniques, fertilizer
outlays, renewable energy applications, means of transportation (and the
kind of fuel used), the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during
photosynthesis, disposal of packaging, storage procedures and dozens of
other cultivation inputs."

What sustainability people advocate is wholesale change from the high input
agriculture described in that report. We advocate low water growing,
returning organic material to the soil instead of expensive fossil fuel
inputs, and of course
local consumption where feasible. Of course food miles alone isn't the big
picture. But those comparisons don't justify flying lamb from New Zealand
to England - under any circumstances. And I don't know of any law to make
the British eat lamb anyway.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
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