Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[<activism98201@verizon.net>]

The other day I was listening to NPR (usually avoid it).  Some fellow, AG or 
government (or "think"-tanker) was commenting on why American food is cheaper 
in Mexico than food from the Mexicans themselves.  He basically claimed that 
the problem was the lack of efficiency/production, too many small farms, 
which were, believe it or not he says, still being plowed by oxen!  Yes, 
tractors were the solution to their problem, not the US farm subsidies!

If only you or I could pin folks like this down to a REAL discussion.  It 
would take only about 5 minutes before they'd be totally discredited!


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


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From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>

Applying that to agriculture, it's been estimated that on average we burn
ten calories of fossil fuel for every calorie of food we produce. I can't
back up that exact figure - it may be way too low - but look at the hidden
fossil fuel costs in agribusiness and food distribution. Besides oil and
gas based fertilizer and pesticides, there's the farm machinery. Tractors,
implements, and harvesting equipment that cost hundreds of thousand$ also
use enormous amounts of energy in their manufacture and movement to the
farm before they're even put to use. Then the production has to be
transported to somewhere else for storage or processing, where it then fans
out to food companies like Kraft, General Mills, Nestle, General Foods, and
on and on. And then it's spread out to every corner of the country that has
supermarkets, or even shipped out of the country while foreign food is
shipped in. Every extra step takes more gas and diesel and electric power.
The rise in food prices keeps pace with the rise in oil and gas. 
 
So how important is it to work our home food growing so as to cut our
dependence on fossil fuels?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/13/2007 at 11:33 AM Marty Kraft wrote:

>www.storyofstuff.com
>If this story was one of the "stories" of our culture, if everyone  
>knew it, I believe it would make a difference in our lives. So how  
>does it happen that this story gets universally held? It happens  
>because we share it. Actually it could happen quite fast.
>
>This film was quite good. Please take the time to watch it.
>
>Thanks
>
>Marty Kraft