Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 11:41 AM 12/13/2007, you wrote:
> Our daughter has
> gone to work in McDowell county WV and has a different perspective. 
> Before she went, I did a little research.  My aunt Helen went to
> War, WV to teach school after she retired for Kanawha County schools. The
> reason then was because she saw education as the only way out of the hit
> and miss economy of the coal fields.  Today over 25% of the
> residents of McDowell County are disabled.  The reason is black lung
> disease caused from inhaling coal dust.  These people struggle to
> breath and are not able to do much in the way of exertion.  However,
> there are two big changes coming about: the first is the awareness of the
> local students needing a higher education to find meaningful work. 
> The second is the population has gone down.  It is really hard to
> "leave home" to find work, and it often takes help that is not
> available to facilitate relocating.  

Yes, that's an area I know very well. I didn't mention the disabled
population, but they share many elements of vulnerability with the
elderly. War and the surrounding areas of McDowell, Mercer and Monroe
counties, and the adjacent counties in western Virginia, are prime
examples of places where corporate greed has destroyed both the topology
of the land and the spirits of many of the formerly independent and
hard-working people.

Liz