Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

>In fact, there aren't many places with a farmers market because *all* 
>the little stores sell produce that came from local farmers.

Here's a good listing of farmers markets

http://www.localharvest.org/
or zoom in on farmers markets, 3484 listings
http://www.localharvest.org/search.jsp?&ty=1&nm=


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 12/15/2007 at 8:01 PM Liz wrote:

>At 07:00 PM 12/15/2007, you wrote:
>
>>You're right, Liz. But that raises the next question: how sustainable is
>>going back to the bank every year to keep farming in the first place?
>>Spending your life farming to repay debt (with interest) is a clever
>modern
>>invention, and incidentally gives the financial elite absolute control
>over
>>your food. Thoughts?
>
>Couldn't agree with you more. That's just one of the major 
>shortcomings of modern agriculture. But it's what many farmers are 
>accustomed to doing. Combine a fear of change with the marketing 
>tactics of Monsanto and their ilk, and it's hard to overcome.
>
>I personally think that market gardening is the only really viable 
>alternative to agribusiness, or even the small to medium family farm. 
>It bypasses banks, fertilizer and pesticide manufacturers, and to 
>some extent even the commercial seed producers, if you can save some 
>of your own seed. It's much more flexible than monoculture in its 
>ability to respond to seasonal weather changes. As you've pointed 
>out, it allows the grower to have a personal relationship with the 
>consumer. It encourages the production of local favorites best suited 
>to the area, since they aren't going to be shipped across the 
>country. And it encourages community relationships too, I think. The 
>small rural stores that I inspect almost always have some of "Mrs. 
>Williams' cabbages" or "John White's sweet potatoes" for sale during 
>harvest season. Everyone knows who grows the best tomatoes or the 
>best peppers or cucumbers, and where to buy them.
>
>In fact, there aren't many places with a farmers market because *all* 
>the little stores sell produce that came from local farmers. The 
>established farmers' markets in some of the larger towns are seen as 
>places where the rich folk go, unfortunately. I expect that will 
>change as supermarket food becomes more expensive. But I fear that 
>what I call the pasta-and-pastry diet will continue to prevail 
>wherever people's food budgets are being squeezed. It can be hard to 
>justify buying fresh produce even when you know better, if you can 
>take home twice as many bags of sugared cereal and boxed pasta mixes 
>for the same amount of money. That's the fundamental problem--people 
>have been brainwashed to think that stuff is food.
>
>Liz in SW VA
>http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com  
>
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