Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

This Organic Life - Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader
Joan Gussow
http://www.chelseagreen.com/2001/items/thisorganiclifepb

Joan Dye Gussow is an extraordinarily ordinary woman. She lives in a home
not unlike the average home in a neighborhood that is, more or less,
typically suburban. What sets her apart from the rest of us is that she
thinks more deeply--and in more eloquent detail--about food. In sharing her
ponderings, she sets a delightful example for those of us who seek the
healthiest, most pleasurable lifestyle within an environment determined to
propel us in the opposite direction. Joan is a suburbanite with a green
thumb, with a feisty, defiant spirit and a relentlessly positive outlook.

At the heart of This Organic Life is the premise that locally grown food
eaten in season makes sense economically, ecologically, and
gastronomically. Transporting produce to New York from California--not to
mention Central and South America, Australia, or Europe--consumes more
energy in transit than it yields in calories. (It costs 435 fossil fuel
calories to fly a 5-calorie strawberry from California to New York.) Add in
the deleterious effects of agribusiness, such as the endless cycle of
pesticide, herbicide, and chemical fertilizers; the loss of topsoil from
erosion of over-tilled croplands; depleted aquifers and soil salinization
from over-irrigation; and the arguments in favor of "this organic life"
become overwhelmingly convincing.

Joan's story is funny and fiery as she points out the absurdities we have
unthinkingly come to accept. You won't find an electric can opener in this
woman's house. In fact, you probably won't find many cans, as Joan has
discovered ways to nourish herself, literally and spiritually, from her own
backyard. If you are looking for a tale of courage and independence in a
setting that is entirely familiar, read her story.
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"For many years, as I've worked hard to raise some of my family's food and
attend closely to the sources of the rest of it, doubtful observers have
asked me why I bother when stores nearby sell anything in any season,
cheaply. I've struggled to explain that this effort is for me a matter of
moral responsibility. From now on I'll simply hand them a copy of This
Organic Life."

—Barbara Kingsolver
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