Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[<mdnagel@verizon.net>]

But Paul, you're missing the point, it's all about "economic growth," that 
is, growth of the elite's wallets!  If you decentralize the existing 
inefficient system these folks won't be able to "stimulate" the economy by 
buying mansions and jetting around the world!  How dare you challenge the 
economic god! :-)


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA
 

From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>


So many clueless columnists, so little time. 

That guy realizes "fertilizer lets farmers raise production but is 
energy-intensive to make. Transporting food great distances also requires 
much energy. So does processing." but he doesn't know fertilizer only raises 
production at the expense of nutrition, and has no idea how to avoid fossil 
fuel-intensive long distance transportation and processing. 

He also thinks tractors raised efficiency, but never includes the cost of the 
tractor and all the workers that go into manufacturing it, or the massive 
amounts of fossil fuel burned in its manufacture. Worse, he thinks Monsanto 
and BASF are innovators. I'd say exploiters of soil, water, and people, not 
innovators. 

He wants better ways of using water and fertilizer, better seeds, and better 
ways of localizing food. We've had those better ways for decades. We build 
healthy soil to be more moisture retentive with no need for fertilizer. We 
have highly productive seeds that have stood the test of time, heirlooms. We 
can grow and sell where we live and work. What's so hard about that? Does NY 
Times pay writers to play dumb?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 5/21/2008 at 12:32 AM Tradingpost wrote:

>Rising Ag Prices: The New Mother of Invention?
>By G. Pascal Zachary The New York Times | 17 May 2008 | 04:30 PM ET
>http://www.cnbc.com/id/24683608Wheat Fields