Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

I'm glad to get a post like that to reply to. I believe you, every bit, since 
family farms have similarly gone downhill here for decades and apparently for 
the same reasons. Tho we seem to have some leeway to sell locally without 
losing it all.

On our list info page I wrote:
Intensive, organic soil building is basic to growing much more in less space 
with better nutrition, more profitable growing through less bought inputs, 
less need for water, fewer losses from pests and disease, and less 
vulnerability to fossil fuel problems now or in the future. What ways this 
can best be pursued in different soils and climates leaves a lot of room for 
discussion. We deal with the widespread problems of loss of soil minerals, 
humus, nutritional content of produce, and loss of topsoil itself, as well as 
the cost-price squeeze faced by real organic growers, the shrinking supply of 
affordable land for growing and irrigation water, and the need to increase 
the supply of nutritious food while making healthy food more affordable in 
general.
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

I'm focusing here on the part, "more profitable growing through less bought 
inputs, less need for water, fewer losses from pests and disease, and less 
vulnerability to fossil fuel problems now or in the future."

I appreciate the detail you put into your account of growing in Ireland, and 
your production for the family is important. But how does the price of petrol 
figure into the cost of growing? Are you saying globalization of food 
undercuts local food producers?

On to deeper questions, and trust me, I don't have all the answers. Are there 
ways to undercut the global imports or compete on quality, freshness, or to 
sell to a clientele that wants organic? Are there ways to cut growing costs 
enough by adopting certain crops and not others, by changing the scale of 
land cultivated downward, by avoiding animals, by growing intensively, or by 
doing without the cost of machinery, labor or bought inputs?

Sometime in the not too distant future the cost of fossil fuels is going to 
stop global trade in low-return bulk goods and crops. It could be nearer than 
anyone expects.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net



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

On 8/9/2010 at 10:42 PM John D'hondt wrote:

>Paul, here in Ireland the days that you could sustain yourself by
>producing
>and selling any kind of food are long gone. It began to go pear shaped
>after
>the last WW and it has been going down hill ever since.
>Producers were forced to try and produce below the world market price
>which
>was always a sick proposition for Europeans (and other non Americans)
>since
>we have been paying at least four times as much for our oil than you for
>ever. (a gallon of petrol costs between $8-9 here in Ireland and over $ 10
>in Germany at the moment)
>When I started farming some 25 years ago there were on average 400 small
>European farmers giving up every day and that was for the same reasons
>that
>it is even worse now to try and make a living from selling food. In real
>terms food prices have been dropping here for some 70 years.
>If you want to make a living from selling lettuce, eggs or lambs, you
>better
>produce them in the thousands or hundreds of thousands since you can not
>expect to make more than a few cents per piece and quite often you will
>have
>to sell below cost to sell at all.
>
>There were many organic growers selling vegetables on the Bantry Friday
>Mart
>20 years ago but they have all gone. Much more money in giving courses
>telling other people how to start growing organic vegetables, graft apple
>trees, build a clay oven or do basketry. And I have explained the reason
>above.
>
>Does not mean it is not a good idea to try and be self sufficient. We have
>from the beginning involved our children in the farm and with plentiful
>super organic food they grew fast and strong and capable of taking any job
>going. If they did not like the job any longer they could always be
>certain
>of a full belly at home while looking out for something else and better.
>We
>are feeding three generations here at the moment and can these grand
>children eat!
>My son especially is a bit unusual these days He can lift more than a
>hundred kilos and run with it and he has no fear of heights and he can do
>work usually faster with hand tools than an inexperienced person with a
>big
>machine (although he can work with big machines too and is even good at
>repairing them). Only thing is that he needs high class sustenance in
>large
>quantities. I have seen 8-9 Lb of meat disappearing in a few minutes as a
>snack. And why would I worry about that seen the pitiful price I would be
>able to make if I could sell that same meat.
>
>Lets start with that.
>
>John
>
>To be sustainable, the growing system must first sustain the grower.
>
>This site is about the Hitts who apparently make a living selling what
>they
>grow. Their story is interesting for their evolving strategies for growing
>and marketing.
>http://www.sare.org/publications/naf2/hitt.htm
>
>This is my main concern - how families in various climates can grow
>sustainably and make a decent living at it. Information on this is hard to
>come by, possibly because so few have found a finacially sustainable
>model.
>I've looked into three cases but each leaves questions. My own system in a
>difficult climate can be profitable, but is probably not scalable or
>practical for many growers in this region.
>
>I'm interested in anything on this topic and will pursue it as long as I'm
>able.
>
>paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>------------------------------------------
>
>   "Clearly, our present ways of agriculture are not sustainable, and so
>our
>food supply is not sustainable. We must restore ecological health to our
>agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our
>rural communities."
> - Wendell Berry & Wes Jackson
>
>   "All of the debts for society's century-long industrial fiesta are
>coming
>due at the same time. We have no choice but to transition to a world no
>longer dependent on fossil fuels, a world made up of communities and
>economies that function within ecological bounds. How we manage this
>transition is the most important question of our time."
>-- Richard Heinberg
>
>   "How do you move from a system which has built in destruction of the
>planet and built in devastation for local communities and local economies
>and transition back to systems which formerly worked and new
>environmentally
>sustainable systems? That's the project of our time."
> - Jerry Mander
>
>   "Many types of jobs will cease to exist: public relations executive,
>marketing directors, et cetera. I think work will be very hands-on, and a
>lot of it will revolve around food production."
>    -- James Howard Kunstler, 2003
>
>
>
>
>
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