Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>]

Hi Liz,
Timing of price increases is all good and well. The main reason is that many 
of the biggest grain producers in the world have seen disastrous crop 
failures in the recent past and thus grain prices are going up.
I do think though that we could very well see that next seasons crops will 
do no better and thus that prices will keep going up and up. My reason for 
thinking this is that the reasons for crop failures will not likely abate, 
like extreme weather caused by climate change and SDS or sudden death 
syndrome caused by gm and glyphosate spraying. It should get worse if 
anything.
Whether that will save family farms I sincerely don't know.
But I think you are right in your conclusion that we all better start 
growing more of our own.
john


> Interesting info about the timing of price increases. I hadn't thought 
> about a chicken's lifespan entering into that, for example. I'm also glad 
> if farmers are better able to pay down their loans. That by itself may 
> slow the invasion of corporate agriculture into family farms. On the other 
> hand, any time a profit appears on the horizon, you can be certain people 
> with no interest in the work itself, but looking only to get rich out of 
> it, will come sniffing around. We don't need any more agribusiness driven 
> only by the bottom line.
>
> Take-home message? Get out there and grow more of your own. And in 
> addition to that, make an effort to find more local growers where you can 
> buy things you aren't able or ready yet to grow yourself. Not everyone has 
> to grow everything. I buy blueberries every year from a friend rather than 
> grow my own. Helps to support him, and frees up my land to grow other 
> things. He buys my blackberries in return.
>
> Liz
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
> To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 2:47 PM
> Subject: [Livingontheland] "Get Ready For Higher Food Prices" Goes 
> Mainstream
>
>
>
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