----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2001 5:33
AM
Subject: big thanks from the delta of
miss.
Thank you for all the thoughtful detailed
responses to making a living, etc. not only have you helped my small
farm, but i work with limited resource black farmers, as well as families at
or below the poverty level, in an area of high unemployment....helping them
start market gardens, or even switch from cotton/soybeans to vegetables, using
at least some sustainable agricultural practices
i also volunteer with Heifer Project
International, helping a local group start their livestock project....to
qualify they must be quite low in income, and make a commitment to work as a
group.....folks here still remember raising hogs, cattle, goats, etc. but it
is a lost art, and the only way extension teaches is confinement, grain fed,
etc....
I am trying to introduce sustainable methods and
welcome any contacts you all might have nearby (that would be in the Arkansas
Delta area, or Memphis area)
i am in way over my head, experience wise, but
there is no one else foolish enough (chuckle) to even try, so i depend alot on
the support of colleagues to help stay one step ahead of folks!
you would be pleased by the interest expressed by
families to grow organically (they understand organic to mean no chemicals and
i am introducing concepts of caring for the soil food web, etc.)
These are among the poorest communities in the
country, and they are exposed to 35 lbs. per person per year of agricultural
poisons from crop dusters alone! It is heartening to introduce sust. ag
methods, even if only one grower at a time......
you all have nourished my spirit immensely and i
am grateful! (it is kinda lonely here, so few others doing this kind of
work, so this listserve is my community too)
nan j.
dancing goats farm
water valley, ms
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