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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: STEVE GILMAN <stevegilman AT verizon.net>
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] the future of small farms
- Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 17:01:40 -0500
Most likely the European model is just as non-sustainable as the U.S. one when it comes to agriculture. You can see where they're coming from, however -- there's nothing like experiencing repeated ravages of war and starvation on your own soil. The U.S. has never come close, but the European memory runs deep. A main response has been to do what it takes to support local and regional agriculture for the sake of the security of maintaining a national food supply. In many areas the farmers live in town because it would be foolhardy indeed to put houses on farmland and there are appropriate prohibitions. Of course we do that all the time here and the latest USDA stats show yet another decrease in land under cultivation. Also, the U.S. has some of the largest subsidies in the world -- averaging some $20 BILLION a year for the past 5 year Farm Bill. Over 80% goes to big commodity crop farms -- corn, soy, cotton, wheat and rice. According to an incredible series in the Washington Post last fall, this dumps cheap food priced below the cost of production on economies here and around the world, putting smaller farmers out of business. Another article focused on a Houston surgeon who put a mansion on former hunk of rice land. He receives sizable annual subsidies because the subsidy runs with the land... In this country, farm programs were initially a response to ravages on our own soil -- the Dust Bowl days and Great Depression. A primary response to the soil squandering practices of extreme over tillage combined with chemical fertilizers was outlined in the 1936 Yearbook of Agriculture, authored by some of the preeminent soil scientists of the day. It reads like an organic manual, recommending soil organic matter building techniques, cover cropping, minimized tillage, etc. Since then, the farm programs have been captured by the industrial-scale agribusinesses that got big as the smaller farms got forced out. This year's farm bill negotiations may finally produce some beneficial changes in what eaters are willing to support, however. Steve On Feb 8, 2007, at 3:07 PM, market-farming-request AT lists.ibiblio.org wrote:
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Re: [Market-farming] the future of small farms,
STEVE GILMAN, 02/08/2007
- Re: [Market-farming] the future of small farms, Tradingpost, 02/08/2007
- [Market-farming] Scam targeting organic farmers, Pat Meadows, 02/12/2007
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