Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Greens are the beef of vegetarianism

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "William H Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Greens are the beef of vegetarianism
  • Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:04:58 -0500

I agree. I find the whole argument over greenhouse gases frustrating. The
issue seems to revolve around impact on climate and resulting climate
change. But if you consider the climate in a long time frame, climate change
is normal. Do I believe we are impacting change in the climate? Of course!
Is it good or bad? That's subjective. I tend to think its bad but our world
has evolved as a troubled marriage between the climate and the biosphere
over billions of years. I think we need to change our behavior, but I'm not
sure anyone listens much to me. My goal is to change my behavior, talk
common sense as much as possible and hope our population buys into it. I'm
not confident.

Bill
William H. Shoemaker
Sr. Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - Crop Sciences
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road, St Charles, IL, 60174
630-584-7254, FAX-584-4610
wshoemak AT illinois.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Mike Rock
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 7:42 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Greens are the beef of vegetarianism

Bill,
How come no one talks much about the methane or 'swamp gas' generated
all the way from the summer tundra of the circumboreal north to the rain
forests of the world. I have been north and south and it is a constant
stream of bubbles.....lots more than cow farts. Or no one seems to
mention the tremendous carbon sequestering power of good humus. Oh,
forgot..... chemical farmers today don't know what humus is. It is a
crying shame when you chisel up a handful of dead minerals in a thousand
acres corn field. A farmer just east of me said he could 'grow corn on
a bowling ball' with chemicals.... :(

Just wondering.

Most respectfully,
Mike Rock
Southern Wisconsin, SW of Madison

William H Shoemaker wrote:
> Nice job of researching the issue Nan. Pretty complex.
>
> I'm certain that Dr. BoingBoing is referring to greenhouses that are
heated.
> An unheated tunnel is not going to generate much greenhouse gas. Sure, the
> plants respire, but plants in heated greenhouse respire much more.
Unheated
> tunnel greens are going to generate negligible amounts of greenhouse gas.
> Greens shipped from the west coast generate negligible amounts as well,
> other than large amounts of methane-generated nitrogen fertilizer from
farm
> equipment. But the trucks that haul the greens to the east coast generate
> plenty. Don't listen to Dr. BoingBoing. Grow greens in your tunnels as far
> into the winter as you can. Besides, they are a much better source of
> nutrition, food safety and security than the highly centralized food
system
> you compete against.
>
> Bill
> William H. Shoemaker
> Sr. Research Specialist, Food Crops
>

_______________________________________________
Market-farming mailing list
Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming

Market Farming List Archives may be found here:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/market-farming/
Unsubscribe from the list here (you will need to login in with your email
address and password):
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/market-farming





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page