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  • From: KAKerby AT aol.com
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] odd request for the list
  • Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 15:20:00 -0500 (EST)

I was recently contacted by someone who had written an article about organic farming, and he wanted my "take" on it.  I wasn't sure what to expect, nor why he would ask my opinion (or even how he found me).  But I said sure, I'll read it. You can read his article here.
 
When I did read it, I was rather irritated with the article - its premise, its arguments and its conclusion all smacked of a profound lack of understanding about organic farming and what the issues are.  I wrote back what I thought was a very gentle reply, encouraging this individual to "dig a little deeper" if he wanted to write about organic agriculture issues in any sort of competent and significant way.  His reply to that was "thanks anyway".  It felt like a lost opportunity to educate one more person on the issues faced by growers and livestock producers, whether organic or not.  On the other hand I wondered if I was making a big deal out of nothing.  He's not a policy maker, he's not even in the ag industry.  Just some guy who wanted to write about organic farming.  But the whole experience gave me a sour "missed opportunities" feeling.

I guess I'd be curious what y'all think of his article, and if I over-reacted.  I'd also be curious if anyone on the list has successfully "educated" someone who expressed a general interest in the topic, but came into it with what IMHO amounted to a junior high school level of knowledge about the subject matter.  I think education is so important if we are to protect and promote the work that we do.  I shudder to think this article really represents what the public thinks of our efforts (and our intelligence).  Or maybe I'm just over-reacting.
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
Ruminations - essays on the farming life at frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html



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