permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@sunsite.unc.edu>]

http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london   InterGarden   
london@sunSITE.unc.edu   llondon@bellsouth.net
Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 23:50:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@sunsite.unc.edu>
To: "Wilson, Dale" <WILSONDO@phibred.com>
Cc: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Gone Postal: regulation woes

On Wed, 13 May 1998, Wilson, Dale wrote:

> Don't you think it is a little unreasonable to expect consumers to know
> the grower and their operation personally?  What you are really saying
> is that you are willing, as a producer, to accept a tiny, purely local
> market.  Probably, many organic farmers don't feel that way. 

Who ever said local markets are "tiny"? Why would any small
(microfarmer/market gardener - 5 acres +/-) want to/have to resort to
shipping out his produce more than 30 miles away (that might be
considered a reasonable maximum distance for delivery of produce,in a
3-5 days/week schedule). If you grew speciality crops that might be
different. The benefits to farmers and the communities they live near
are tremendous with a local direct marketing system. The cooperation
possible between growers and consumers is boundless. The benefits
to the counties they live in and areas they market to are great;
working farms make money for the county; they demand less from the county
for each tax dollar paid. Small farms and family farms that are
economically secure through local direct sales set a good example for 
local governments, encouraging them to design and implement farmland
and open space preservation plans. Encouraging small and family farms to
diversify and engage in production for local sales keeps them on their
farms, makes money for the counties thay live in, gives consumers access
to products of exceptional quality priced fairly and helps keep good
or prime farmland away from development forces.

Lets hear it for growers committed to LOCAL DIRECT SALES!
Lets hear it also for saving farmland, small farming and family farms!
 
I will soon start a new mailing list (also accessable via your news
readers and web browser [a Lyris mailing list for those interested]
for these growers called new-local-grower; posting ID when I have it 
set up will be new-local-grower@franklin.oit.unc.edu.

Cheers,

Lawrence

a local grower using natural farming methods in Chapel Hill, NC