permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <llondon@bellsouth.net>]

http://metalab.unc.edu/london   InterGarden   
london@metalab.unc.edu   llondon@bellsouth.net

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 16:08:59 -0800
From: Diane Cooner <amani@wclynx.com>
To: "sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu" <sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Y2K Statement Emerges from Asilomar EcoFarm Conference

Dear Sanetters;
For your consideration, please post this message and spread the word in
your communities. There are no central leaders or structured
organizations to deal with Y2K - one of the critical lessons of this
event may be to look more to ourselves to be truly sustainable....Again,
we encourage everyone to use this statement with their local media,
neighborhood meetings, anyone and everyone. This is our gift to you all.



                        Y2K and the Food Supply

          A Message from Concerned American Farmers: "Prepare"

Our food system - from seed to table - is fragile. Potential disruptions
of our food supply caused by the year 2000 computer bug (Y2K) highlight
its vulnerability.


   * Food travels an average of 1300 miles from farm-gate to the dinner
     table.
   * Urban areas have only 3 days supply of food in the supermarkets.
   * Most food transactions are dependent on thousands of computer
     chips.
   * Farmers rely on inputs of seeds, fertilizers, machinery,
     electricity, fuel and water to produce and harvest our crops and
     livestock.
   * Food processors rely on automated systems to turn our harvests into
     consumer-ready products.
   * Distributors, wholesalers and retailers depend on computerized
     systems to coordinate, transport, refrigerate, store and sell food
     products to consumers.

According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, "Any
interruption along this farm-to-fork chain can result in a direct loss
to those who supply food. That can mean more expensive, less available,
food supplies."

We believe that our response to Y2K should be neither panic nor
procrastination, but rather, preparation. No one knows for sure if
January 1, 2000 will be a 'bump in the road' or a widespread breakdown.
As American farmers, we believe the responsible action is to prepare. It
is important to make changes that are broadly beneficial to the
community, farm, and food system, regardless of the uncertain
consequences of Y2K.

Preparation for Y2K provides us an opportunity to shore up the
vulnerability of our food system and make changes that will better
enable farmers to keep the world fed - one community at a time - and to
make our communities more self-reliant in food production. As farmers,
we believe that 1999 is not a time to 'run for the hills' but rather a
time to head for our town halls to develop community-based strategies on
how to keep our neighbors fed - both urban and rural - in event of
disruption in food supplies.

We present the following ideas for consideration to prepare our farms
and our communities for the year 2000:

  1. 1     Identify the resources and skills within yourself, your
     family and your community to grow, process and prepare food. A
     variety of skills will be needed to make the food system resilient
     to disruption.
  2. 2    Ask those with organizing skills to initiate community
     meetings to establish local contingency plans for food, security,
     energy and water supplies.
  3. 3     Identify neighbors who may need extra assistance during a
     food crisis - the elderly, those with special diet requirements,
     and the poor. Include them in planning a more resilient food
     system.
  4. 4    Establish individual and community gardens, provide classes in
     gardening and food preservation.
  5. 5     Develop a "Y2K Cookbook for Eating Locally" with help of
     chef's, older folks, and local food editors.
  6. 6    Buy directly from local producers. Opportunities include
     joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm, keeping local
     farmers' markets open year round, and supporting roadside stands.
  7. 7    Collaborate with public institutions (hospitals, schools,
     prisons) and private institutions (restaurants and grocery stores)
     to identify local food sources and encourage them to begin now to
     buy locally produced and processed foods.
  8. 8    Develop alternate water supplies, collections, storage and
     distribution systems.
  9. 9    Buy a little extra seed and plant an open-pollinated seed
     garden. Plant more storage crops and winter gardens.

10    Fix or replace computers and equipment not "Y2K compliant".
Contact suppliers and customers about their preparations. Make alternate
plans if necessary.

On December 17, 1998 Janet Abrams, Executive Director of the President's
Council on Year 2000 Conversion, said that the U.S. government
anticipates " a large series of mild to moderate disruptions across the
country...These are situations that in usual times you might be able to
call on the state or the federal government to help solve, but we are
stressing to our local officials that they're going to have to take care
of these problems on their own."

This means it is up to all of us. We invite you to join with others in
your community to build a more secure and resilient food system. A good
first step is starting the conversation with your family and your
neighbors. We wish you well.

Official Statement Endorsed by attendees of the 19th Annual Ecological
Farming Conference, Asilomar, California, January 23, 1999