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  • From: Marimike6@cs.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] conservatism
  • Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:38:52 EST

I'd like to offer a thought or two on rafter sass's comment, contrasting the
local markets and the Global Marketplace. Rather than having to choose just
one, I think we need both.

In the old Soviet Union international markets were undeveloped. The only
fresh foods you ever saw in a store were local ones-- the inevitable potatos,
garlic and onions-- and, seasonally, beets. Plus there were canned goods like
pickled mushrooms.

At the same time I saw markets in Newfoundland, carrying only potatos, onions
and turnips-- a little different. But the big difference was that it was a
stopover point for ships bound from Latin America to Europe. And so they also
had bananas.

I felt like I'd be very unhappy in a world without bananas. And in fact I now
live in a place where I can choose from an assortment of (typically) 14,000
different foods, all cheaply priced. So I think that's worth something.

In order to maintain these fresh kiwis flown in daily from Chile, we do burn
a lot of jet fuel, and spew a lot of CO2. But on the upside, it does provide
employment to a lot of people. And store bought toilet paper really is
better,
cheaper and easier to use than corn cobs. Especially when we're providing for
the needs of the 6.8 billion fellow earthlings.

So I would submit that we shouldn't be thinking so much about replacing the
global economy with one based on small markets. But instead we should
supplement the global market with as much market share as we can carve out
for our
local offerings. There's room for both.




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