permaculture

[Marimike6@cs.com]

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.