Re: Our Coming Food Crisis
I've been rereading Silent Spring, expecting much of it to be outdated. Surprisingly, her warnings and suggestions are as relevant today as they were then. At times she calls attention to still distant dangers that have since arrived with a vengeance. The longer our imperial 'leaders' delay the more prophetic Rachel Carson becomes.
Re: Our Coming Food Crisis
Shepherd,
Have you been over to Singing Frogs Farm for one of Paul Kaiser's tours? He's growing lots more food, using much less water, creating and preserving habitat for bees, birds and other critters, plus adding organic matter to the soil at a rate Rodale and other organic researchers haven't been able to approach.
I think replicating his methods across the land is essential. Consider that 14% of greenhouse gases are produced by agriculture. Of that 87% is actually gases being released as the soil is turned over. We can eliminate 12% of greenhouse gas emissions just by doing what he does. While the Agriculture Department recognizes that tilling is a catastrophe for soil, most of what is called "no till" agriculture out there in factory farm world uses lots of herbicides.
Singing Frogs doesn't even use the sprays approved for use on Certified Organic farms, which is why Paul received an award for bee protection. And being on his 8 acre farm is like visiting paradise. Even organic gardens planted on rototilled earth look wrong after seeing his crops. Nature is invited as a participant, or should I say he accepts Nature's invitation to collaborate.
If you haven't already been out there, I suggest putting him on your social calendar.
Blessings,
Sandy
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
...We need many changes in policy and in farm practices. ...
Re: Our Coming Food Crisis
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by ronliskey:
The longer our imperial 'leaders' delay the more prophetic Rachel Carson becomes.
when we rely on the emperor to solve our problems, we're SOL. With a few exceptions history shows bad outcomes for those who needed top-down solutions, designed and implemented by insightful and virtuous leaders. That's just not how things work.
Unfortunately, history is full of examples where things go pretty much to hell for a big part of the population, too...