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Re: British Beef Situation
In Article <wVtkvBAghyfxEwCg@chalex.demon.co.uk>, cmb
<cmb@chalex.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <4lhajd$jmc@news1.exit109.com>, "Nathan D. Justus"
><nathan@exit109.com> writes
>>In article <flOojiAmDzexEwd7@upthorpe.demon.co.uk>,
>> Oz <Oz@upthorpe.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>Farmers in pre-fertiliser and pre-spray days farmed organically and
>>>achieved yields typically less than 1/3 of what we have today (UK). They
>>>actually knew what they were doing, were pretty smart and had 2000+
>>>years of experience. If you think that, with much of the knowledge lost,
>>>and with little experience you are going to do any better then you
>>>merely expose your ignorance. I take it you are a practising organic
>>>farmer earning your entire income from it?
>>>
>the last sentence shows how we can become blinkered by the constraints
>of modern western economic theory. you do not have to be a practising
>organic farmer or earn your entire income from it in order to contribute
>both in theory and practice to (a) a more sustainable way of life (b)
>producing healthy food.
You seem to be making the assumption that: (a) organic = "more sustainable"
and (b) organic = "healthy", implying that conventionally-grown products
aren't. Many studies have been conducted to this effect and I'm not aware of
any which have shown a significant increase in the nutritional/health value
of organically grown products. This is simply folklore, and is not borne out
by any reliable data.
>there are are many 'cottage farmers' doing very
>nicely on a part time basis; they work in the 'nuts and bolts' economy
>to earn the necessary cash and in spare time to produce their food and
>preserve/improve the environment. If everyone used their available
>resources from window boxes/ backyards/ farms to produce their own food
>(EG using permaculture design principals) we would be better fed,
>happier and using less non renewable resources in transport,
>fertilisers, chemicals etc etc.
I doubt this is true, but I guess this idea looks pretty good on the
surface. Fact is, home owners and home gardeners use a LOT of nasty
chemicals, and most of them don't really know what the stuff even is, nor
how to handle it properly. I believe if everyone (most of whom are
completely inexperienced) were growing things at home, as in your example,
it wouldn't be all clean and healthy as you seem to imply, but rather,
there'd be an increase in the use of the pesticides, fertilizers, and even
the fossil fuels so many people seem to frown upon.
Tracy
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