Subject: Stop Farming Now, please

From: "Akiva Werbalowsky" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 21:47:25 PST

The word "Farm" has as it's root <firme> which means a financial 
payment, contract, or rent for the use of land.

Its meaning implies absentee "ownership" and has nothing to do with 
healthy food, community, or environment. By using the words "farmer" or 
"farming" we maintain and strengthen a relationship paradigm 
incompatible with optimal wellness.

I recommend using words such as "grower" instead of farmer, and letting 
others know how important this word-knowledge can be.

Can we re-cultivate a respect and appreciation for natural resources 
with a stewardship rather than an ownership mentality, like many native 
cultures? It's all about balance and timing, and I believe NOW is a good 
time to rebalance our most basic cultural concepts.

Word, sound, power.

In good humus,
Akiva

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From: Avalon Bruce <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:54:37 -0800

when i attended law school back in the 70's, THREE courses in real
property law were required.  i never made it past the first one -- two
weeks into the class, 'it' hit me right between the eyes:  all the
professor was saying was total and utter nonsense -- one could NOT 'own'
the land any more than s/he could 'own' the color of the sky, the sun,
the wind or the rain.  the rest of the semester, NOTHING i heard in
lectures made any sense. it was all jibberish.

seems some 'glitch' in the gene pool, harking back to when the Choctaw
people were 'farmers' for millennia in what we now call 'Mississippi"
rose to the surface and caused my brain to short-circuit or at least
vapor lock

i prefer 'stewardship' of land to ownership, butwe have a LONG way to go
before people quit 'buying and selling' pieces of 'dirt'

> payment, contract, or rent for the use of land.

The Earth is not given to us by our parents.
It is loaned to us by our children.

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From: Avalon Bruce <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:54:37 -0800