Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008 | Mother Jones
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/02/spoiled-organic-and-local-so-2008

If we wanted to rid the world of synthetic fertilizer use—and assuming dietary habits remain constant—the extra land we'd need for cover crops or forage (to feed the animals to make the manure) would more than double, possibly triple, the current area of farmland, according to Vaclav Smil, an environmental scientist at the University of Manitoba. Such an expansion, Smil notes, "would require complete elimination of all tropical rainforests, conversion of a large part of tropical and subtropical grasslands to cropland, and the return of a substantial share of the labor force to field farming—making this clearly only a theoretical notion."

by Paul Roberts (at Mother Jones) — the gist seems to be: re-evaluate your assumptions about what sustainable agriculture means (hint: it involves more than just carbon footprints and whether/not the farm is organic; see also: labor conditions, see also: man-hours of labor) and maybe be prepared to consider a few harsh realities about cost/benefit before you buy another heirloom tomato for $4

Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008

Our industrial food system is rotten to the core. Heirloom arugula won't save us. Here's what will.

how to store fruit and vegetables

Capay Organiz Farms

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Lists detailed info on pesticides that are on foods.

Select food and find out what's in it!

http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/images/womf_logo_label2.jpg

coyote

"Michael Pollan, in an 8,000-word essay in the New York Times Magazine, took the expected swipes at animal agriculture. But his truly radical prescriptions had to do with raising of crops. Pollan, who seemed to be aware of the nitrogen problem in his book The Omnivore's Dilemma, left nuance behind, as well as the laws of chemistry, in his recommendations. ... n his book, Pollan quotes geographer Vaclav Smil to the effect that 40 percent of the people alive today would not be alive without the ability to artificially synthesize nitrogen. But in his directive on food policy, Pollan damns agriculture's dependence on fossil fuels, and urges the president to encourage agriculture to move away from expensive and declining supplies of natural gas toward the unlimited sunshine that supported life, and agriculture, as recently as the 1940s."

"On the desk in front of me are a dozen books, all hugely critical of present-day farming.... To the farmer on the ground, though, a farmer blessed with free choice and hard won experience, the moral choices aren’t quite so easy. Biotech crops actually cut the use of chemicals, and increase food safety. Are people who refuse to use them my moral superiors? Herbicides cut the need for tillage, which decreases soil erosion by millions of tons. The biggest environmental harm I have done as a farmer is the topsoil (and nutrients) I used to send down the Missouri River to the Gulf of Mexico before we began to practice no-till farming, made possible only by the use of herbicides. The combination of herbicides and genetically modified seed has made my farm more sustainable, not less, and actually reduces the pollution I send down the river."

organic web design

Web design

@thecorkboard http://www.serveyourcountryfood.net/ [from http://twitter.com/iblee/statuses/1713505157]

http://delicious.com/

interesting article to read

The Gentlemen Purveyors of Andrews & Dunham Damnably Superior Herbal Remedies announce their intention to present, in person and for a fair price, a contest of strength and stamina between JACKEE MUNTZ & THOMAS SAMPSON.

전문가들이 말하는 먹지 말아야할 음식들입니다. 캔 토마토, 양식 연어, 사료로키운 쇠고기, 전자렌지 팝콘, 호르몬을 먹여만든 우유 등 키우는 과정이나 조리과정에서 여러가지 변형을 야기하는 것들이 들어간 음식들입니다. 역시 유기농제품이 제일 좋을 것 같습니다.

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