Comments on: Most Modern Farming Methods Stink!

By: Will

Will — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:30:56 +0000

Thanks Bob. I know, it is amazing that those things were written 18 or 19 years ago by an academic whose intended audience was the biggest farming belt in the world. In many ways, it could have been written last week.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:28:01 +0000

Tyler - All your points are good ones. And difficult ones to really argue with. How big is your farm?

You are also right about the big box stores and the people who have to shop there. I sometimes wonder what would happen to our economy if our food prices were not so artificially low. But in the end we pay, if not with our wallets, then with our health or the health of the land, rivers and oceans.

And I’m not sure I agree that the entire world can’t buy local, at least part of the time. But it does make me think.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:12:40 +0000

Great article Will. Love the link you put in your post from 1990, it even had some solutions, I wonder how many of them are being put into practice today and by how many people/ industries. I had never thought of these and other environmental issues until I starting visiting your site and I thank you for the part you are playing to educate the public, every little bit helps, not going to happen overnight and I still buy stuff at WalMart and Superstore, but not as much as before.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:30:18 +0000

Hi, My parents are Farmers and I have worked on a Farm my entire life and there is a problem with farming methods today. But why is the blame always on the farmer. Do you not all eat food from a grocery store it is how My family makes a living. I am going into the field of conservation myself and I see the problem modern farming created. But in the end we all need to pay the bills to raise a family and the Farmers job shouldn’t be put down on anymore than someone who sits at a computer all day. If we really wanted to reduce amount of chemicals and run off from farms the problem is the number of people in this world not the number of farmers. —- Farming used to be something almost everyone did in their backyard but now with many less farms and many more people we have to resort to drastic mono-crop culture. And I’m ready for people to say here is what we need to do reduce the amount of consumption. have you thought of that? or maybe everyone should start their own garden for produce? Or lets reduce the population of the world through education of sustainability and world carrying capacity. Don’t blame my family or other farms for population problems, oh and by the way you cant go organic overnight with farms the size of cities. I know there are problems and I want to find ways to fix them, but we have to realize we have pushed ourselves into this, the entire world cant buy local, its a good start but majority of people use WalMart and superstore goods that are cheaper because that is what their income allows for no matter how the food is produced.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 02:17:10 +0000

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. Food is our common ground, a universal experience.

Anyway nice post

“We’ve got a blog about nutrition, healthy eating, and health food
too. It includes summaries of articles in the news, lists healthy
recipes, offers tips and personal feedback on healthy eating, and
reports on nutritional research.”

check this out:
http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com
A

By: Will

Will — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:11:27 +0000

Yes that is a great book, Jennifer. We are a corn fed nation, drinking corn syrup and eating corn fed beef. Take a look at this post for a look at another of ethanol’s problems. Thanks for your comments!

http://willtaft.com/environment/ethanol-kills-thousands-of-crabs-fish-and-shrimp/

By: Will

Will — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:57:13 +0000

Hi Andrew - Buying local can also mean buying at a store where the person doing the purchasing for the store is available for questions. With the big chains, the buyers for the stores are often hundreds of miles away and unavailable even to the employees of the store. Depending on where you live, your choices might be limited or you might have many options. They main thing is to think about it when shopping and the little changes will make a difference.

-Will

By: Will

Will — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:53:23 +0000

You are right, Anna. I try to influence my kids all the time to make them realize what all that marketing is. They seem to get it. There are other things about what they eat that are really convenience issues. I have not been as successful yet with that area. But I think kids really do model much of their diet after what they see parents eat. My kids actually often make very healthy choices without prompting. And they seem to get some of the biggies, like not drinking soda.

By: Jennifer Robin

Jennifer Robin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:50:02 +0000

Great post. Have you read The Omnivore’s Dilemma? It’s is frightening what corn production is doing to our environment, from fertilizer runoff to the greenhouse gases created in ethanol production. And people are buying the concept that ethanol is a “green” fuel when it couldn’t be further from the truth.

By: Andrew Flusche

Andrew Flusche — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:58:09 +0000

I haven’t been big into buying local, but I’ve been reading more about it lately. Maybe I can do a better job at supporting small farms and local growers.