No. I made an analogy to farming, and Alex made an off-topic reply
about a community farm project, to which I made another off-topic reply.
Sorry. Just ignore this. Probably shouldn't have gone to the list.
--Dean
On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Dima wrote:
>
>
> Aaa? Did I miss something in this discussion? Did
> my spam filter eat something?
>
> On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Dean Anderson wrote:
>
> > I don't want to bust your bubble, because its off the line of discussion,
> > but New England farmstands frequently aren't really farms. Well, they may
> > grow some small amount of food, and sell it locally. But they can't
> > produce anywhere close to the amount of food they sell in one week.
> > There is a good chance that what you belong to is a up and coming
> > supermarket chain disguised as a farm. Most people who grew up in the
> > city just don't understand the scale of farming required to support a
> > large population. They go to the local farm stand, look at the 20 to 80
> > acres under till, and assume that all or most of the food they buy at the
> > farmstand store is locally grown and "more organic" than that bought at
> > Star Market.
> >
> > When you look at the small fields here and there around Boston, keep in
> > mind they are mainly for appearance. Rather like a museum. They are either
> > hobby farms (someone just "relaxing" with a large garden tractor), or
> > "ambience" for farmstands. They don't produce enough for even their local
> > community to eat.
> >
> > Very likely you depend on food grown in the midwest, and shipped out here
> > to farmstands and StarMarket, and such. Even things like milk production
> > is tiny compared with the national total. There isn't enough production
> > here for you to buy locally. Most likely, that box of vegetables
> > originates from farms that sold it to Tyson Foods, ADM, and Cargill, just
> > like the box that Star Market sells.
> >
> > The problem is that food is grown far away from population centers. He who
> > controls the distribution, enslaves the farmers.
> >
> > Also, I wouldn't eat anything grown here. The ground water is toxic and
> > unsafe in nearly every town. You can't have your own well, and if you
> > have one, you can't use it. Likewise for the rivers in New England. Now,
> > consider that most of the weight of the vegetable is water, and that the
> > water comes from either the ground water (though roots or irrigation) or
> > river water (irrigation) or rain water (which is also mildly toxic
> > anywhere around greater Boston), and you wouldn't want to eat anything
> > "home grown".
> >
> > --Dean
> >
> > On Fri, 19 Jul 2002, Alex Aminoff wrote:
> >
> > > On Thu, 18 Jul 2002, Dean Anderson wrote:
> > >
> > > > Farmers don't have this capability. If you don't sell the cattle, you
> > > > don't have room to raise more, and you have to keep feeding them. If you
> > > > don't sell the grain, it rots. You have to keep selling. If the price
> > > > drops, you lose. There is nothing you can do, but hope it doesn't last too
> > > > long. The markup from Farm to Supermarket is about 1000 percent. The
> > > > farmer is at the mercy of the food chain. pun intended.
> > >
> > > Several farms are trying to escape this trend by eliminating as much of
> > > the chain as possible. We belong to a Community Supported Agriculture
> > > farm, where we pay a yearly fixed fee, and in exchange get a box of fresh
> > > organic vegetables delivered each week. We pay the farm directly and they
> > > own and drive the truck that delivers the vegetables.
> > >
> > > My suggestion for the IT industry would be similar: try to eliminate
> > > layers of middlemen between those who need IT services and those who
> > > provide it. Small, employee-owned consulting shops who find clients
> > > directly, not allowing any agency to take a cut, are ideal.
> > >
> > > - Alex Aminoff
> > > BaseSpace.net
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > Send mail for the `bblisa' mailing list to `[EMAIL PROTECTED]'.
> > Mail administrative requests to `[EMAIL PROTECTED]'.
> >
>
> --------------
>
> Dimitri (Dima) Shcherban
>
> Phone: 800-445-2588+3+36955
> or: 508-898-6955
> Westborough ext: [823]-36955
> Cellular: 508-633-8192
> Pager: 877-563-1780
> email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Pager email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
---
Send mail for the `bblisa' mailing list to `[EMAIL PROTECTED]'.
Mail administrative requests to `[EMAIL PROTECTED]'.
