-Caveat Lector- By "best" I mean ratio of yield & grade to acre. I am not aware that this has been surpassed unless in an anecdotal manner. Organic farming could be the salvation of the family farms as it is best done on a smaller scale. The EPA is all over farming and farmers are not at liberty to use whatever they choose for either herbicides/insecticide nor fertilizers. In some ways, the soil is over-stressed and in others actually improved. Depends on the condition of the soil prior to implementation of agriculture. Sustainable would be ideal but I do not think we will be given that option. I do not produce food for consumption but rather horticultural products. I do live in a completely agricultural area. I just watched my only organic product, 3 to 7 year old ginseng, wash away into the flooded Paint Rock River and it is too damn cold to feel down into the sludge to see if the roots remain. There are new guidelines for "organic" which I will post. They make it very difficult as contamination spreads from adjoining properties. You'd think THEY would be told to keep their chemicals to themselves but the burden is placed on the organic grower. I do not think food grown abroad will be subjected to these constraints. Working conditions for migrant workers in this country border on slave labor by what most of us are accustomed to having. Of course I would like to be on the top of the economic chain. Are there people who desire to be on the bottom? My point in all this is that farming in this country can be made so unprofitable and unsustainable that it cease to exist. Clinton is saying we SHOULD buy food from poorer countries as it is morally right to do so, giving them an income, etc. I think it would be a disaster to allow total control of our food supply in this manner. Maybe we can help these countries in other ways that are less vital to our own interests. Amelia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jayson R. Jones" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2000 11:33 AM Subject: Re: [CTRL] President Bill Clinton Advocates End of Farming in U.S. > -Caveat Lector- > > On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 21:50:10 -0600 Amelia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >-Caveat Lector- > > >The agricultural system in this country is the best in the world. > > WAS the best in the world, and that depends on the meaning of "Best". > > >With a tiny persentage of the population acting as farmers, we have not > only > >fed ourselves but much of the world. > > Yup, and the percentage of farmers is dwindling every day. This is not > progress. Most of the farmland is now Corporate. The family farm is all > but gone. Since the 50's the farmers have been caught in an upward > spiral of debt, overproduction, over stressing the land, > overfertilization, chemical dependancy of the worst sort, and pricing at > the whims of the government. > > >Food can only be grown "cheaper" elsewhere > >using slave labor and with no EPA nor other health standards. > > I wouldn't exactly call it slave labor. They are using the same > production techniques that built this country. > > >This is one of the most frightening of the plans of the liberal > Democrats. > > I think you are worried more about not being the top of the economic food > chain. > > >If you think an oil shortage is bad, wait until it is your food! > > Both should teach us a very valuable lesson. SUSTAINABILITY is the only > security. > We have the technology and knowledge to continue to feed ourselves. > However, the prices that would be required would be substantially higher > than they are now. If we import much of our food to keep the prices > down, we become DEPENDANT on others. I would suggest that it may be > better to bite the bullet now, get ourselves on a SUSTAINABLE footing, > and stop antagonizing the rest of the world. > >Amelia > Jayson <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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