A common Fantasy This month the "Good Fruit Grower" magazine had an article with orchard statistics. It said the number of small family orchards is in rapid decline. Corporate owned orchards and larger operations are increasing. This trend has been in place since at least 1940 so i didn't think it surprising. In most parts of the world the trend is the same. It is present in places where small cultures are struggling and in areas where the ecology is being trampled. It is a factor in distancing people from nature and in converting food production into something that resembles manufacturing. Some small farmers fight the trend and all the popular small farming books say "you can beat the system". They talk about becoming more efficient and moving into niche areas. Some even go so far as to say the system is ok, it is the farmers who have not adapted very well to change. This view is very popular because it is what farmers want. They want hope and a belief they can succeed. What they like to ignore is the fact that most small farms have someone who works off farm to make ends meet and farming is a high risk activity. Another group fighting this trend is homesteaders. Many believe the small diversified homestead can survive in today culture. This is mostly fantasy. The majority probably realize this and hope the culture will change to make homesteading easier. The main homesteader magazine in this area (Countryside) is currently obsessed with Y2K and thinks this is the end of culture as we know it. I think this is tied to the belief that when culture fails the homesteader will now be a viable lifestyle. Groups like Permaculture encourage and teach methods for sustainable living but have few example of people surviving using only Permaculture techniques. What seems to work is a compromise with one foot in the existing culture and one foot in the Permaculture world. To some extent mainstream permaculture is also promoting a fantasy. The root problem here is economics and people trying hard to believe a different reality. It requires more than the techniques currently taught by Permaculture, or the Small Farm Books, or any of the other groups. It needs tools to deal with a culture where economic thought is so prevalent that few people are aware of other options. ... next, a possible solution? One definition of an Eco-path. ---- jeff owens, [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://www.teleport.com/~kowens underground house, solar power, self-reliance, edible landscape to leave ecopath: unsubscribe ecopath -> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
