As a consumer with some basic knowledge of the supply chain, I would prefer buying directly from the farmer. The reason is that if I pay a fair price (around the same as the store) then the farmer takes all the money, and does not have to share it with a bunch of middle men and stores. This opens up the opportunity that he can do as good a job as possible and not deprive his family, and he can make a decent living. In the long run, I will find farmers who will really care about the quality of the products they grow, because they can make a decent living. Now, I know this is not the way things are very much these days, but if you care about the quality, it should be something we should do more of. I know some people claim they are too busy, but just think of taking a wonderful drive in the country each weekend with the kids to pick up some of your weekly food needs. When done regularly, you may find that less trips are needed as you learn to freeze and can some items. If you are booked to the gills with kids clubs, etc. then have the kids have one or two less clubs and forego the golf for dad and the aerobics for mom on Saturday morning, and take that country drive. You and the kids will learn a bit about farming, enjoy the seasonal changes and probably make some new friends in the farmers you meet. You may also share some of this with friends and you could alternate weekends. If you find 3 other families who would like to do the same, then you could each do one weekend a month and buy for everyone at the same time. For some people this would be a great way to just slow down for a change.
As you can see, I am learning to really enjoy this transition to better health. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 9:48 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: CS>soil minerals, No putting them back Good morning Wayne! :-) In a message dated 2/11/04 8:24:37 PM EST, [email protected] writes: >>The large commercial farmers often have financial pressure that overrides any thought of tomorrow. In this case, tomorrow is next year, and years after that.<< You are right about that. Sadly, financial pressure affects the small farmer just as much -- maybe more -- the ones that I know have a huge overhead for equipment, etc., and have to farm large amounts of land to produce a decent income. >>The smaller farmers can do soil restoration easier than the larger ones. We have many commercial chicken growers in our state. This chicken litter waster is distributed over the fields.<< Well, smaller farmers can make their own decisions instead of having to answer to corporate CEO's, so I guess that's easier, but they are under the same per-acre investment constraints as large farmers (or corporate farmers) -- maybe more so as they have fewer acres with which to produce a living wage. We have many commercial chicken growers in our state as well. (Where are you located?) Not too many farmers take advantage of the chicken litter for use on their fields unless they can get it free. Some of the reasons for this is the expense and/or labor required to pick up and transport the litter by truck to the fields, and the frequent difficulty of their fields being dry enough and the timing of their field work coordinating with the availability of the litter (small amounts of chicken litter are available on a bi-monthly basis in between flocks when the barns are *crusted* and top dressed -- the entire bedding in the barns is only available when the barns are completely cleaned out, which happens anywhere from one to three years). Also -- chicken litter has been designated as a *toxic waste product* by the environmental people, so lots of farmers are now afraid to use it. Go figure, huh? >> Many farmers will give you stable litter free, if you have the energy and determination to remove and distribute it. Cotton Gin Waste is free and when well composted is suitable for scattering over the fields.<< I wonder how many farmers avail themselves of these products? We have stable litter, which we're quite willing to give away. Only one farmer takes advantage of that. The same farmer takes our chicken litter. Sadly, these nutrients aren't going back into people-food -- he grows hay. >>Some farmers plant cover crops to stop soil erosion. The crops are cut into the soil in the springtime.<< Now that's interesting. In our area, because of the type of soil we have, once an erosion cover is established, it's left in place. If it was ever ploughed under, the erosion that followed would be even worse. >>Not all farmers are idiots and unconcerned. We eat the produce ourselves.<< Oh, I never suggested that they are -- you know now that we're farmers too (actually, we're semi-farmers -- we contract out the field work for crops). But I stand by my original statement that farmers -- for the most part -- invest in the fertilizing products that will create the largest crop possible, not the most nutritional crop possible. This isn't a blanket indictment of irresponsibility, it's a financial thing -- and it's just the way it is. I'm glad to hear that you treat your own land with such respect. Wish there were more like you. MA -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. Instructions for unsubscribing may be found at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
