tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post3681109834267861320..comments2024-03-23T05:42:07.516-04:00Comments on The Deliberate Agrarian: Roots of the Current World Food CrisisHerrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-76039708336039233932008-06-03T12:48:00.000-04:002008-06-03T12:48:00.000-04:00There is no simple answer to any large issue, and ...There is no simple answer to any large issue, and today one of the largest issues is about Big Ag. My father is a small family farmer. No longer are families having 8-10 children to help with farm work and if they did, there would be no possible way to support them with the expense farming incurs today. If it were not for the biotechnology used by Big Ag, there would be NO possible way for him and my mother to stay on the farm or to be able to produce the quantities of food to contribute to the world's needs. The work load is absolutely enormous, even for a 1,000 acre farm. And Andi and Kelly are right - if we all changed over from conventional farming to organic, more people would go without food than we know today. Big Ag is a necessary evil but there are pros and cons - I disagree with genetic modifications in order to make plants resistant to herbicides, for example, but it's a fantastic thing for rice to be genetically modified with more beta carotene for better nutrition.Kimberly Wallishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07155756514034913833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-29286647892099534952008-06-02T20:43:00.000-04:002008-06-02T20:43:00.000-04:00Hi andy & kelli,Thanks for your comment. I'm afrai...Hi andy & kelli,<BR/>Thanks for your comment. I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you on this one. The corporate agribusiness oligarchy destroys the environment, destroys small family farms, destroys traditional agrarian communities, and, as this blog explains, seeks to make every person and nation on earth dependent on it for food. They have no business messing with the genetic material of plants and animals and, in so doing, creating unnatural, unhealthy, toxic, and potentially lethal new substances. The more I learn about BigAg, what it has done, and how it operates, the more convinced I am that it should be completely demonized. I have nothing good to say about BigAg. Nothing.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-6945934125237077142008-06-02T10:42:00.000-04:002008-06-02T10:42:00.000-04:00Herrick,While I agree NAFTA is not good - and big ...Herrick,<BR/>While I agree NAFTA is not good - and big ag has issues... I'm not so sure this is as one sided (or maybe better stated - as simple) of a problem as you make it... maybe it is - but I don't think so.<BR/>I typed out a related thought on this a while back - <A HREF="http://www.bluebirdmeadowfarms.com/2008/05/local-sustainable-vs-big-ag-argument.html" REL="nofollow">Thank here.</A><BR/>No doubt food independence as a individual or a family or a community is a good thing in many ways - but I just don't buy the argument that Big Ag should be completely demonized - there has been a considerable amount of positive they have contributed to the world and quality of life many in the world enjoy.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01861175222727997877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-12153326351619948952008-06-01T12:01:00.000-04:002008-06-01T12:01:00.000-04:00My family are working on becoming more independent...My family are working on becoming more independent as well and we are so inspired by all of your posts. Thank you for taking the time to write things that really make sense and are actually helping us 'little people'.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13990388513821811913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-37425391356533038502008-05-30T10:44:00.000-04:002008-05-30T10:44:00.000-04:00Thanks, Herrick, for another insightful post. My f...Thanks, Herrick, for another insightful post. My family and I are moving toward a more independent lifestyle, slowly but surely, and I'm grateful for your blog's inspiration.Jimsimplyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16965117350526473559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13729569.post-21803120787585512642008-05-29T23:44:00.000-04:002008-05-29T23:44:00.000-04:00Great post! I am amazed at the selfishness and des...Great post! I am amazed at the selfishness and destructiveness that groups of people in expensive suits, can cause. It should be self evident to any bubblehead, that being able to provide food to feed your own, is more important than anything else. Starving tends to ruin profits. Powerful industries, politicians, and interest groups, sit around tables, and come up with vast economics policies that none of them have any real clue, how they are going to turn out. None of them seem to have any concern for how things will turn out for the "little people". I have over the last several years of my life come to literally hate, {probably unfairly} anything, stores, businesses, goverments, corporations, industrial agriculture, etc, that is too big. It seems like anytime an organization gets beyond a certain size, it almost cannot, not hurt someone, by it's very size alone. Worse, corporations, who are already so big, and powerful, to the point of often having what am ounts to thier own armies, and even small navies, want to be bigger still. Something in capitalistic globalism, just cannot say to itself, "We are big enough"brierrabbithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02159138666926348235noreply@blogger.com