[Vision2020] Article: "An Alternative Definition of Sustainable Agriculture"
Douglas Stambler
ccm_moscow@yahoo.com
Fri, 11 Jul 2003 08:51:54 -0700 (PDT)
--0-954479760-1057938714=:31545
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
An Alternative Definition of Sustainable Agriculture
In Eastern Washington and Western Idaho, there is almost a mythical tradition that surrounds the raising of crops: The area of land known as the Palouse, is one of the most fertile regions in the entire United States. There are many theories about what created the rolling hills and the ability of early indigenous people to live and flourish without even the slightest modifications to the land or its underground water supply. And, in 2003, the Palouse is more popular than ever, but it is losing the very characteristics that made it special in the first place: The Winter snow cover is almost non-existent; bio-technology companies are replacing standard agricultural practices; and, scientific theories about agriculture are being used to try and replenish natural resources in the area, which are diminishing in the face of modern demands on the land, water and air. All in all, the Palouse needs to find and apply a new definition of "sustainable agriculture," or the mythical tr!
adition
already will have become a Grimm fairy tale, with no happy ending.
There is no topic of greater importance in the Palouse than agriculture. And yet, it is hardly discussed outside of farmers, city officials and federal agencies in the area that supervise crop growing and research. It's almost as if the people who live in the Palouse have given up meaningful dialogue about what farming means to their communities, and have replaced it with the occasional agriculture-related story in the local newspaper. Also, grange halls in the Palouse are hardly the bustling centers of community they were up until the late 1950s: Dances, civic meetings and men's and women's social groups all met in a central location, where information was shared and feedback was given much quicker than in today's editorial pages of a local or regional news source. With the breakdown of communication in the Palouse regarding agriculture, came a big trade-off: State and federal agencies began to dictate a less personal agenda that local people could react to, but not ini!
tiate
themselves. Until now in 2003, when every single local government in the Palouse gets the majority of agricultural data from either the United States Department of Agriculture, or the local equivalent of a state-sponsored agricultural extension office. In any case, the trend is towards a reduction in citizen participation and an increase in withholding essential information from the general public.
What the Palouse needs to save it from the very serious problems of drought, the use of pesticides, public apathy and a dangerous reliance on food being trucked in on a daily basis, is a new definition of "sustainable agriculture." I offer the following definition: "'Sustainable agriculture' introduces the community back to the land; it seeks to educate and train local people how to raise animals, grow vegetables and conserve water; finally, it explores an historical approach to farming, so that a community can resume the overwhelmingly successful agricultural techniques used by the indigenous people, who pre-dated America." In other words, "sustainable agriculture" is a technique that attempts to make living off the land easily accessible to every citizen.
In 2003, a resident of a town in the Palouse is not encouraged to farm: The 4-H chapters have gone modern, and preach rocketry and community service to school children, instead of teaching them how to feed themselves. Unlike any other discipline, though, once basic farming skills are lost to children, it takes much more time to reintroduce and apply those skills again in the future. In the Palouse, the Future Farmers of America take that mission very seriously, and at least some children are learning how to run a farm. But it's not enough, and at this point, it's too late to teach many more children before more weather changes set in: Drought, wildfires and flooding are becoming the norm throughout the United States, and this trend does not look good for farmers in every region of the country. The best that can be done to prepare the general public for crisis conditions is to stock up on canned food. But again, these efforts are too late.
However, it's not all bleak for the Palouse. The 235 square miles that make up this miraculously fertile land would feed everyone in the Palouse quite easily, if only citizens would take back the agricultural agenda: A return to small, local farms that provide important staples for people in the Palouse would eventually salvage what looks like is going to be a series of bureaucratic scandals and neglect that will no doubt cause one of the worst crises in regional, agricultural history. After all, it's one thing when the land won't grow food; but it's quite another, when the people who live there forget how to grow food and take care of their basic needs. And that's why the Palouse needs a new definition of "sustainable agriculture": Either that, or current events are going to literally run the population into the ground.
In Christ,
Douglas Stambler
(Moscow, ID/Pullman, WA)
dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
--0-954479760-1057938714=:31545
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV align=center>An Alternative Definition of Sustainable Agriculture</DIV>
<DIV align=center> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>In Eastern Washington and Western Idaho, there is almost a mythical tradition that surrounds the raising of crops: The area of land known as the Palouse, is one of the most fertile regions in the entire United States. There are many theories about what created the rolling hills and the ability of early indigenous people to live and flourish without even the slightest modifications to the land or its underground water supply. And, in 2003, the Palouse is more popular than ever, but it is losing the very characteristics that made it special in the first place: The Winter snow cover is almost non-existent; bio-technology companies are replacing standard agricultural practices; and, scientific theories about agriculture are being used to try and replenish natural resources in the area, which are diminishing in the face of modern demands on the land, water and air. All in all, the Palouse needs to find and apply a new definition of "sustainable
agriculture," or the mythical tradition already will have become a Grimm fairy tale, with no happy ending.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>There is no topic of greater importance in the Palouse than agriculture. And yet, it is hardly discussed outside of farmers, city officials and federal agencies in the area that supervise crop growing and research. It's almost as if the people who live in the Palouse have given up meaningful dialogue about what farming means to their communities, and have replaced it with the occasional agriculture-related story in the local newspaper. Also, grange halls in the Palouse are hardly the bustling centers of community they were up until the late 1950s: Dances, civic meetings and men's and women's social groups all met in a central location, where information was shared and feedback was given much quicker than in today's editorial pages of a local or regional news source. With the breakdown of communication in the Palouse regarding agriculture, came a big trade-off: State and federal agencies began to dictate a less personal agenda that loca!
l people
could react to, but not initiate themselves. Until now in 2003, when every single local government in the Palouse gets the majority of agricultural data from either the United States Department of Agriculture, or the local equivalent of a state-sponsored agricultural extension office. In any case, the trend is towards a reduction in citizen participation and an increase in withholding essential information from the general public.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>What the Palouse needs to save it from the very serious problems of drought, the use of pesticides, public apathy and a dangerous reliance on food being trucked in on a daily basis, is a new definition of "sustainable agriculture." I offer the following definition: "'Sustainable agriculture' introduces the community back to the land; it seeks to educate and train local people how to raise animals, grow vegetables and conserve water; finally, it explores an historical approach to farming, so that a community can resume the overwhelmingly successful agricultural techniques used by the indigenous people, who pre-dated America." In other words, "sustainable agriculture" is a technique that attempts to make living off the land easily accessible to every citizen.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>In 2003, a resident of a town in the Palouse is not encouraged to farm: The 4-H chapters have gone modern, and preach rocketry and community service to school children, instead of teaching them how to feed themselves. Unlike any other discipline, though, once basic farming skills are lost to children, it takes much more time to reintroduce and apply those skills again in the future. In the Palouse, the Future Farmers of America take that mission very seriously, and at least some children are learning how to run a farm. But it's not enough, and at this point, it's too late to teach many more children before more weather changes set in: Drought, wildfires and flooding are becoming the norm throughout the United States, and this trend does not look good for farmers in every region of the country. The best that can be done to prepare the general public for crisis conditions is to stock up on canned food. But again, these efforts are !
too
late.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>However, it's not all bleak for the Palouse. The 235 square miles that make up this miraculously fertile land would feed everyone in the Palouse quite easily, if only citizens would take back the agricultural agenda: A return to small, local farms that provide important staples for people in the Palouse would eventually salvage what looks like is going to be a series of bureaucratic scandals and neglect that will no doubt cause one of the worst crises in regional, agricultural history. After all, it's one thing when the land won't grow food; but it's quite another, when the people who live there forget how to grow food and take care of their basic needs. And that's why the Palouse needs a new definition of "sustainable agriculture": Either that, or current events are going to literally run the population into the ground.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>In Christ,</DIV>
<DIV align=left>Douglas Stambler</DIV>
<DIV align=left>(Moscow, ID/Pullman, WA)</DIV>
<DIV align=left><A href="mailto:dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com">dstambler_christian_writer@yahoo.com</A></DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://pa.yahoo.com/*http://rd.yahoo.com/evt=1207/*http://promo.yahoo.com/sbc/">SBC Yahoo! DSL</a> - Now only $29.95 per month!
--0-954479760-1057938714=:31545--