tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684843.post6404056138465183625..comments2024-03-26T22:16:26.572-04:00Comments on Terrierman's Daily Dose: Pizza and PoliticsPBurnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05781540805883519064noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684843.post-18894356130099382762009-02-25T12:24:00.000-05:002009-02-25T12:24:00.000-05:00Then we can eat peanut butter.Then we can eat peanut butter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684843.post-1766034427246367912009-02-25T10:45:00.000-05:002009-02-25T10:45:00.000-05:00Um, Patrick, winter squash keeps really, really we...Um, Patrick, winter squash keeps really, really well. I have a Jarradale pumpkin on my shelf right now that I grew in 2008 and it's doing great. <BR/><BR/>I couldn't go to Pennsylvania Association of Sustainble Agriculture conference this year, but if you're interested, I'll see if I can get the PA Horticultural Society to sponsor us both to go next year. I think you'll find some very thoughtful people who are really trying to make sustainable ag work.<BR/><BR/>Grain is always going to need acerage, but urban ag in the "industrial" world and helping subsitance growers in the "third" world close the gap to pretty much nothing.<BR/><BR/>I've been in sustainable ag for nearly 25 years. While plants WANT to grow, there really is talent and knowledge in putting together a ecosystem that can feed everyone that needs to be fed and keep the system healthy into the future -- and making a profit. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunatly, the funding base from USDA just hasn't been there which is why those of us in the biz push attra.org (the only branch of USDA that does research and puts it all together) and are really hammering the current administration to increase the research and throw open the information.<BR/><BR/>Not everyone should have to read Steiner in 19th century German to understand nutrient cycling in an agricultural system (my PA Dutch relatives say Steiner has no style, so everyone makes Don Yoder, the Groundhog Day book author, read the original when someone has to -- the perils of being a German dialect scholar! ;-)) Steiner was nuttier than a fruitcake in almost all other aspects of his life, but he GOT nutrient cycling. <BR/><BR/>However, why the heck is he STILL the standard? You've got Dr. Ray Weil at the University of Maryland and Elaine Ingram (UC Davis now?) and who else?<BR/><BR/>DoreneRocambolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04723765275954949223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684843.post-39670858871296848392009-02-25T02:40:00.000-05:002009-02-25T02:40:00.000-05:00I have a very positive review of the book on the b...I have a very positive review of the book on the blog. That said, what Michael Pollan knows about sustainability is pretty close to zero, and the omission of a discussion of that in his book is a BIG omission. The world cannot live on backyard gardens and backyard chickens and grass fed beef, and hunting feral pig. I am all for those, but they are nicety, and not a necessity. In world of 6.2 billion people (and growing), we have created an unbridled need for industrial agriculture. You cannot pull up corn and soy, and plant pumpkins and squash, bell peppers, and green beans because we do not have a labor pool to harvest those crops, nor do they store well as commodities. Nor do we have enought wildlife or wild places to hunt and gather. It all comes down to too many people.<BR/><BR/>PatrickPBurnshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05781540805883519064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684843.post-35745102618453018292009-02-24T23:03:00.000-05:002009-02-24T23:03:00.000-05:00I'm about halfway through "The Omnivore's Dilemma"...I'm about halfway through "The Omnivore's Dilemma". Sobering.sfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14641207520270872175noreply@blogger.com