>I understand >that there is thought to be more acreage in Oz than in the rest of >the world, so how much is there else where?
It's definitely slight here in the US. Courtney would have a fair idea of the number of acres preps are being purchased for, but since we do not have bd farm advisors any longer and since so few farms in the US are demeter certfied, it is difficult to know The A.P. figures are always thrown around as something impressive. This is neither here nor there, really, but it does fall on a reporter to investigate their facts. It seems that this 2,000,000 acres of BD in Australia is unsubstantiated. It's interesting how contrary views can be. Someone earlier mentioned that AP had 'the guts and determination to put BD on national television.' Here in the US, we'd just call that 'good sense and ambition.' But, in actuality, wasn't the good sense and courage on the part of someone at ABC? It's interesting the power a video has on an audience. I know that much of Podolinsky's name recognition comes from that wonderful ABC program, which is replayed at farm conferences all over this country. We were working with an urban garden organizer who had an incredible video done by PBS about his project. People were so entralled with him through that video that they were willing to overlook that he really wasn't growing stuff as much as he was sucking in other people's generosities and that his garden programs sometimes only involved a couple of trips to the garden by bussed children (Plant the vegetables and then come back in a couple of months and FIND the vegetables.) Worse, he used chemicals, which was never mentioned in the tv show and everyone JUST ASSUMED he was organic. Anyway, video seems to slide way into the brainpan and just stay there. (The CIA was right.) But I digress. Again, I'm not knocking A.P. or his approach or his followers. what I am doing is trying to substantiated this very impressive figure. I'm not the least bit opposed, you understand, to getting that much prep out on that much land. Which reminds me: anyone know how many horns A.P. buried this past year? -Allan
