>Ed, > >I agree that this topic needs to be reviewed, altered, understood and >implemented. My concern was in the tone of the conversation. Money, >guns and drugs are not the only topics that can bring a nasty tone to >an issue. > >Agriculture has become a cutthroat business. Big business has it's >hand in farms because there is a profit to be made. Family farms have >to compete in that world or change the whole concept of farming. My >wife and I have become more concerned about these issues and have >changed our buying habits accordingly. > >We rarely eat meat, if we do, it comes from a local co-op of farmers >that own the processing plant. Local farmers markets have become our >primary source for many other foods but given the climate that I live >in, we have to sometimes hit the local food co-op to get our goods. >This has become very expensive but we feel it is the responsible way >to spend our money. > >Now my question becomes do we influence the farmer or the consumer or >both? It becomes difficult to change the mind of a person on a fixed >income who is trying to get the most food for the dollar. What about >the person who makes more money than God? If they want to have Kobe >beef that has been massaged by the feet of several Geisha's and flown >by hired courier just after the calf is slaughered? > >We have become less concerned with the practice involved in getting >our food and more concerned with getting it cheap. > >Blame the farmer for wanting to make a profit. Blame the consumer >with wanting the best for the least amount of money. Blame the >middleman for muddying up the water. > >I see this as a problem that will not get it's due until the ground >cannot be farmed. > >I would rather talk about bio-fuels, > >fred
Hello Fred I agree with Ed, though I'm sure that won't knock you right off your seat with sheer surprise. :-) This IS talking about biofuels, IMHO. For instance, a lot of biofuellers get told they're depriving people of food by using scarce land to grow biofuels crops, and they often don't know how to respond. Would you know how to respond? It's wrong, but do you know how and why it's wrong? Could you explain it clearly? Maybe you could, with your farm experience, but wouldn't you agree that would probably make you an exception? By the way, I've tried to be quite careful about things like blame, I don't think I've done a lot of blaming. Questioning responsibility yes, somewhat, but that's rather less emotive and less inflaming. I'm trying just to stick with information as much as I can and not get into a lot of shouting. But it's an argument, eh? Stay cool, but no need to be too gentle. Sure, I started it, I guess, but with a statement that I see no reason to withdraw, and I wasn't looking for an argument. So let it run its course. It happens now and then. No problem. Best wishes Keith Addison Journey to Forever Handmade Projects Tokyo http://journeytoforever.org/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
