Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Do we need industrial agriculture?
Something which is even more apparent on a small island is the damage that can be done to soil through over farming and over-use of chemicals, therefore, I am in full agreement with the quote in this article, "'The true measure of agriculture is not the sophistication of its equipment, the size of its income, or the statistics of its productivity but the good health of the land." -- Wendell Berry
The article asks if there is a better way than industrial food production and gives the example of a friend who "has a small farm high up in the mountains in Tenerife, in the foothills of El Teide. He grows sweetcorn, beans, potatoes, and a wide variety of other crops, around the perimeter of the fields are over 200 fruit trees. Hens and ducks roam the fields during the winter and early spring, at night they are returned to their pens. The hens and ducks root around, digging up weeds, eating pests, manuring the fields. Eggs are laid in little nooks and crannies around the farm. As crops are grown, the hens and ducks are slowly restricted in where they can roam."
The final reckoning for me, is that I do not want to eat chemical laden, industrially produced food and, one of the greatest advantages to living in the Canary Islands, is being able to buy something that has been produced naturally and still has flavour.
The above is still a common site here in rural areas. I only hope it continues.
Do we need industrial agriculture?
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2 Comments:
Pamela wrote (on
February 25, 2007)
Thanks Sushil, having rejected the fast society for these very reasons, these are my sentiments exactly.
In response to your views on "Industrial Agriculture" I want to post a part from my article which examines the impact of Industrialization on our minds and environment.
The link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues.
The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.
Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment.
Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.
If there are no gaps there is no emotion.
Today people are thinking all the time and are mistaking thought (words/ language) for emotion.
When society switches-over from physical work (agriculture) to mental work (scientific/ industrial/ financial/ fast visuals/ fast words ) the speed of thinking keeps on accelerating and the gaps between thinking go on decreasing.
There comes a time when there are almost no gaps.
People become incapable of experiencing/ tolerating gaps.
Emotion ends.
Man becomes machine.
A society that speeds up mentally experiences every mental slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A ( travelling )society that speeds up physically experiences every physical slowing-down as Depression / Anxiety.
A society that entertains itself daily experiences every non-entertaining moment as Depression / Anxiety.
Fast visuals/ words make slow emotions extinct.
Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys emotional circuits.
A fast (large) society cannot feel pain / remorse / empathy.
A fast (large) society will always be cruel to Animals/ Trees/ Air/ Water/ Land and to Itself.
To read the complete article please follow either of these links :
PlanetSave
EarthNewsWire
sushil_yadav