BBLISA: Re: Overqualified?!?!

[dean at av8.com (Dean Anderson)]

I don't want to bust your bubble, because its off the line of discussion,
but New England farmstands frequently aren't really farms.  Well, they may
grow some small amount of food, and sell it locally. But they can't
produce anywhere close to the amount of food they sell in one week.  
There is a good chance that what you belong to is a up and coming
supermarket chain disguised as a farm.  Most people who grew up in the
city just don't understand the scale of farming required to support a
large population. They go to the local farm stand, look at the 20 to 80
acres under till, and assume that all or most of the food they buy at the
farmstand store is locally grown and "more organic" than that bought at
Star Market.  

When you look at the small fields here and there around Boston, keep in
mind they are mainly for appearance. Rather like a museum. They are either
hobby farms (someone just "relaxing" with a large garden tractor), or
"ambience" for farmstands. They don't produce enough for even their local
community to eat.

Very likely you depend on food grown in the midwest, and shipped out here
to farmstands and StarMarket, and such.  Even things like milk production
is tiny compared with the national total.  There isn't enough production
here for you to buy locally.  Most likely, that box of vegetables
originates from farms that sold it to Tyson Foods, ADM, and Cargill, just
like the box that Star Market sells.

The problem is that food is grown far away from population centers. He who
controls the distribution, enslaves the farmers.

Also, I wouldn't eat anything grown here. The ground water is toxic and
unsafe in nearly every town.  You can't have your own well, and if you
have one, you can't use it. Likewise for the rivers in New England. Now,
consider that most of the weight of the vegetable is water, and that the
water comes from either the ground water (though roots or irrigation) or
river water (irrigation) or rain water (which is also mildly toxic
anywhere around greater Boston), and you wouldn't want to eat anything
"home grown".

		--Dean

On Fri, 19 Jul 2002, Alex Aminoff wrote:

> On Thu, 18 Jul 2002, Dean Anderson wrote:
> 
> > Farmers don't have this capability. If you don't sell the cattle, you
> > don't have room to raise more, and you have to keep feeding them. If you
> > don't sell the grain, it rots.  You have to keep selling. If the price
> > drops, you lose. There is nothing you can do, but hope it doesn't last too
> > long.  The markup from Farm to Supermarket is about 1000 percent. The
> > farmer is at the mercy of the food chain. pun intended.
> 
> Several farms are trying to escape this trend by eliminating as much of 
> the chain as possible. We belong to a Community Supported Agriculture 
> farm, where we pay a yearly fixed fee, and in exchange get a box of fresh 
> organic vegetables delivered each week. We pay the farm directly and they 
> own and drive the truck that delivers the vegetables.
> 
> My suggestion for the IT industry would be similar: try to eliminate 
> layers of middlemen between those who need IT services and those who 
> provide it. Small, employee-owned consulting shops who find clients 
> directly, not allowing any agency to take a cut, are ideal.
> 
>  - Alex Aminoff
>    BaseSpace.net
> 
> 
>