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Aaa? Did I miss something in this discussion? Did my spam filter eat something? On Mon, 22 Jul 2002, Dean Anderson wrote: > 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 > > > > > > > > > --- > Send mail for the `bblisa' mailing list to `bblisa at bblisa.org'. > Mail administrative requests to `majordomo at bblisa.org'. > -------------- Dimitri (Dima) Shcherban Phone: 800-445-2588+3+36955 or: 508-898-6955 Westborough ext: [823]-36955 Cellular: 508-633-8192 Pager: 877-563-1780 email: dima at emc.com Pager email: 8775631780 at skytel.com
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