BBLISA: Re: Overqualified?!?!

[Dima]

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
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
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> 

--------------

Dimitri (Dima) Shcherban

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