Still, I*ve never met a farmer who undertakes his management with the
express purpose of degrading his or her land, similarly I*ve never met an
environmentalist who is taking a particular stance in order to destroy the
livelihoods of farming families. Individually, members of different interest
groups generally are prepared to admit that there is a lack of
misunderstanding on both sides and lament that under the current
adversarial socio-political system they have to overstate their case (and
further entrench their differences) in order to come to the bargaining
table. Perhaps the real challenges facing those who advocate
sustainability - such as those on this group - is to develop the
understanding, knowledge, forums and learning environments to better
inform and support more sustainable decision-making.
As I recall, the current Farm Bureau debate began with postings outlining
some positive initiatives from, I think, Hawaii and Maryland (involving the
Bureau) to meet these challenges. A number of other earlier messages
on this list have described other cooperative initiatives between farmers
and scientists, the csa programmes represent another form of
cooperation and learning. In our own work in New Zealand we are
working with the community to develop processes to better align the
planning and management efforts of different segments of society
(farmers, environmentalists, policy makers, etc.) towards a more
coordinated set of environmental goals. Rather than further polarise
positions, it would be good to hear from more members of this group that
are working on other cooperative and learning-based initiatives that
attempt to overcome the problems that this debate is highlighting.
William Allen
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research
PO Box 282
Alexandra, NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64-3-4489093
Fax: +64-3-4488160
E-mail: allenw@landcare.cri.nz