Re: Sustainability and limited budgets

Greg and Lei Gunthorp (hey4hogs@kuntrynet.com)
Tue, 11 Nov 97 22:00:29 PST

Can't we have sustainable production and true low cost production?
I think so. But apparently most in the sustainable movement don't beleive so.
I raise about 1000 pigs per year on pasture. I support my family with 1000 pigs per year.
I'm probably one of the lowest cost producers in the country. I'm not polluting the environment.
My neighbors don't complain about the smell. They don't smell! There are alot of grass dairies that
are the lowest cost producers in the country.
Its not me, the producer, that causes high pork prices. It is the packers, processors, and distributors.
It seems to me if we structure our sustainable systems properly we should have an extreme cost advantage. We
need more systems concentrating on conversion and sale of sunshine.
Best wishes,
Greg Gunthorp
----------
>
>
> Karen Mundy wrote:
> >I beleive that we must become sustainable, but many of my friends and my
> >family cannot afford to do so. Are there any solutions??
> >
> >Thanks for your help.
>

> If we cannot afford the future, then we are indeed doomed to repeat the past!
>
> Cheap food is a illusion. The real costs of cheap food are:
> -depletion of natural resources through soil erosion
> -consumption of non-renewable energy sources
> -health care costs resulting from diseases caused by polluted air, soil and
> water
> -the social cost of global agribusiness: declining family farms, the
> disintegration of the rural communities these farms sustain and the
> exploitation of farm labour.

>
> These costs of food production are not included in current economic
> indicators of "wealth" (such as Gross Domestic Product), but are eventually
> borne by society collectively and show up in our taxes (through
> agricultural subsidies and the expense of cleaning up environmental
> toxins), in the declining purchasing power of working people in developed
> countries, in the movement of rural populations to ever-more-crowded urban
> centers in developing nations and in the depletion of natural resources,
> all of which reduces the ability of future generations to sustain
> themselves while seriously disturbing global ecosystems.
>
> Yes, we can have cheap food and ignore the ultimate cost of that choice.
> But eventually those costs will have to be paid. I would rather pay more
> to support organic and sustainable agriculture and know that in that choice
> I am supporting a better future. As consumers, we all have the power to
> make a positive difference every time we purchase goods and sevices,
> without waiting for politicians, bureaucrats and businesspeople to do it
> for us.
>
> Jeff Gold
> Ecological Consulting Organization
>
> Lightstone Foundation, Inc.
> HC 63 Box 73
> Moyers, WV 26813
>
> 304-249-5200 telephone
> 304-249-5310 fax
>
>
>
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