Thanks for your comments, I think I see where you are coming from, and I
guess I failed to make myself clear. Creating divisions within sustainable
agriculture is the last thing I would want to do.
My thought is to bring groups in contact that have already been <defined>
somehow, rather than <divide> or <segregate> them.
If we battle agribusiness, is it because it is putting small organic farms
out of business, or because we feel it is a threat to all humanity?
And is it just agribusiness on the other side, or is agribusiness supported
by government and/or the media and/or public passivity?
And is public passivity the result of not caring or not knowing?
Final question: How would you feel about outreach to supporters of renewable
energy?
Betty,
Personally, I think that it is counterproductive and eventually
destructive to try and compartmentalize, divide, or define sensible
agriculture by sex. Just as many women work outside the home, many males
are assuming the roles of nurturer and nourisher. Husbands and fathers
as well as wives and mother all care. The problems and obstacles in the
path of educating the citizenry of the production, processing, and
distribution of our food involve all humans not females or males.
I believe that we humans developing and managing facets of sensible
food systems are making considerable progress, and I would not like to
see a segregation of any of the component parts along the lines of eggs
and sperm. I think we have a difficult enough task ahead in battling
agribusiness without adding excess baggage or alienating anyone along
the journey.
Androgynously, Rich
PetersFarm@aol.com wrote:
>
> Dear SAN members:
>
> A student wrote me recently, wondering how sustainable/organic can gather
> support when most people just don't seem to care. Specifically, <what are
> the mind-blocks in these people's heads?> In context, <these people> means
> the people who don't seem to care. Two parts of my reply have since been
> churning in my mind. Maybe there's something here for a lively discussion.
>
> The two parts are quoted later for anyone interested, but for brevity's
sake
> here is the gist:
>
> 1) Society has always expected wives and mothers to be responsible for
> seeing that others were properly nourished. Today, most American women
are
> expected to work outside the home. Working mothers barely have time to
order
> pizza. It takes time to be informed about how food is grown and processed.
> It takes time even to learn that one needs such information. (Among you
> SAN members, how many are working women with NO connection to farming at
home
> or at work?)
>
> (I believe wives and mothers do care, I believe it is an instinct, a
genetic
> heritage, that Monsanto has not gotten its hands on yet.)
>
> 2) In The Turning Point, a classic of the 1970's, Fritjof Capra wrote in
> depth about many serious problems in our culture, but he still had hope,
> based on the number of grass-roots groups pursuing alternatives. What is
> needed, Capra said, was for such groups to join forces and work together.
> One group mentioned was the feminist movement. (As I see it, feminism
> opened the door to opportunity outside the home and then pushed women
through
> it.)
>
> QUESTION: Should we, could we, do we, reach out to working mothers? If
> we don't, does anybody else? If we want to, how could we do it? Is there
a
> network for Sustainable Motherhood?
>
> Thanks in advance for feedback.
>
> Betty Gras.
> ----------
>
> I wrote the student, in part:
>
> >. . . as I see it, the human mind is only capable of processing a certain
> amount of input in a given day, and that capability, in this country and
this
> time, is stretched to the limit and beyond by news (mostly bad),
advertising
> (almost entirely bad), music (loud and nervous), and the demands of
family
> (if any) and the workplace (for just about everybody.)>
>
> >This last may be one of the problems, although it seems unrelated: Most
> women today work outside the home. By tradition and by genetics, women
are
> the ones who would normally be most concerned about the connection between
> food and health. Women at work have little time and freedom to think
about
> anything other than their jobs. At home the myriad chores that used to be
> spread through the day have to be crammed into a few hours. The stress and
> tension that result (I call it "strension") are especially draining for
women
> with children - the very women who would normally be the most concerned of
> all, the ones who would otherwise read, listen, and think.>
>
> The other part that now seems to connect:
>
> > One of my all time favorite books was written back in the 70's, like many
> other great books. This was The Turning Point, by Fritjof Capra, a
nuclear
> physicist of all things! It's a rather depressing overview of what's
wrong
> with several aspects of our culture, but at the end he gives reason for
hope.
> He was thoroughly convinced (at that time) that the movements in our
> culture, welling up from grass roots rather than handed down from above,
were
> headed for the same goal. He believed that the turning point would come
> when these movements recognized their commonality and joined together
instead
> of struggling independently.
>
> B.G.
>
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