Well, I said maybe there was something here for a lively discussion! Thanks
to all responders, maybe there will be more - I don't know why there have
been so many duplicates. One reader was in general agreement with my
outreach suggestion and thought low- and middle-income mothers should be
added, also anti-hunger groups. Everybody else (so far) has jumped all over
me. Very educational. Now I'd like to see if I can extricate myself from
this thornbush by rephrasing my thoughts:
1) I believe the vast majority of Americans, of both sexes, are simply
unaware that there is such a thing as sustainable agriculture, let alone why
they should find out about it. I believe those of us who are connected may
be unaware of this unawareness. I happen to think working persons, of both
sexes, would join us in supporting alternatives to agribusiness and
pesticides and herbicides - if they were informed. I do not believe the media
are going to inform them much.
2) I believe that SAN and other groups (of both sexes) who may have
networks of their own, could perhaps be more effective if we shared at least
some of the oh so valuable information that can be shared through the
Internet. Working mothers may have been a poor choice of example, but there
are other groups seeking alternatives and, by choice or otherwise, focusing
their attention on their own agendas. E.g., Groups supporting renewable
energy, rainforests, population control, home schooling, voluntary
simplicity; also groups opposing genetic engineering, nuclear power, hunger.
I mean, aren't all of us working for a better future for this planet, more
human and humane values to replace the almighty dollar, more emphasis on
filling real needs instead of creating artificial wants, more room in
everybody's life for nature's beauty?
I really think the question here is philosophical. Does SAN have a purpose?
Does it need a purpose? The nice thing is that some of us may want
information just to have it, and some of us may want it so we can act on it,
and some may want to share it, and there's enough to go around for all these
purposes. In my view, SAN is wonderful and one of the most wonderful things
about it is that it can be shared and spread about.
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By the way, in case anybody wants to know where I'm coming from. I'm a
woman, a mother and a grandmother, but not working very hard, being 71. I
had become a believer in organic farming in 1960 when my older brother died
after spraying the apple orchard, the state pathologist determined the cause
was malathion and deildrin found in his blood. In 1992 I moved back to the
family farm and for four years (from 1993 through 1996) the farm was home to
five or six apprentices who operated our certified organic farm. They did
all the work and became a sort of family each season. We had up to 20 CSA
subscribers at a time, sold at an on-site farmstand and farmers' markets,
also to restaurants and natural food stores. Those were four of the best
years of my life and the many apprentices seem to feel the same way. Most of
them are still in organic farming or related fields. I won't tell you the
ending of this story yet because I don't know it. I'll just say there was a
monstrous invasion from out-of-state by the Greed Weed and I got an
unexpected education in our judicial system. My personal goal is to set up,
on that farm or elsewhere, a non-profit headquarters where information on
organic farming and on farm financing can be gathered, used, demonstrated,
and shared.
By the way, it was only after I had to leave the farm that I found out how
few people know anything at all about organic/sustainable/alternative
agriculture.
I find it absolutely incredible that human culture, which has always been,
and must remain, totally dependent on food, should pay more attention, and
give higher priority, to everything else under the sun. And I remain ever
grateful that I grew up on a farm, which I still consider the ideal
preparation for any life.
Cheers and Exultations,
Betty Gras
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