Harold Reetz wrote:
> After 25+ years in Extension and Industry agronomist positions, I find it
> difficult to sit back and read the attacks on the "system" that are included
> in this "list" without responding. It appears that this is really a forum
> for the anti-science, anti-industry people to post their ideas and their
> attacks on science and industry. Comments such as the importance of
> "values" in addition to science....implying that the progress we have made
> in agriculture has been at the expense of values. There also seems to be a
> general trend in this thread to looking for any negatives about GMOs and
> other technology.....implying that GMO is a BAD thing.
>
> I had hoped this was a forum for a more balanced discussion and assessment
> of facts. I guess that is asking too much. But I am concerned about the
> comments that the new technologies in agriculture are creating hazards and
> quality problems when there is no evidence to support such claims.
> Agriculture has changed and will never be the same as we remember in the
> "good old days", but the cause/effect relationship is not nearly so much a
> result of technology as it is our nations desire to have cheap, abundant and
> healthy food. We use technology to accomplish that better than any other
> nation in the world. Our success makes it possible for 98% of our
> population to NOT live on the farm and grow their own food. Were it not for
> the science and technology and the large-scale intensive production systems
> we have implemented over the past 50+ years, more people would be forced
> into growing food and thus would have less time to attack those who do grow
> it.
>
> I am proud of the progress we have made in attacking pest and disease
> problems with reduced reliance on pesticides. Doing it with GMOs, with
> cultural practices, and overall systems management, we have a great story to
> tell. There is apparently a certain population who feel obliged to attack
> progress. They fought pesticides and when we replaced pesticide use with
> GMOs, many of the same people jumped from the anti-pesticide bandwagon to
> the anti-GMO bandwagon.
>
> Another comment in this thread points out that many of the world's food
> problems are political, rather than production problems. That is true. And
> the kind of discussions this thread is fostering help to support those
> political problems.
>
> There are also some anti-Avery comments that I am concerned about. Dennis
> has a pretty solid story that if it weren't for our use of technology, much
> more of the world's natural forest ecosystems would be turned into food
> production. Our high yield management systems in the US can do much more to
> help save the rain forests and deserts and to protect fragile ecosystems
> than any other option we have before us. Most of our food crops could not
> survive in nature. Most of our agriculture could not survive without
> continuous infusion of technology. It is our success with technology that
> gives us the abundance and efficiency that allows more people to NOT be
> involved in food production. I doubt that you will find a large percentage
> of the 98% non-producers who would trade their life styles with going back
> to producing their own food.
>
> Maybe instead of complaining about the direction of this list, I should just
> remove my name from it. For now, thanks for letting me vent my concerns.
>
> Harold Reetz
>
> Dr. Harold F. Reetz, Jr.
> Midwest Director, Potash & Phosphate Institute
> Vice President, Foundation for Agronomic Research
> 111 East Washington Street
> Monticello, Illinois 61856-1640
>
> Phone: 217-762-2074
> FAX: 217-762-8655
> e-mail: hreetz@ppi-far.org
> PPI Home Page: http://www.ppi-far.org
> InfoAg99: http://www.ppi-far.org/infoag99
> Site-Specific Project: http://www.farmresearch.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu
> [mailto:owner-sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 1999 12:03 PM
> To: sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: sanet-mg-digest V1 #1012
>
> sanet-mg-digest Wednesday, May 12 1999 Volume 01 : Number 1012
>
> In this issue:
>
> RE: information and extension's role
> Research into Community Supported Agriculture in the UK
> Spain's Largest Retailer Blocks Biotech Foods
> Re: information, extension, biotech, philosophy
> health insurance
> FW: For Real: A Store-Bought Tomato with Vine-Ripened Taste
> Credit where credit is due department ...
> Bt Resistance: HELP PLEASE
> Re: health insurance
> Re: Research into Community Supported Agriculture in the UK
> New book on community-supported agriculture (CSA)
> Re: information, extension, biotech, philosophy
>
> See the end of the digest for information about sanet-mg-digest.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 09:31:51 -0500
> From: Andrew McGuire <AMCGUIRE1@UNL.EDU>
> Subject: RE: information and extension's role
>
> Thank you Bill for your post. I agree with it and support your position.
> As a relative newcomer to extension, I have learned quickly that any
> questions about where the technology will lead us is soon countered with
> "that is your opinion" or "stick to science-based information." The idea
> that we can present information with no values attached, the neutral
> science argument, seems to be prevalent in extension. I believe that it is
> impossible to not bring in values to our work. If we try to eliminate
> values, then they will sneak into the vacuum and we have values by default,
> which are the worst kind, because we do not even recognize them.
>
> Here in Nebraska, there is lots of talk about listening to the people and
> designing an extension program to serve their needs. Well, it seems to me
> that the land grant universities have been doing that for many years and
> rural areas, at least the rural area I live in, has been declining in turn.
> Maybe it is because extension, even more so than the population they
> serve, resists the change needed to make real progress in those areas that
> come up over and over in their need assessments, such as ag profitability,
> rural quality of life, and natural resource conservation. Extension and
> the university see themselves as mainstream and mainstreet, and so find it
> hard to take any action that will direct them away from the current food
> system, Walmart, and McDonalds.
>
> Again, I concur with what Bill has said, we must decide where we want to
> go, then decide which tools have the most potential to take us there, and
> use them.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Andy McGuire, Extension Educator
> AMCGUIRE1@UNL.EDU
> P.O. Box 736 office 402-254-2280
> Hartington NE 68739 fax 402-254-6891
> University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension
>
> On Tuesday, May 11, 1999 6:18 PM, Bill Liebhardt
> [SMTP:wcliebhardt@ucdavis.edu] wrote:
> >
> > As a native of Wisconsin I found the posts of Julie and Laura raising
> > questions that are at the core of what it is to be in the land grant
> system
> > and what our role is in developing information and getting it out. I
> have
> > often raised questions about where we are going with GMO's and that whole
> >
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 14:37:01 +0000
> From: "Paul Cook (COUNTRYSIDE)" <Paul.Cook@countryside.gov.uk>
> Subject: Research into Community Supported Agriculture in the UK
>
> Dear All,
>
> I am currently conducting research into the CSA experience in the US, with a
> view to looking at whether the principle would translate to the UK farming
> system.
>
> Through conducting various word searches on the internet I have managed to
> obtain some very interesting background information on the CSA experience in
> US, this included articles by Robyn Van En, UMass and MISA. I am also in
> the
> process of obtaining a report entitled "Facing a Watershed: Managing
> Profitable
> and Sustainable Landscapes in the 21st Century" from the University of
> Nebraska, and also a report which showcases ten years of SARE entitled "Ten
> Years of SARE: A Decade of Programs, Partnerships and Progress" from Andy
> Clark
> Ph.D, at the National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.
>
> Do you know of any other reports/publications that provide an overview of
> the
> CSA experience in the US so far?. Highlights, problems, legalities etc. (I
> already hold details of UMass Extension reading list, shown on the website).
> If applicable I would also be grateful if you could point me in the
> direction
> of any actual or planned research that considers the translation of the CSA
> approach to the UK farming system. I have searched the internet for UK
> examples but as yet have had no luck.
>
> Thank you very much for your assistance.
>
> Kind Regards
>
> Paul
>
> PAUL COOK
> Farming & Forestry Branch
> Countryside Agency
> John Dower House
> Crescent Place
> Cheltenham
> Gloucestershire
> GL50 3RA
> England
> UK
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 07:53:40 -0800
> From: colibri@west.net
> Subject: Spain's Largest Retailer Blocks Biotech Foods
>
> Spain's Largest Retailer Blocks Biotech Foods
>
> MADRID, Spain, May 11, 1999 (ENS) - Spain's largest supermarket chain,
> Pryca, announced Monday that it is phasing out the use of genetically
> modified (GM) ingredients in own-brand food products sold in its 58 stores.
>
> Genetically modified foodstuffs include some varieties of soy beans, canola
> oil, corn, cottonseed oil, potatoes, squash and tomatoes.
>
> Describing the decision as "a response to public fears," a Pryca
> spokesperson said that the company had instructed suppliers to stop using GM
> ingredients in products which carry the company trademark by the end of this
> year.
>
> Carrefour, the supermarket giant which owns the largest shareholding in
> Pryca, has already introduced a similar measure in its French stores.
>
> Pryca's decision was described by the Spanish Consumers' Union as "a
> marketing exercise" and "ineffective because GM ingredients are so
> widespread and difficult to identify."
>
> Laurate canola is a proprietary product marketed by Calgene Oils under the
> brand name LAURICAL(r). Approved in the U.S. and Canada, it is used in
> confectionery coatings, coffee whiteners, icings and whipped toppings as
> well as in soaps. However, Diego Herranz of the environmental group
> Ecologists in Action welcomed the move and said his organisation expected
> the decision to cause "a chain reaction against GM ingredients." The group
> has been pressing for a similar undertaking from other major Spanish food
> retailers.
>
> Marks and Spencer Espaqa and Nestli Espaqa said that their companies' policy
> was neither to sell nor produce foods containing genetically-modified
> ingredients.
>
> Spain is the biggest importer of GM soya and the European Union's only
> significant producer of GM maize.
>
> Some 19,000 hectares of GM maize (corn) were planted last year, according to
> government figures. The upper house of the Spanish parliament today begins
> debating a new law on the production and sale of foods which will include
> the issue of genetically modified ingredients.
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 08:57:59 -0600
> From: Jane Sooby <phrc031@unlvm.unl.edu>
> Subject: Re: information, extension, biotech, philosophy
>
> Dear Bart,
>
> Your observations are very timely and to the point. Dale used the industry
> arguments that agricultural products may be "improved" by genetic
> manipulation so that fruits may be designed to carry certain medications;
> grains will be designed to have particular nutritional compositions; etc.
>
> Does this approach strike anyone else as back-asswards? Is not the bounty of
> nature enough to suit our needs? Have we not co-evolved with the plants and
> animals that share this planet with us? Even the Avery-esque arguments about
> increasing yields with intensive chemical production techniques fail when
> you consider that hunger is such a political phenomenon, a result of
> mis-distribution rather than low production.
>
> The blinders that result in tunnel vision are firmly in place in many
> sectors of society, and agriculture is certainly no exception. Yes, friends,
> we have a *universe* of alternatives if only we would allow ourselves to see
> them. How about using an ecological approach, working with the cycles of
> nature, the complex dynamics of soil, and the miraculous natural
> capabilities of plants to attempt to improve the nutritional value of our
> food and feed by utilizing what is already there? Sir Albert Howard was
> advocating such a holistic approach 50 years ago or more.
>
> The simple answer is that the profit potential from this approach is very
> limited as it relies not on chemical or biotechnological inputs but on
> intensive system management, therefore industry would not be very interested
> in it.
>
> But what is really important: profit or authentically feeding and nourishing
> the world? Learning how apathetic the majority of American consumers are
> compared to their European counterparts is discouraging. Without external
> pressure from consumers, industry is free to set the terms of discussion and
> sell the illusion that maximizing control of natural processes is equivalent
> to maximizing human benefit. I dispute this equation.
>
> >We are so slow to learn.
> <snip>
> >Thirteen years later, Rachel Carson had quite cogently outlined the
> >degree to which Pickett had been correct. Nevertheless, almost 40 years
> >after Carson's work the devastation continues, as we apply (in the USA
> >alone) nearly 500 million kg of active material, over 99% of which
> >misses the target organism, while overall percentage losses of crop to
> >disease, insects, and weeds is actually *higher* that it was in the
> >1930s.
>
> You are right on, Bart. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your knowledge.
>
> Jane Sooby
>
> University of Nebraska-Lincoln alternative crops research technician
> Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society western organizer
>
> High Plains Ag Lab
> 3257 Rd. 109
> Sidney, NE 69162
>
> 308-254-3918
> 308-254-2402 (FAX)
> 308-254-0725 (HOME)
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Sat, 08 May 1999 17:36:46 -0500
> From: "Michelle M. Miller" <mmmille6@facstaff.wisc.edu>
> Subject: health insurance
>
> Mark was looking for information on health insurance for farmers....
> National Farmers Union offers health insurance, usually through its state
> affiliates. They have a website where you can access the state offices - I
> think MA has one, Mark.
>
> The National Farmers Union is a progressive, grass roots family farm
> organization concerned about all aspects of life on farms and all members
> of farm families. There are sister NFUs in other countries, as well. Here
> in the US, NFU started in Point, Texas in 1903. In the 40s / 50s it worked
> with the Highlander Institute. The organization has benefited family
> farmers since its beginning as a voice in the national and state policy
> arenas, in helpping farmers start cooperatives, and keeping its members
> and their children educated on farm issues. I went through the youth
> program, where I learned how to start a coop, self-govern, and write my
> legislators, and where I learned about concentration in agriculture and
> corporate control of the food system. Lots of the organic growers in
> Wisconsin purchase their insurance through Farmers Union. NFU also
> participates in the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
>
> The NFU site, which represents 300,000 US family farmers and ranchers in 24
> states, takes on farmers' issues and legislation from the average farmer's
> point of view. The organization also works for rural community legislation.
> You can find out about the organization, browse the newsletter, and have a
> look at the issues it is currently
> dealing with. Included is a state-by-state organization directory.
>
> The URL is http://www.nfu.org.
>
> Progressive Farmer listed this as a "best of the internet" site.
>
> Best -
>
> Michelle Miller
> Pesticide Use and Risk Reduction Project
> Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
> University of Wisconsin - Madison
>
> U.S. Mail: 146 Agriculture Hall 608.262.7135
> Campus: 1535 Observatory Drive 608.262.5200
> Madison, WI 53706 fax 265.3020
> www.wisc.edu/cias/ mmmille6@facstaff.wisc.edu
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 08:42:08 -0700
> From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
> Subject: FW: For Real: A Store-Bought Tomato with Vine-Ripened Taste
>
> - ----------
> From: "ARS News Service" <isnv@ars-grin.gov>
> To: "ARS News List" <ars-news@ars-grin.gov>
> Subject: For Real: A Store-Bought Tomato with Vine-Ripened Taste
> Date: Wed, May 12, 1999, 6:58 AM
>
> STORY LEAD:
> For Real: A Store-Bought Tomato with Vine-Ripened Taste
>
> - -----------
> ARS News Service
> Agricultural Research Service, USDA
> May 12, 1999
> Doris Stanley Lowe, (301) 893-6727, dstanley@asrr.arsusda.gov
> - -----------
>
> Changing the levels of a key hormone in tomatoes could lead to fruit that
> tastes better and lasts longer, Agricultural Research Service scientists
> report. Research shows such a tomato to be only a few years away.
>
> ARS plant physiologist Jerry D. Cohen and colleagues have genetically
> altered the levels of auxin, a hormone which causes a tomato to grow and
> ripen. It's the best known-and probably the most important-of the five major
> plant hormones.
>
> Scientists have been studying auxin for more than 120 years. They've been
> able to change auxin levels, but the changes were expressed throughout the
> plant, not just in the fruit. The aim is to control the hormone production
> so that it can be introduced into specific, targeted tissues--such as the
> fruit-- without affecting the growth processes in other parts of the plant.
>
> At the ARS Horticultural Crops Quality Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., Cohen
> and colleagues inserted a backwards copy of iaglu-a gene from corn-into a
> tomato to turn this gene off. Because the gene was put in with a
> fruit-specific promoter, only the tomato fruit was affected. The resultant
> fruit ripened more slowly. This work is in collaboration with scientists in
> the ARS Climate Stress Laboratory in Beltsville. ARS is the chief scientific
> agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
>
> Another plus for auxin: Decreasing the gene's level of expression throughout
> receptor plants caused them to easily form large numbers of roots from
> cuttings and spurred rapid root growth in germinating seedlings. This could
> be significant for plants that are difficult to root from cuttings and could
> increase the survival rate of seeds planted in dry soils.
>
> Cohen expects this research to produce a store-bought tomato with
> vine-ripened taste in about 3 years.
>
> ----------
> Scientific contact: Jerry D. Cohen, ARS Horticultural Crops Quality
> Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., phone (703) 306-1442, fax (703) 306-0355,
> jdcohen@NSF.gov (on detail to the National Science Foundation until October
> 1999).
> - ----------
> This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information
> distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the
> latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at
> http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm.
> * Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: isnv@ars-grin.gov.
> * ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD
> 20705-5128, (301) 504-1617, fax 504-1648.
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 15:52:00 +0100
> From: "Bluestem Associates" <bluestem@webserf.net>
> Subject: Credit where credit is due department ...
>
> On Wed, 12 May 1999 08:57:59 -0600, Jane Sooby wrote:
>
> >>Thirteen years later, Rachel Carson had quite cogently outlined the
> >>degree to which Pickett had been correct. Nevertheless, almost 40 years
> >>after Carson's work the devastation continues, as we apply (in the USA
> >>alone) nearly 500 million kg of active material, over 99% of which
> >>misses the target organism, while overall percentage losses of crop to
> >>disease, insects, and weeds is actually *higher* that it was in the
> >>1930s.
> >
> >You are right on, Bart. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your knowledge.
>
> For those not familiar with it, this "knowledge" is the result of work
> by David Pimentel, entomologist at Cornell.
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 09:30:54 -0700
> From: Charles Benbrook <benbrook@hillnet.com>
> Subject: Bt Resistance: HELP PLEASE
>
> The May 7, 1999 Science has a critical article on the genetics of Bt
> resistance in European corn borer (F. Huang, L.L. Buschman, Higgins,
> McGaughey, "Inheritance of Resistance to Bt Toxin (Dipel ES) in the ECB,"
> page 965-967).
>
> The new finding is that one or a few genes account for resistance
> observed in the lab, and that the gene is "incompletely dominant autosomal."
> Heretofore, most people thought the gene was recessive; the high
> dose/refugia resistance management strategy depends upon this gene being
> recessive. The author's state that if their finding holds, there will be
> need to rethink ECB resistance management plans.
>
> BTW, this is a good example of the scientific surprises that can be
> expected as we move into the ag biotech era. This is part because genetic
> changes unleashed across millions of acres (or in a backyard) can cause so
> many horrendously complex secondary and tertiary responses in ecosystems,
> and secondarily because the science has not been done -- Ann Clark's point
> that there has been a systematic effort to NOT look under certain rocks.
> Wouldn't one think that the genetics of resistance in the ECB would be a
> subject of serious analysis well before 20 million acres are being planted
> in the U.S. corn belt. But clearly it was not; it is my sense (someone
> correct me if I am wrong) that the work these scientists did could have been
> done before had the funding and commitment been present to look under that
> rock.
>
> For the non-geneticists among us, would someone please post a
> lay-person's explanation of what an "incompletely dominant autosomal gene"
> is; along with an explanation of why this matters so much in designing a
> resistance management strategy. If someone would be willing to talk me
> through it, I'll write it up for the list.
>
> Another relatively urgent request -- I am working on an assessment
> of the ECB Bt-corn resistance management plan that is under EPA review now.
> I, and others, need very quick help on a key issue. What insects spend some
> time in corn fields, and might develop resistance to Bt, that in other
> life-stages spend time in fruit and vegetable crops where growers are now
> largely reliant on foliar Bts for Lepidopteran control? If you know of
> people who have thought about this and could help create a list, and provide
> some sense of the potential for insect migration carrying resistance genes
> into other regions, please be in touch. I am willing to provide a modest
> level of $$ for anyone that can turn something out quickly (i.e. about 2
> weeks). I will also eventually share what we learn with the list. So you
> bug-flow experts out there, please be in touch.
>
> chuck
>
> Charles Benbrook 208-263-5236 (voice)
> Benbrook Consulting Services 208-263-7342 (fax)
> 5085 Upper Pack River Road benbrook@hillnet.com [e-mail]
> Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 http://www.pmac.net
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 13:56:15 -0400
> From: Bob MacGregor <rdmacgregor@gov.pe.ca>
> Subject: Re: health insurance
>
> Insurers are usually a pretty hard-nose, practical bunch who stick to what
> their actuarial tables tell them. I was idly wondering whether organic
> farmers might get a lower insurance rate (for health or life insurance) than
> conventional, chemical farmers. If the actuarial tables suggest that the
> risk of health affects is less for organic farmers, lower rates would
> certainly be justified. On the other hand, maybe the risk of injury or
> death from machinery use is so overwhelming (relatively speaking) that it
> masks any effect of chemical exposure. Does anyone on the list know?
> BOB
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 12:59:32 -0400
> From: Susan Smalley <smalley@msue.msu.edu>
> Subject: Re: Research into Community Supported Agriculture in the UK
>
> Paul,
>
> Your inquiry provides a wonderful opportunity to share a new publication
> with you and the SANET world -- The Many Faces of Community Supported
> Agriculture (CSA): A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture in Indiana,
> Michigan, & Ohio. The guide profiles CSA farms, their philosophy and
> activitey within all three states. "Many Faces" is the result of a
> year-long collaborative effort among the Michigan Organic Food and Farm
> Alliance (MOFFA), the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA),
> and Sustainable Earth, Inc., and was supported by a Professional
> Development Program grant from the North Central Region Sustainable
> Agriculture Research and Extension program (NCR SARE).
>
> Dr. Laura Delind, anthropologist and CSA member, coordinated the project
> and edited the 107-page book. Each of the 35 CSA's it profiles is unique,
> and reading about them is a great way to get "the feel" of CSA life and
> meet the people who are involved. They share both the opportunities and
> the challenges they have experienced.
>
> Copies of the book have been sent to county Extension offices in Michigan,
> Ohio and Indiana. Additional copies are available for $10/copy including
> shipping and handling, from MOFFA, PO Box 530, Hartland, MI 48353,
> 810-632-7952; OEFFA, PO Box 82234, Columbus, OH 43202, 614-267-3663;
> Sustainable Earth, Inc., 100 Georgeton Ct., West Lafayette, IN 47906,
> 765-463-9366. You may also contact Dr. DeLind directly at
> delind@pilot.msu.edu or 517-355-7490.
>
> Susan B. Smalley
> Extension Specialist
> Sustainable Food & Farming Systems smalley@msue.msu.edu
> Michigan State University 517-432-0049 Voice
> Department of Crop & Soil Sciences 517-353-3834 Fax
> 270 Plant & Soil Science Building
> East Lansing, MI 48824-1325
>
> >02:37 PM 5/12/99 +0000, Paul Cook (COUNTRYSIDE) wrote:
> >Dear All,
> >
> >I am currently conducting research into the CSA experience in the US, with
> a
> >view to looking at whether the principle would translate to the UK farming
> >system.
>
> >Do you know of any other reports/publications that provide an overview of
> the
> >CSA experience in the US so far?. Highlights, problems, legalities etc.
> >
> >PAUL COOK
> >Farming & Forestry Branch
> >Countryside Agency
> >John Dower House
> >Crescent Place
> >Cheltenham
> >Gloucestershire
> >GL50 3RA
> >England
> >UK
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 13:05:32 -0400
> From: Andy Clark <aclark@nal.usda.gov>
> Subject: New book on community-supported agriculture (CSA)
>
> Date: Mon, 10 May 1999 08:51:30 -0500
> To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
> From: Helen Husher <hhusher@zoo.uvm.edu>
> Subject: new book on community-supported agriculture
>
> Sharing the Harvest:
> A Guide to Community-Supported Agriculture
>
> A new guide to community-supported agriculture is now available, written
> in part by Robyn Van En, who founded Induan Line Farm, the first
> community-supported farm in The United States, and in part by Elizabeth
> Henderson, co-author of The Real Dirt and a leader in
> community-supported agriculture, or CSA, for more than a decade.
>
> Sharing the Harvest questions what it means to have
> grapes from Chile, apples from New Zealand, and tomatoes from Holland
> in U.S. grocery stores. Fresh food can be surprisingly difficult to
> find in our culture of abundance, and the search for it is close to the
> heart of the CSA movement. CSA allows consumers to buy shares in a
> farm's produce before it is planted, thus giving the farmer cash flow
> when cash is needed; the CSA model also allows farmers to work directly
> with consumers, allowing more of the consumer food dollar to stay on
> the local farm.
>
> Sharing the Harvest offers case histories, pointers,
> models, and strategies for starting and running a CSA. The risks and
> satisfactions of production, labor, and management vary greatly from
> farm to farm, and the book captures the wide range of choices available
> to people interested in starting a CSA operation. With charts, photos,
> and a resource section, Sharing the Harvest is for
> anyone interested in alternative farming. The book, which is the
> product of a partnership with Northeast SARE and Chelsea Green
> Publishing, can be ordered from Chelsea Green at 800/639-4099.
>
> *************************************
>
> Helen Husher
>
> Writer/Editor
> Northeast Region Sustainable Agriculture
> Research and Education (SARE) Program
> Hills Building -- Carrigan Drive
> University of Vermont
> Burlington, VT 05405-0082
>
> Phone: 802-656-0554
> Fax: 802-656-4656
>
> **************************************
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 1999 11:58:58 -0600
> From: "Douglas M. Hinds" <dmhinds@acnet.net>
> Subject: Re: information, extension, biotech, philosophy
>
> I haven't been giving full attention to this thread. The "value added"
> logic of those
> who support / defend the use of GMO's in daily life (rather to correct
> serious
> pathologies in limited situations) ignores the counter-evolutionary and
> invasive
> implications of the **methodology** (emphasis intended) and the discrepancy
> between
> intrinsic and implied ("added") value. The problem is intensified as GMO's
> themselves
> reproduce genetically, what didn't begin genetically (at least in that
> species).
>
> The crux of the issue is that of accountability, risk calculation and the
> where the burden
> of evidence should lie. With DDT and cigarettes, the promoters also denied
> any negative
> results and many deaths occurred as a result, before the record was set
> straight.
> The GMO issue is both more complex and more insidious.
>
> No agreement will be reached as the motivation behind the promoting group is
> clearly
> mercenary, despite the veil of "value added". The only solution will be
> legislative and
> since legislators themselves are generated by (and therefore subject to)
> marketing
> and the public's response, and therefore: Someone's ass WILL have to get
> kicked,
> and the sooner the better.
>
> I will not respond to further comments on this thread (for now).
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
>
> On 12/05/99 at 8:57 AM Jane Sooby wrote:
>
> >Dear Bart,
> >
> >Your observations are very timely and to the point. Dale used the industry
> >arguments that agricultural products may be "improved" by genetic
> >manipulation so that fruits may be designed to carry certain medications;
> >grains will be designed to have particular nutritional compositions; etc.
> >
> >Does this approach strike anyone else as back-asswards? Is not the bounty
> of
> >nature enough to suit our needs? Have we not co-evolved with the plants and
> >animals that share this planet with us? Even the Avery-esque arguments
> about
> >increasing yields with intensive chemical production techniques fail when
> >you consider that hunger is such a political phenomenon, a result of
> >mis-distribution rather than low production.
> >
> >The blinders that result in tunnel vision are firmly in place in many
> >sectors of society, and agriculture is certainly no exception. Yes,
> friends,
> >we have a *universe* of alternatives if only we would allow ourselves to
> see
> >them. How about using an ecological approach, working with the cycles of
> >nature, the complex dynamics of soil, and the miraculous natural
> >capabilities of plants to attempt to improve the nutritional value of our
> >food and feed by utilizing what is already there? Sir Albert Howard was
> >advocating such a holistic approach 50 years ago or more.
> >
> >The simple answer is that the profit potential from this approach is very
> >limited as it relies not on chemical or biotechnological inputs but on
> >intensive system management, therefore industry would not be very
> interested
> >in it.
> >
> >But what is really important: profit or authentically feeding and
> nourishing
> >the world? Learning how apathetic the majority of American consumers are
> >compared to their European counterparts is discouraging. Without external
> >pressure from consumers, industry is free to set the terms of discussion
> and
> >sell the illusion that maximizing control of natural processes is
> equivalent
> >to maximizing human benefit. I dispute this equation.
> >
> >>We are so slow to learn.
> ><snip>
> >>Thirteen years later, Rachel Carson had quite cogently outlined the
> >>degree to which Pickett had been correct. Nevertheless, almost 40 years
> >>after Carson's work the devastation continues, as we apply (in the USA
> >>alone) nearly 500 million kg of active material, over 99% of which
> >>misses the target organism, while overall percentage losses of crop to
> >>disease, insects, and weeds is actually *higher* that it was in the
> >>1930s.
> >
> >You are right on, Bart. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your knowledge.
> >
> >Jane Sooby
> >
> >University of Nebraska-Lincoln alternative crops research technician
> >Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society western organizer
> >
> >High Plains Ag Lab
> >3257 Rd. 109
> >Sidney, NE 69162
> >
> >308-254-3918
> >308-254-2402 (FAX)
> >308-254-0725 (HOME)
> >
> >
> >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> >
> >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> >http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of sanet-mg-digest V1 #1012
> *******************************
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the comannd
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
> "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
> To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
> "subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
>
> All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
> http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail