Re: Avery Ventura (to Misha)

Dan Hook (guldann@ix.netcom.com)
Thu, 7 Oct 1999 11:23:28 -0400

-----Original Message-----
The below is sniped from Anita's message. I think she is right, false facts
in a popular publication like Readers Digest is very dangerous. I think all
of us are prone to read stuff and file it as "fact" simply because we read
it somewhere. I know I am always saying "I read somewhere"(of course lately
its I read on my e-mail list.......). I have had a few of my customers ask
if we use manure on the garden, we have 25+ cows, 3 horses, a donkey, two
ship, and 6 chickens, duh. But I reassure them that it get dumbed into the
compost first. My husband sells firewood he is always getting the
"standard" questions how long has it been seasoned, is it hardwood, he knows
many have simply read the info and don't really understand the many
variables in length of drying time(whole logs, cut and split, our open windy
field etc.). He has to just say, yes its hardwood and it is perfectly dry
and ready for cozy fires :). So I agree with Anita, it would be nice to see
more sustainable ag. stuff in mainstream publications. Beth the above word
ship should be sheep. I have no use of my mouse and have no idea how to get
back into the text. I am getting good at other commands with keyboard only,
yup the new tower is on order thank goodness.

counteracts the barrage of mis-information. I honestly did pick up a
Readers Digest and saw an article of Avery's, and I thought it was
much more damaging than having it show up in other sources because RD
goes out to like the entire planet and reaches all manner of people,
many of whom vote, and most of whom I would guess don't look up these
sorts of facts even if they know how to use the internet. I'm sure
there are plenty of well-meaning and reasonable people who enter this
sort of stuff into their mental fact files as truth just because few
of us have the time or inclination to personally research all the
information out in the world (I even met an "organic" farmer here in
GA who told me that he was not interested in using animal manures
because everyone knows they lead to e-coli infections -- I guess he
never heard of composting...). I meet plenty of educated,
intelligent people in academia who take a lot of this crap for
granted too (as "scientific" fact, if you will) and they require the
kind of thorough, rational, referenced rebuttals that you give all
the time on this list, but which my brain seems not wired to
reproduce. I also don't see these sorts of rebuttals in main stream
press/media either. So, even if you wouldn't want to face Avery per
se, I still hope you will get out there were Joe Public can
see/hear/read you and give some weight to the other side of some of
the prevailing paradigms. Anita

Anita Graf
313-F Conner Hall
Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-7509
(706) 542-1915 phone
(706) 542-0739 fax
agraf@agecon.uga.edu

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