Hi John,
Saturday, April 29, 2000, 6:41:11 PM, you wrote (I paraphrase):
...
JDh> 5 or more eggs / day on average for a battery hen with a two
JDh> hours light / two hours dark cycle + chemical stimulation
JDh> vs less than one for mine.
Etc.
...
JDh> So I don't have to be organic for the money in it.
As Sal said: It's a way of life. A conviction, a value (an intrinsic
value, good in itself - not something to exchange / exploit for a
common denominator such as money). Something vital, that's life
giving. (If it isn't, it's out of sync).
One does it because he loves it, believes in it or both.
JDh> One of my compensations ... Chemical farmers have a typical
JDh> life expectancy at least ten years below average. And ...
JDh> poison their children as well...
JDh> So I do not think that it is just a matter of not caring about
JDh> chemical trespass. I think the poison users hate the organic
JDh> man with a vengeance.
The degree that way of relating is present varies and doesn't
originate there. The underlying problem is one of government, it's a
problem of the chosen social order, a problem of social conscience
and consciousness, a problem of accountability and responsible
action, inaction or the contrary: Destructive action that's either
permitted (not illegal), condoned (tolerated) or not persecuted to
the full extent of the law.
The status quo is a fight for standards (like M$ Windows). If GMOs
or toxic agrochemicals have become everyday items (as grafted trees
have), the act of questioning them will be made to appear
questionable itself, and both the motives and consequences
underlying the status quo that was imposed will be hidden.
No one will so much as suspect (but maybe still occasionally dream
about) that which was lost; that which never came to be, due to
short sighted, egoistic and anti-social values having won out, due
to the connivance of those entrusted with enforcing the public good
and the compliance &/or complacence of the public itself.
People are confused, and the truth is easily lost among the hype and
bald faced lies.
Sal is right when he talks about wickedness, but there was another
who said "Forgive them father, for they know not what they do".
I say that say that some know more and some know less - the thing is
to stop them from doing it, and that can be done only through both
research and resourceful social action, leading eventually to
appropriate legislation.
JDh> ... Human nature being what it is, they probably enjoy
JDh> inflicting a bit of chemical trespass.
As things stand, the world would be a better place without human
beings. However, the human potential to do good is undeniable.
There's still time to correct the direction development's taken -
but not much to spare.
JDh> Imo it would be a very good thing if the myth of high returns
JDh> in organic farming came to an end.
It would be a good thing if the reasons people do it were instilled
and supported in schools and society itself, in society at large -
on many fronts.
Organic farming and the organic movement has fallen short. Higher
and more comprehensive social values are referred to but too much of
that was left out of the movement's standards.
Just as the concept and field of Ecology itself didn't exist 40
years ago as a whole - only as a collection of discrete sciences -
(the interrelationships were ignored, leaving researchers to
continue along drawing pay while ignoring the effects of what was
occurring), a call for social and ecological equivalence is needed.
The new science (paradigm and field of consciousness) must link and
unite social, ecological and economic values as one.
The next step, a step that combines Social Responsibility with the
Ecological Awareness that Organic Agriculture has come to represent
is immanent. The development of this orientation still seems to be
somewhat retarded in the US, finding support mainly among groups
that relate only to like groups. A larger consciousness and more
unified mass movement is needed - and hopefully, coming soon.
JDh> it would also be great if some of the cheer-leaders for the
JDh> chemical lobby got of their back sides in their institutes and
JDh> started doing a bit of practical work.
They will never retool / redirect their energies & goals of their
own accord. But retool / redirect they will, if public policy and /
or the market require it. I think the battle must be waged on both
fronts.
Douglas
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
JDh> From: sal <sals@rain.org>
JDh> To: sanet <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
JDh> Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 5:29 PM
JDh> Subject: Fw: sanet-mg-digest V1 #1760
>> they don't know the meaning of chemical traspass. they don't care and
JDh> never
>> did,
>> check out an organic farmers homepage
>> http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html
>> sals@rain.,org
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "TONY NELSON-SMITH" <tangolf@cwcom.net>
>> To: <bdnow@envirolink.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 8:21 AM
>> Subject: Re: sanet-mg-digest V1 #1760
>>
>>
>> > Just to remind you that, here in Britain, the situation is
JDh> apparently
>> > that beekeepers who find a GM crop which would provide pollen or nectar
>> for
>> > their bees, thus contaminating their honey (which could no longer
JDh> legally
>> be
>> > labelled as "pure honey" - how come the authorities have been insisting
>> that
>> > there's nothing wrong with GM foods ?) are expected to remove their
JDh> hives
>> to
>> > a site at least six miles away, with no prospect of compensation. It
>> seems
>> > that they are even expected to sus out where the GM crops are to be
>> > planted - no-one will tell them.
>> > This seems so unreasonable that my Member of Parliament and my Welsh
>> > Assembly Member are both checking with their respective Agriculture
>> > Departments for me. At least they'll know that someone has twigged
JDh> their
>> > little game and is bitching about it; at best, it will turn out to be a
>> big
>> > mistake in someone's reporting (but don't hold your breath !)
>> > Tony N-S
>> >
>>
>>
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JDh> To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
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JDh> http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail
Douglas Hinds, Dir. Gral. - CeDeCoR, A.C.
Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, Asociacion Civil
(Center for Rural and Community Development,
a Mexican non-profit organization)
Cordoba, Veracruz; Cd. Guzman, Jalisco; Loma Bonita, Oaxaca
& Reynosa, Tamaulipas Mexico
Mail: Apdo. Postal No. 171
Fortin de las Flores, Veracruz
94471 Mexico
Tel: 011 522 713 2888 (Direct at present)
U.S. Fax Mailbox (email linked) 630 300 0555
dmhinds@acnet.net, cedecor@acnet.net,
dhinds@prodigy.net.mx
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