On 21 May 00 10:48:50, Roberto Verzola wrote:
>I think the answer closer to reality is that farmers operate under an
>economic context that is very biased against ecologically sustainable
>(e.g. organic) farms, making it very difficult for them to be
>economically viable. The answer therefore lies less in "becoming
>better businessmen" (which pushes people to externalize costs and be
>less ecologically sustainable and to be highly competitive instead of
>more cooperative) and lies more in changing the economic context to
>reverse its biases.
I don't think this is necessarily accurate in specific regard to
ecological farmers, or even farmers as a group. Economic factors
(regardless of political systems) militate against primary resource
producers across the board. This is every bit as true of the local
gravel pit (compared to the value of a concrete wall in a new office
building), as it is of the miner (compared to the steel beams), as it
is of the logger (compared to the desk in that office), as it is of the
oil producer (compared to the airline that flies the business woman
around) ... as it is of the farmer --- compared to the coffee, milk,
and dough-nuts on that office desk.
*All* farmers struggle with that dynamic. Some ecological/organic
farmers are doing quite well with conventional prices, eg David Vetter
in Nebraska, Pavitch Brothers in California, and several others I can
think of. The *real* profit from ecological farming arises in system
resiliency and long-term decreases in operating costs. Some farmers are
figuring that one out, and most are (presently) not.
Bart
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