After reading Diane's reaction I went to look at the stuff by
Gordon Couch. I couldn't believe someone associated with a
land-grant university would write such garbage.
That post from Gordon Couger says a lot about the fear some
agriculture workers and farmers have about organics.
Gordon Couger used to post her on Sanet but then he went to start his
own email list for "practical" agriculture.
I think the best thing Gordon can do is get off his butt and
go attend an organic farming conference, especially one that
includes a very nice farm tour like the Eco-Farming conference
in Asilomar. But there are a dozen good conferences throughout
the Midwest, Northeast, Carolinas, etc. It could be a real eye
opener for Gordon, a very rich learning experience.
Really though, it is not too different from Larry London the
organic farmer bashing Steve Groff the no-till farmer here on
Sanet.
Most of the small farms here in the Ozarks are not organic.
However, these small farmers who are struggling tooth and nail to
survive these very tough economic times have more in common with
sustainable agriculture than they do with conventional agriculture.
Conventional ag is harder to define any more.
All of this gnashing and bashing is a classic example of one group
reacting against another group instead of addressing the larger
forces that degrage all human beings, namely corporations and
government systems that allow exploitation of peoples, towns, and
small businesses.
I will be writing Gordon a note to let him know about opportunities
that exist to go learn about organics. Probably he's read too much
Dennis Avery.
Steve Diver
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