Death of the Family Farm

Hiding from the chemical corporations who have bought the bureaucrats and policy makers that is bring collapse to our food security. Important farmers are leaving the country, exiled for their opposition, leaving their life's work behind. I will post a letter I received today in this regard. I think he was one of the farmers who had to cull 100's of birds because of avian flu fears a few years back. I haven't had the heart to ask him, how could you ever trust your government to protect the proper interests ever again.

Here is the letter I got today.

Hi,

About a year ago I thought I was totally obsolete and that there was no place for me any more. I saw organic start with dedicated and sincere people doing what they believe in, and now that industry stole it, it is just a convenient addition to an agri industry operation for some extra profit. Use the chemical fertilizer in one field and the blood meal in the other. An organic field is now a good place to get rid of conventional manure. Factory farms pay to get rid of their manure, and now organic composted manure has gone up to $40 from $10 per cubic yard two years ago since so many hobby gardeners in the city use it. And the organic feed can be grown with factory farm manure. Organic was supposed to be from nature, not a chemical factory. I copied my posting that was a response to Karl pointing out some flaws in the vegan ideas. The stock free vegan method is the only way that I see of preventing industrial inputs from contaminating organic food. I cannot grow enough feed for my animals, and cannot trust certified organic any more. The posting is after what I wrote now.

Friends who gave up here showed me the land they got in Ecuador. It is beautiful, and they are very happy there. I am now in contact with several people down there. The government is actually supportive of agriculture and leaves you alone. It is possible to have a high quality life there. The town I am planning to move to is Vilcabamba, there is even a wikipedia story about it.

Take care

George



Hi Karl,

The vegan issue is a lot more important than I realized. Organic nutrients were supposed to originate in the environment and there was to be no animal cruelty anywhere along the path. Now that we have industrial organic the nutrients can start with a chemical factory, GMO feed crops fed to medicated animals suffering in the industrial system, and then the uncomposted manure and blood meal used in the "certified organic" field. People are beginning to realize that they are being made fools of and that certified organic is now a farce,( when industry stole it they took out all it represented and just kept the image).

Increasingly people are starting to ask the right questions and look at alternatives. Under the current certification system ethical and dedicated farmers are labeled the same as profit oriented conventional industrial producers who just want to make a few more dollars from the organic image. A nearby factory farm where I saw thousands of chickens in cages has a big COABC logo in front of their devastated eco system because they have "organic" production at the same facility. (but no eco system, the marketing board rules forbid it, I am sure that more than one certified organic farmer was forced to herbicide his driveway this year)

If someone is concerned about their food and its impact on the planet and its inhabitants what should they eat? How can I buy organic animal feed when I know that the ingredients could be fertilized with conventional blood meal? If I buy organic composted manure, it is the same problem. IF I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT WHAT I AM DOING, WHAT SHOULD I USE FOR FERTILIZER? Even fish fertilizer is now most probably from farmed fish.

Since I could not grow real organic food here any more, and would face huge fines if I tried I gave up and am going to a much saner country. The most humane way to kill the animal that I have seen is on the farm, and then I can look in your eyes and say this is my chicken, I helped kill it. I could not say that if it disappears in a building after a long traumatizing drive, anything could be in the box they give me.

If someone wants to eat food that does not contain cruelty, chemical and GMO nutrients and is produced in co-operation with nature then obviously they have to avoid "certified organic" unless they know where it is from personally. The stock free vagan is a good try at having food that originates in the environment and is produced with respect to nature, as organic originally was.

Karl, lets go for a good Keg steak and talk about how important stock free vegan could be in the future here. The vegans may actually support their growers now that the organic local 100 milers mostly vote with their dollars for industrial devastation and brutality while babbling comforting noises. If you don't believe me look at the Earthbound Farm salads in your local store. Why are we importing that while so much local land sits unused? An honest stock free vegan would never buy that, and I have found that not all vegans are hypocrites.

George