King Corn speaks, An ‘agri-intellectual’ talks back
There will always be an ogoing debate concerning whether or not 'Big Ag's benefits of feeding a growing world population are worth the social and environmental negatives that come along with it. Certainly sustainable small scale farming is best for the planet, for the animals, for our communites, our health and more, but the reality is that it is just that, small scale and local ( for the most part ). As a supporter of sustainable, bio-intensive farming, no one has to convince me of the benefits as I have seen the benefits for the past 40 years of my farming and gardening experience. I see projects by John Jeavons at Ecology Action, transfer acres and acres of land into diverse productive food systems. Research Sepp Holzer and the work he has done in Austria on his farm known as Der Krameterhof and you will see the possibilites of integrated permaculture systems. Around the world we see these projects and see positive results and until more projects like these continue, they remain in the shadows of the combines of Big Ag. How does this scenario get turned around? Public debate, education, knowledge, awareness and commitment.
Here is one of those ongoing debates...