Comments for SaticoyRoots Weblog

Comment on About by saticoyroots

saticoyroots — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:19:31 +0000

Thanks for finding me, Kris! Yes, I had heard about the program and would be happy to particpate.

Comment on About by Kristofer Young, DC

Kristofer Young, DC — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:10:46 +0000

Looks like good work, Chris!
Have you heard of Locavore Lite 2010? We are looking for farmers and others to participate in supporting local food. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Locavore-Lite-2010/180619179086?ref=ts
Kris

Comment on Closing Comments : UC Hansen Trust Research Symposium by saticoyroots

saticoyroots — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:18:26 +0000

Sorry I didn’t get to meet you this morning. I really like the UCCE blog!

Comment on Closing Comments : UC Hansen Trust Research Symposium by Chris Webb

Chris Webb — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:47:51 +0000

Loved your closing comments today! Thanks too for linking our Cooperative Extension blog on your site.

Comment on 50 Tons of Bullsh*t by AJ

AJ — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:14:28 +0000

Now that’s a lot of crap!!!!

Comment on How about them apples? by AJ

AJ — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:34:26 +0000

Well, I’m partial to the Empire and McIntosh varieties. A bit tart, but juicy and succulent! They make great pies, apple sauce and awesome cider!

Comment on How about them apples? by saticoyroots

saticoyroots — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:10:06 +0000

Thanks AJ – I think energy costs is the one variable that has the real capacity to be a game changer. When energy costs go up and stay up the equation will be a lot different. Has consumer culture peaked? I’d like to think so, but it seems to me that is more a matter of hope than fact. We’ve had cooling periods before after the booms of the 50’s and 80’s, but in the past it has come back stronger than ever.

The real question is: which apple varieties will you plant? You’re the guy to turn this all around! We can grow apples, but we don’t get enough chilling hours to get a consistent crop.

Comment on How about them apples? by AJ

AJ — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:46:32 +0000

Good thoughtful post Chris. You’re point about choice is right on and, although you seem a bit down on the strength of the local food (and everything else) returning to our way of life, I tend to be a bit more optimistic. The go-go, urban and consumer culture that’s emerged over the past couple of generations relies on a lot of raw, cheap energy – delivered to us in the form of petroleum – as well as a disposable mentality. But what happens when the energy is no longer cheap? Or when mass society switches back from the disposable society to one that values thrift and conservation? I think you end up back where local food and small farms return to a more prominent position in the cultural psyche.

Comment on True Cost of Food and the True Value of Farm Labor? by saticoyroots

saticoyroots — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:39:04 +0000

The reality of hard physical labor, low economic returns, and a population outflow from farms to cities predates the 20th Century Industrial system by centuries if not millennia. While it is popular to blame all the ills of agriculture on Monsanto and post WWII food policy, these are trends that have been in existence for some time. For all it’s faults (I concede that they are numerous) the chemical and machinery intensive industrial model has been an adaptive strategy to deal with the loss of manpower, which it in turn has helped to fuel.

Yes, good farming does require the attributes you describe. And there are some people that aspire to it. You and I, for instance. But are we anywhere near the tipping point that brings about a new agrarian society? I see no proof that we are. Personally, I don’t think that means sustainable ag is a failure. The movement is a grand experiment in alternative crops and practices, new distribution channels, business models, and renewed consumer relationships with their food. These are filtering into the mainstream. My forecast is that the lines between “sustainable” and “conventional” are blurring (in a good way), and we are in the early stages of an “evolutionary” shift toward a more sustainable system, rather than a “revolutionary” turn away from the past.

Comment on True Cost of Food and the True Value of Farm Labor? by saticoyroots

saticoyroots — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:19:00 +0000

MK – Your article is excellent… I remember reading it when it was posted originally a few weeks back. You make the case that you were paid both in money and knowledge, and received a good value for your efforts. This is an excellent point, and one that I happily concede. I am a fan of internship type programs; my skepticism is limited to whether there are enough young people willing to undertake agriculture as a career, internship or not. In a way, your article provides evidence in support of this (admittedly pessimistic) view. It seems clear that most of your peers did not “get” your choice. If they do not, who will? If reinventing the food system means returning 10% of the population to the farm, will they go?