Blue Ridge Gardener

I happened across this video series from an email from one of the ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) folks on the list serve.

It is a BBC documentary that is about 48 minutes long that has been put on YouTube.  It is in 5 sections and is quite easily viewed.

It continues some of the thinking i have been doing the past few days about agriculture and the food system.

Below is segment 1–watch all five segments…

I got to the see the film on Friday evening.  It was educational and informative.  Nothing really new if you are a reader.  The work of Schlosser, Pollan and Joel Salatin have already been on my nightstand or coffee table.  But I believe the film gets the information out there in a form that is more readily available to the general public.  Will the general public see it?  I am not sure.

Here are 10 things we can do to change our food system–read notes and all at the Food Inc. website:

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
5. Meatless Mondays-Go without meat one day a week.
6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer’s market.
8. Make a point to know where your food comes from-READ LABELS.
9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

Daniel Zwerdling/NPR photo

NPR has a two part series on the ‘Green Revolution’ in India.  It is a very interesting look at what happens when the world buys into American-style agribusiness.

The use of high yield seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, farm machinery and heavy irrigation worked well for decades, but now the fields are becoming anemic and yields are poor, the water table continues to fall, the farmers are living in serious debt, and India’s farming future is in question.

India’s Farming ‘Revolution’ Heading For Collapse
8 min 55 sec audio on the site along with photographs

‘Green Revolution’ Trapping India’s Farmers In Debt
7 min 47 sec audio along with photographs

I believe that growing gardens and supplying some of our own food needs is a part of a new revolution taking place in the world.

I am generally not one swayed by alarmist emails and blogs about the far reach of the government into my life. Mainly, because much of the stuff I have gotten over the years has been without merit (remember the endless stream of warnings about Madeline Murray O’Haire and her desire to take over the FCC–even after she was dead?).

Then there was the email that crossed my inbox this week regarding H.R. 875 (Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009).  From first glance, it seemed another one of those crackpot conspiracy theories that was supposed to scare me into action.  Then came another email, from a respected source.  Then I saw a blog from someone I respect, and I decided it was time to look into the issue some more.

Want to read the text of the bill?

Go to: H.R. 875- Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

It was introduced on February 4, 2009 and is currently in committees (Agriculture and Energy).  It is not on any fast track status (as some have claimed), and there is no way to know how long it will take to get through committee- so this is a good time to read the whole document, talk to your representative, become more aware and then take action.

It’s a long read, and I haven’t read it all, but here are some concerns that have surfaced:

• The bill was introduced by a Democrat from Connecticut who is married to a Monsanto employee.  In other words, she is not from a rural/farming state and is connected to large agribusiness
• The definition  from Sec. 3 Para. 14 -”FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term `food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation” is quite broad.  Does that mean my garden and the small farmer who produces for the farmer’s market will be subject to all the rules and regulations laid out in the document?
• The regulations and statutes spelled out in many of the paragraphs seem unwieldy for the small family farm and for small producers. I am all for food safety, but making the system so complicated and regulated for the very folks who have the longest history of providing safe and healthy food is a problem.
• From the list of sponsors and co-sponsors, it is not a typical farm bill.  It is dominated by lawmakers from urban areas who do not generally understand a rural way of life and the plight of small farmers vs. big agriculture.