Landmark on Speedometer

Organic Scalability

Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008 | Mother Jones

Real sustainability, he argues, is defined not by a food system's capacity to ensure happy workers or organic lima beans, but by whether the food system can sustain itself—that is, keep going, indefinitely, in a world of finite resources. A truly sustainable food system is inherently resilient—more capable of self-correction and self-revitalization than its industrial rival.

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In fact, most of the familiar candidates for alternative food would have trouble operating on the kind of scale necessary for a world of 6.7 billion people. Consider what it would take to make our farm system entirely organic. The only reason industrial organic agriculture can get away with replenishing its soils with manure or by planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops is that the industry is so tiny—making up less than 3 percent of the US food supply (and just 5.3 percent even in gung-ho green cultures like Austria's). If we wanted to rid the world of synthetic fertilizer use—and assuming dietary habits remain constant—the extra land we'd need for cover crops or forage (to feed the animals to make the manure) would more than double, possibly triple, the current area of farmland

Strawberries!

Hey guys, look what we are enjoying from our strawberry patch!

 

A Girl and her Dog

Lila and Sweety sharing a moment at breakfast.

Bubble in College Tuitions?

Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst? - Chronicle.com

Consumers who have questioned whether it is worth spending $1,000 a square foot for a home are now asking whether it is worth spending $1,000 a week to send their kids to college. There is a growing sense among the public that higher education might be overpriced and under-delivering.

Composting Doggy Doo Do

Here are some links on composting dog waste. I find myself picking up a lot of this stuff and throwing it in the garbage. It is not the most pleasant experience, and I hate the idea of sending all that plastic-wrapped poo to the landfill where it will decompose anaerobically.

• http://www.cityfarmer.org/petwaste.html
• http://www.intergate.com/~saluki/doggydoo.html
  

Baobab

Op-Ed Contributor - What Will Happen When the Baobab Goes Global? - NYTimes.com

The baobab was approved for European markets last year, and the Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow suit soon. The fruit’s dry pulp will be sold as an ingredient in smoothies and cereal bars. Already, a small jar of African baobab jam made in England sells for around $11. According to the Natural Resources Institute in Britain, an international baobab industry could bring in about $1 billion a year and provide jobs for 2.5 million African families. On paper this sounds great, but there’s another side to the picture.