On tiny plots, a new generation of farmers emerges

[Ty Mellon]

From USA today link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/environment/2009-07-13-young-farmers_N.htm

This story came out in USA TODAY two days ago (Tuesday). I love seeing articles like this one - it really helps validate my belief that people are truly ready to move past agribusiness with its entire foundation built on processed corn and soy additives and start feeling a connection to their food sources. Organics have taken off and we won't go back, although I am VERY concerned about the FDA relaxing the criteria for organic foods as they are rumored to be doing. I am very distrustful of our politicians safeguarding our food supply as they have contributed to our declining health as a nation in exchange for profit and power.

Since I really want this site to be a community and resource, I will share links and information to items I think are topical and inspiring. For example, I am reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver called "Animal Vegetable Miracle: A year in the food life". This is a phenominal book and as I continue to blog more regularly, I'll likely reference it (And others) more and more.

Please provide me your feedback, good, bad or indifferent and I'll keep growing this site one member at a time.

Thanks!
Ty

[Tim MacAllister]

I agree that we have laxed our efforts in protecting the food supply (how many stories have we seen recently about salmonella???). The problem is huge and varied, though. Two of the largest issues are...there is a massive number of people in the US and across the world that depend on mass quantities of food being produced by the US at a cheap cost. The more you grow, the less the price per unit the farmer receives and the less we pay at the store...hence, mechanized agriculture, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. The farmers are producing as much as they can so they can support themselves since they see very little increase in their crops when they sell...even if you see a price increase at the store. It creates a vicious cycle that pushes the farmer into decisions many of them don't like either, but do so to make a living. The second thing is NAFTA. Some of NAFTA is good, I'm not here to bash the whole program. However, if you take into account the statement above (already producing massive quantities) and that is based on our production levels, financial impacts to the US farmers get even worse when produce from the south floods in as well.

If the type of movement Ty is going after here takes off, then over time, there will be less people depending on massive amounts of food being produced, which in turn, along with the farmers described in this article, begin to turn the tide on the farming methods being used.