brown the green revolution

don't know why i spend my time reading about why i should eat local and organic foods.  i already eat them and i'm not going to stop.  i guess i want to convince everyone else about why this should be such an important part of EVERYone's life!

here is an interesting article about how india's agriculture was "americanized" back in the 60s (i.e. the green revolution) and they started using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and growing high-yield grains which i'm sure are now all genetically modified.  needless to say, now they need more fertilizer, the pesticides don't work, and they wells are 20 times deeper than they were.

i saw another blogpost (i wish i still had that one open, i have the quote in my cut and paste but the post is closed...) that had this quote:  "While chemical agriculture produced significant yield improvements over a period of years, the party has not lasted.  Increasing off-farm inputs has increased farmer debt loads, increased pest resistance to pesticides, and increased farmers’ dependence on volatile world commodity markets for hydrocarbons and ag products, while reducing soil fertility and water tables, and driving farmers off the land.  Disturbingly, new evidence is also showing a correlation between chemical-ag and increased in cancer in rural areas. ..


we need to brown the green revolution and go back to fertilizing with manure and compost!  we save every compostable scrap of trash in our house and put it in piles in the woods.  it cuts down on what goes to the landfill and one day, it'll fertilize OUR garden.

i love eating food grown in NC and, if i can't buy it local, then buying it organic!  i can't imagine spending my money or eating or feeding to my children any products that could one day harm them.  this includes everything from $5 american cheese (horizon brand - so expensive but i just can't buy the other!) rather than the regular kraft brand to boxed organic mac and cheese - i even buy cheese that is from cows not treated with hormones.  everything in our house is "safe" as approved by the USDA anyway, or grown in NC (i.e. dad's house or from the farmer's market).

next month, there is a farm tour in central NC (chatham co, orange co, wake co, franklin co, etc.) and nathaniel and i are volunteering at the farm where we buy our eggs.  i can't wait.  i'll be posting more about that in the upcoming weeks.