tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post5887167677117511009..comments2024-03-27T16:08:30.313-05:00Comments on The Great Change: The Ragweed TribeAlbert Bateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17627996921976501534noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-80570316751469616312017-07-10T14:29:42.516-05:002017-07-10T14:29:42.516-05:00It is unlikely to be raccoons or crows next time, ...It is unlikely to be raccoons or crows next time, brothermartin. It is warming too fast and too far to favor those lifeforms if humans go extinct. More likely, if anything on land survives it might be cockroaches, which conjures images of Kafka's <i>The Metamorphosis</i>, but it could also devolve to thermophilic bacteria in deep ocean caverns before the atmosphere recovers and evolution resets.Albert Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627996921976501534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-72070463680154130352017-07-10T12:56:33.712-05:002017-07-10T12:56:33.712-05:00It seems to me that, when Junger says
"Tho...It seems to me that, when Junger says <br /><br /> "Those two driving forces have co-existed for hundreds of thousands of years in human society and have been duly codified in this country as a two party system. The eternal argument over so-called entitlement programs, and more broadly over liberal and conservative thought, will never be resolved because each side represents an ancient and absolutely essential component of our evolutionary past."<br /><br />he's not leaving room for the possibility of a higher human consciousness evolving that synthesizes this pair of opposites by applying enough discernment and compassion to actually give "to each, according to their need," as it accepts, from each whatever gift each of us brings. I think that if we are stuck in, as someone else termed it, maternal-paternal conflict, we may be at an evolutionary dead end and will just have to give up and let the raccoons, the crows, or whoever evolve into greater complexity and see if they can pass through the bottleneck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-30942792061463971492017-07-03T10:55:47.168-05:002017-07-03T10:55:47.168-05:00Albert
Regarding the premium for agricultural prod...Albert<br />Regarding the premium for agricultural products grown with biochar. Here is my rough idea of how things might work.<br /><br />We have a producer co-op and a consumer co-op. The ideas are:<br />*The producers use Cool Food techniques in production.<br />*The producers are assured of a market for what they produce.<br />*The consumers are assured that the food was grown using Cool Food techniques.<br />*The consumers have a minimum of fuss in sourcing their food.<br /><br />The exact configuration has to be worked out, probably with some trial and error. But here are a few pointers:<br />*Our local food co-op partners with an agricultural co-op in Argentina for wine<br />http://www.weaverstreetmarket.coop/announcing-la-riojana-wines/<br />So the simplest way to make it work is to have the food co-op partner with a local producers co-op. The food co-op has a Food House with storage and extensive processing facilities.<br />*The food co-op also distributes food, so we can work with them on labeling, as the Riojana people from Argentina have done. Therefore, Cool Food might command a premium. At a minimum, it can be identified.<br />*I see the producers co-op as similar to an artist guild or co-op. That is, people are juried in and are expelled if they are not meeting quality standards. The jury system is far more flexible than something like the Organic Standards, but also more demanding than the Organic Standards which don’t necessarily imply anything at all in terms of Cool Food. The basic requirement of Cool Food is that the land be regenerated and the most nutrient dense food be produced.<br />*If Amazon takes over Whole Foods and develops a really neat home delivery service, then Cool Food might go from the Food House at the Co-op to the Amazon delivery truck. At any rate, the identity of the Cool Food would be retained.<br /><br />There are a myriad of details to be worked out. For example, the local Nature Conservancy is strongly promoting fire to manage forests. I asked about the effect on carbon in the soil, and I think they just don’t know…at any rate, they won’t tell me anything. Meanwhile, some people are using animals to manage the undergrowth, which can be impenetrably dense. The carbon the animals eat is returned to the soil in the form of either detritus or manure. Some escapes as methane, but probably not as much as fires. And fires such as the one which almost burned Earthaven EcoVillage last year would be minimized. Meat from animals used to manage forests might be labeled Cool Meat.<br /><br />This plan is still entirely in my head, and hasn’t had the benefit of the thoughts of others. I welcome your suggestions and those of other readers.<br /><br />Don StewartDon Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05449201744675390686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-91096133976551603452017-07-03T09:03:52.827-05:002017-07-03T09:03:52.827-05:00These are large subjects, Don Stewart. Among sever...These are large subjects, Don Stewart. Among several good books about the transition process at The Farm I recommend https://smile.amazon.com/Farm-Then-Now-Sustainable-Living/dp/0865717699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499090338&sr=8-1&keywords=Farm+then+and+now<br /><br />Agree with you about co-ops and granges. Once we get to the stage of grading nutrient density in foods, biochar should get real traction in the farming scene. Until then it may be invisible, known only to a those practitioners who are reviving dead soil.<br /><br />There are great entrepreneurial possibilities here for the daring and well-heeled.<br /><br />AlbertAlbert Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17627996921976501534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1575603731696062553.post-6760304271134569962017-07-02T15:37:05.204-05:002017-07-02T15:37:05.204-05:00Albert
Your stories about the early days at The Fa...Albert<br />Your stories about the early days at The Farm when the average money income was a dollar a day are interesting...since the world might be headed that way again.<br /><br />It would be interesting to have your perspective on why the 'communal' stage at The Farm gave way to a 'community of entrepreneurs'. For example, I have been turning over ideas for promoting carbon farming. Since all of the initiatives described in Drawdown are supposedly 'profitable', one point of view is to simply get out of the way and let the farmer's self interest guide them. On the other hand, there are arguments for resurrecting farm organizations such as co-ops and granges to facilitate the achievement of common goals. Some argue that achieving the relatively high profits from processed foods argues for a more communal approach combining raw production with processing. <br /><br />Based on what you experienced at The Farm (and other Eco Villages), do you have any sage advice.?<br /><br />Thanks...Don StewartDon Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05449201744675390686noreply@blogger.com