Yes, yes, yes! I was introduced to John Coltrane about the same time as healthy eating - during my time in the Bay Area in a commune of war resisters.
Synchronicity would have it that I would end up back in Iowa marrying a guy whose dream was not to raise corn and beans. Together we took the road less traveled and planted strawberries, raspberries, apple trees and asparagus and raised them organically before the O word was allowed in public.
Fifty years later we are downsizing and working with young farmers who continue to change our food system.
Coltrane was innovative and exciting. At your urging I will listen to him again with a new ear.
Ah…. I’m here for the writing. The agriculture is the icing on the cake. 😂
Seriously though, Adam, I’ve been called the crazy one for 20+ years now for saying that we need a local, market-driven food system.
But you’re right, everything that’s happening feels like you describe—a tornado tearing through a marching band.
There’s so much to dissect because we’ve built so many things that don’t work. Some of them will have to fail. It hurts to say it, but it’s true. It’s what Ron Paul has been saying for 60+ years.
On we go.
Curious to get your thoughts on a few things rattling around in my brain… 🤔
You've hit the nail on the head. The survivors are the low input farmers whose biggest tractor is an IH574 from 1972. Doesn't help the poor machinery dealer though.
Damn sir, I feel deeply everything you say. Beef cattle background, dabble in dairy cows and sheep for fun, and work for the Forest service as my day job. So many things point to change. I have been eating only what I produce, lambs from my sheep and lots of dairy, what vegetables grow in my zone 3 climate. And I can't eat food happily unless I visit family or go out of the country and find the non tourist spots. Food feeds our bodies, and our soul. My connection with my animals and reducing outside inputs made everything click. Even the bacteria needed to make cheese exists without a store. Who knew?! Only civilization pre world war 2.... 🤦♂️🤷
Having been raised on the family farm in a rural NY community of mostly family farms (and small manufacturing facilities), I concluded that agriculture worked best (and the ecology too!) when decentralized.
200 - 250 acres tops. Dairy herds of no more than 100 head milking. Various livestock too; chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. These family farms were sustainable, if not profitable, provided they were not regulated and taxed out of existence by Gov't and driven in to bankruptcy by poor business decisions on the farmer's part and bankers driven by profit.
When my Dad was in the Army in the mid-1940's and conversed with farm boys from the central US, he learned quite a bit. Those boys spoke of farm sizes in sections, not acres. Comparing grain and hay yields, the central US farmers thought NYS was covered in magic dirt; we didn't need as much land to support good yields.
We need a return to small (< 500 acre) farms, using manure vs. chemical fertilizers, crop rotation, quality livestock management and the Gov't the heck out of farming!
I know hearing it rubs those still imbued with Cold War propaganda the wrong way, but a good deal of all that successful agriculture in the global south is being performed by communes, especially of indigenous groups that previously were denied access to land unless they were harvesting it to fill the Swiss bank accounts of rich landowners.
Yes, yes, yes! I was introduced to John Coltrane about the same time as healthy eating - during my time in the Bay Area in a commune of war resisters.
Synchronicity would have it that I would end up back in Iowa marrying a guy whose dream was not to raise corn and beans. Together we took the road less traveled and planted strawberries, raspberries, apple trees and asparagus and raised them organically before the O word was allowed in public.
Fifty years later we are downsizing and working with young farmers who continue to change our food system.
Coltrane was innovative and exciting. At your urging I will listen to him again with a new ear.
Ah…. I’m here for the writing. The agriculture is the icing on the cake. 😂
Seriously though, Adam, I’ve been called the crazy one for 20+ years now for saying that we need a local, market-driven food system.
But you’re right, everything that’s happening feels like you describe—a tornado tearing through a marching band.
There’s so much to dissect because we’ve built so many things that don’t work. Some of them will have to fail. It hurts to say it, but it’s true. It’s what Ron Paul has been saying for 60+ years.
On we go.
Curious to get your thoughts on a few things rattling around in my brain… 🤔
Brilliant post, Adam—so much wisdom.
You've hit the nail on the head. The survivors are the low input farmers whose biggest tractor is an IH574 from 1972. Doesn't help the poor machinery dealer though.
Another gem.
With innovation in Ag, the first one through the door is often shot.
But we need to keep going through the door.
From the outside it looks like establishment ag elected for self annihilation. Props to anyone stepping outside of that particular room.
Damn sir, I feel deeply everything you say. Beef cattle background, dabble in dairy cows and sheep for fun, and work for the Forest service as my day job. So many things point to change. I have been eating only what I produce, lambs from my sheep and lots of dairy, what vegetables grow in my zone 3 climate. And I can't eat food happily unless I visit family or go out of the country and find the non tourist spots. Food feeds our bodies, and our soul. My connection with my animals and reducing outside inputs made everything click. Even the bacteria needed to make cheese exists without a store. Who knew?! Only civilization pre world war 2.... 🤦♂️🤷
Thanks for your wise words, I love your voice.
Having been raised on the family farm in a rural NY community of mostly family farms (and small manufacturing facilities), I concluded that agriculture worked best (and the ecology too!) when decentralized.
200 - 250 acres tops. Dairy herds of no more than 100 head milking. Various livestock too; chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. These family farms were sustainable, if not profitable, provided they were not regulated and taxed out of existence by Gov't and driven in to bankruptcy by poor business decisions on the farmer's part and bankers driven by profit.
When my Dad was in the Army in the mid-1940's and conversed with farm boys from the central US, he learned quite a bit. Those boys spoke of farm sizes in sections, not acres. Comparing grain and hay yields, the central US farmers thought NYS was covered in magic dirt; we didn't need as much land to support good yields.
We need a return to small (< 500 acre) farms, using manure vs. chemical fertilizers, crop rotation, quality livestock management and the Gov't the heck out of farming!
Miles Davis, John Coltrane...met their music in early 60's! Unforgettable
I know hearing it rubs those still imbued with Cold War propaganda the wrong way, but a good deal of all that successful agriculture in the global south is being performed by communes, especially of indigenous groups that previously were denied access to land unless they were harvesting it to fill the Swiss bank accounts of rich landowners.