What We Support
What We Support
Sustainable Agriculture
Since the end of World War II, agriculture has changed dramatically. Wartime technological advances in chemicals brought about widespread use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture. Ammonium nitrate became an inexpensive source of nitrogen for fertilizers, and the newly developed pesticide DDT was widely used throughout American farms. New technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and maximizing production have allowed fewer farmers to produce the majority of the food and fiber in the U.S.
Although these changes have had many positive effects, there have also
been significant costs.
* topsoil depletion
* groundwater contamination
* decline of family farms
* continued neglect of the conditions for farm laborers
* increasing costs of production
* disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities
Since the 1960's, a growing movement for sustainable agriculture has been gaining support within mainstream agriculture. Not only does sustainable agriculture address many environmental and social concerns, but it offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for growers, laborers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the entire food system.
Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals--environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. A variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. People in many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it.
Along similar lines, the Slow Food Organization - started in Europe - has been spreading its philosophy of Good, Clean, and Fair food.
Slow Food International (www.slowfood.com)
Slow Food is a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization
that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the
disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest
in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our
food choices affect the rest of the world.
Their philosophy is that food should be Good, Clean, and Fair.
- Good relates to the sense of pleasure derived from a food’s sensory qualities as well as the complex set of feelings, memories and identity triggered by its emotional impact.
- Clean means food has been produced without damaging the planet, with respect for ecosystems and the environment.
- Fair in the sense that food production should respect social justice, meaning decent wages and working conditions for everyone involved in the supply chain, from production to distribution to consumption.
Slow Food USA (www.slowfoodusa.org)
Lots of information and Links to local chapters (Convivia)
Why we must take care of THIS Planet...
Astronomy is humbling.
The Earth as seen from Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft - at a distance
of just over 746 million miles from Earth (so very close in relation
to the Universe).
The enlargement in the top-left is of the area marked with the blue
square.
That is us. "...the only home we've ever known...."