Market-driven agriculture is wrong-headed. Waiting to grow crops based on speculation about market-return overlooks the needs of the global community. Much is known about the nutritional needs of humanity, yet we base our assessments of agricultural output on market-economics. If we are considering non-essentials, the law of supply and demand SHOULD be considered when regulating quantities of goods and services, but what is there about human nature that wants to take chances when it comes to food and shelter? Do squirrels really have more sense than we do, when it comes to these issues? Why do we wait for calamity to occur before considering our options? It is often said that we don’t produce enough food to feed the world. Close behind that statement is this one: overproduction causes prices to fall. Here we have the classic law of supply and demand. BUT THIS LAW CANNOT BE USED WHEN CONSIDERING FOOD AND SHELTER! If there isn’t enough arable land to grow enough food for the planet, then we need to add to our arable acreage by refusing to build on top of cropland, by turning more grazing land into cropland, through improving irrigation, desalinization plants, crop-rotation, terracing and trellising, green housing, and improving our distribution networks. Methods of storage must also be improved with grain dryers, proper packaging and warehousing. Distribution must be uniformly-based upon nutritional needs, and this must be done globally. The inevitable droughts, floods, hailstorms, and other weather-related issues must be counterbalanced through careful storage and stockpiling techniques. Irrigation solves many drought issues; greenhousing and proper warehousing solves many flood-related issues; and research is being done globally to resolve weather, pest, rust, mildew and many other issues. World seed banks perform a valuable preservation-service. Storage in particular can be improved exponentially just by employing current technologies of dehydration, air-tight containers, waterproofing, canning and packaging, proper labeling and warehousing and reliable transportation. Mainly, we need to reverse the trend of waiting for a crisis to occur before seeking a remedy. During World War II, gardening got a boost through implementation of personal “victory gardens.” Although nice-to-look-at, much landscaping is done for aesthetics and erosion-control. A large percentage of these parkways could be devoted to cropland. If everyone would plant a garden, or help others who did plant one, the quality of fresh produce would improve and everyone’s independence would also improve. The stress experienced through not knowing where your next meal is coming from causes unnecessary anxiety, when solutions are usually close-at-hand. There are endless possibilities available globally, through the use of greenhouses, canopies, roof-gardens, terrariums, personal gardens, raised-beds, grain-sprouting, etc. So how would this new attitude toward our food supply affect business-as-usual? If handled properly, it would create the following desirables: stockpiling of essential foods—up to a 10-year supply, vastly-improved sources of fresh fruits and vegetables from home-grown sources, economical improvement in the living-wage for individual workers, farmers, and large-scale farming ventures. This can be achieved through global price-stabilization, which seeks to establish realistic pricing for the consumer AND the producer, based on need-rather-than-greed. No one needs to get hurt if a fair assessment is made of needs, and an ever-increasing supply is achieved. When the value of agriculture is determined by supply, prices fluctuate, so every effort must be made to ensure fair profit-margins for producers as they increase their supply output. Those who gauge prosperity based on market-analysis, goods and services, the commodities exchange, stock-market volatility, various competitions involved with currencies, the global economy, GDP, and other economic indicators, overlook the essential truth that the only physical essentials are food and clean water, shelter, and a healthy environment. All the rest are non-essentials competing with essentials for a larger share of the planet and a larger share of our time and commitment. Let’s get our priorities straight and help to fix our planet while there is still time! I enjoy leisure as much as the next person, but there is a point that has been reached already, beyond which we dare not venture—that of our pursuit of non-essential distractions at the expense of life’s essentials. Stop the madness, folks! Return to sanity and the main ingredients of civilization.
Mark Overt Skilbred
No comments:
Post a Comment