Tag: agriculture

The Names of Things

An old painting by John Miles of Northleach imagines Adam in the midst of naming all the animals in the Garden of Eden. Adam...

The Mother of All Arts

“Whoever it was who said that agriculture is the mother and nurse of all other arts was right, because when agriculture is faring well,...

Fathers and Sons, and Gardens

“The land provides the greatest abundance of good things, but doesn’t allow them to be taken without effort.” “Furthermore, the land also freely teaches justice...

Why We Consent to the Wholesale Destruction of Good Land

Harrison County, Ohio. After I first moved to Harrison County, my smaller children used to beg that we drive home after excursions via a little-used...

Which Came First, the Chicken or the McNugget?

In many ways, the Los Angeles County Fair is not so different from county fairs all over the country ... except for its agricultural exhibit.

Technique and Food: Why our Local Food System does not Feed...

Here are the local puzzle pieces that we somehow need to fit together: great farms; committed, hard working farmers; a university of world class researchers; a highly participatory local political system; obesity; unemployment; lack of food processing capacity; plentiful fresh food that doesn't reach our plates; farmers going out of business; and fundraisers to buy farmland that people can't farm.

Community & Language

Their language is hopeful and would be recognizable to any tobacco farmer of the last hundred years. But now they are talking about food.

The Book You Should Read This Year

Claremont, CA. They call it the “Superman Syndrome.” People who use methamphetamine often believe that they are capable of doing impossible things. Like flying....

Against Monoculture

In plant or animal life, a single virus or bacteria, a single destructive fungus or disease, a single hostile predator or pest would wipe out an entire monoculture without the barest resistance. It is the very nature of nature to avoid monocultures - indeed, it cannot be otherwise since any form of monoculture cannot long exist in nature.

The Rediscovery of Agriculture?

RINGOES, NJ. Recently, a friend and I visited Polyface Farm outside Staunton, Virginia. Polyface is owned and operated by Joel Salatin, whose parents...