[GWL]: Organic Style Magazine (was: Gardening magazines)

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One of my greatest joys when I first became seriously interested in gardening was the arrival of the original “Organic Gardening.” Robert Rodale and his staff were conducting scientific, cutting edge experimentation on alternative methods of pest control and cultivation on their research farm in Emmaus, PA. He reported his results as well as recommendations from other gardeners, botanists, horticulturists, and farmers in this wonderful publication.

I read with interest that so many on this list are angered by this latest affront; “Organic Style,” but isn’t it really the logical next step on the downward staircase that began after R. Rodale’s death? I canceled my subscription many years ago when, during the “Alar on apples” scare, OG featured on it’s cover, not a pomologist, not a toxicologist, not an apple farmer or any other type of expert but rather Meryl Streep, a movie star! This was only the first of many insults to the gardening world’s intelligence. It’s not unlike paying $150.00 for a pair of kid’s sneakers just because Michael Jordan’s in the commercial. The commercialization of “Organic Gardening” and organic gardening began many years ago. It’s like the story of the unwitting frog put into the pot of cool water, which is then slowly heated to a boil.

There is so much good work being done today in the fields of sustainable agriculture, biological pest controls, cultivation practices that curtail pest populations and the development of resistant varieties as well as synthetic controls that are less persistent with fewer does and less non-target environmental impact. Unfortunately this work is often thrown into the same wheelbarrow with philosophical gobbledygook by folks looking for easy, black and white, good and evil definitions. I submit that the metamorphosis of this once great publication is a metaphor for what has happened and is happening to our industry and, dare I say, our culture.

Greg Quinn

40:47:15.799N

73:58:53.018W