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The Dream Restored

Hi!

        Thank you so much for your messages.

        I am envisioning families all over the world taking a few acres of
land and developing it for agricultural self-sufficiency so well that they
hardly need anything outside of that.  Then the retired, the students, the
scholars, the pilgrims, etc. wandering here and there throughout the earth
will find these cruelty-free agriculturally self-sufficient villages all
over the world, and they will be just like an oasis for the weary
traveller.




Sincerely,

CJ Flores


ps At present we do not have the funds to maintain printed publications.
Most of our work is through the internet.



(The following are some notes that I have collected.)


In the words of the NGO Sustainable Agriculture Treaty negotiated at the
International NGO Forum at the Earth Summit:  "Although the present model
of agriculture has contributed in the last decades to a substantial
increase in food production, it has not solved the world'shunger problem,
which has increased parallel to increases in food production."   The
industrial model of agricultural production "decreases diversity in
ecosystems, landscapes and production, reduces natural resources that are
the common heritage of all to criteria and a logic of production which
mines the resource base, seeks immediate profits, and shifts the control of
production of foods and raw materials toward large transnational
corporations and trade interests at the expense of local control and
quality of life for farmers and food security for all people."

Additionally, the present industrial, chemical intensive agriculture system
of the so-called "Green Revolution" degrades the fertility of soils,
intensifies the effects of droughts and contributes to desertification,
pollutes water resources, causes salinization, increases non-renewable
energy dependence, destroys genetic resources, contaminates the food supply
and contributes to climatic change."





The following description of modern agriculture quoted from the book
Regenerating Agriculture--Policies and Practice for Sustainability and
Self-Reliance:

"Modern agriculture begins on the research station, where researchers have
access to all the necessary inputs of fertilizers, pesticides and labour at
all the appropriate times.  But when the package is extended to farmers,
even the best performing farms cannot match the yields the researchers get.
For high productivity per hectare, farmers need access to the whole
package:  modern seeds, water, labour, capital or credit, fertilizers and
pesticides.  Many poorer farming households simply cannot adopt the whole
package.  If one element is missing, the seed delivery system fails or the
fertilizer arrives late, or there is insufficient irrigation water, then
yields may not be much better than those for traditional varieties.  Even
if farmers want to use external resources, very often delivery systems are
unable to supply them on time.

Where production has been improved through these modern technologies, all
too often there have been adverse environmental and social impacts.  Many
environmental problems have increased dramatically in recent years.  These
include:

-  contamination of water by pesticides, nitrates, soil and livestock
wastes, causing harm to wildlife, disruption of ecosystems and possible
health problems in drinking water;
-  contamination of food and fodder by residues of pesticides, nitrates and
antibiotics;
--damage to farm and natural resources by pesticides, causing harm to
farmworkers and public, disruption of ecosystems and harm to wildlife;
-- contamination of the atmosphere by ammonia, nitrous oxide, methane and
the products of burning, which pay a role in ozone depletion, global
warming and atmospheric pollution;
-- overuse of natural resources, causing depletion of groundwater, and loss
of wild foods and habitats, and of their capacity to absorb wastes, causing
waterlogging and increased salinity;
-- the tendency in agriculture to standardize and specialize by focusing on
modern varieties, causing the displacement of traditional varieties and
breeds;
-- new health hazards for workers in the agrochemical and food-processing
industries.

Agricultural modernization has also helped to transform many rural
communities, both in the Third World and industrialized countries.  The
process has had many impacts.  These include the loss of jobs, the further
disadvantaging of women economically if they do not have access to the use
and benefits of the new technology, the increasing specialization of
livelihoods, the growing gap between the well-off and the poor, and the
cooption of village institutions by the state."  (Jules N. Pretty,
Regenerating Agriculture, Joseph Henry Press, Washington, DC p. 4)

An additional problem is one of increased corporate farming throughout the
world, which has taken land ownership and production out of the hands of
local farmers; they often utilize production systems that are better for
the corporate bank account than for the land.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linda L. Elswick
Director
Washington Office
World Sustainable Agriculture Association, 2025 I Street, NW#512, WDC, 20006
Phone: 202-293-2155
Fax: 202-293-2209
Email: wsaadc@igc.apc.org
Web Site:  http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/wsaa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


(What will community gardens, recycling projects, and CSA (Community
Supported Agriculture) do for society?)


* encourage neighborhood self-sufficiency
* contribute to the education and socialization of children and youth
* create opportunities for multicultural understanding
* offer ecological education
* foster intergenerational contact
* meet social and recreational needs
* improve family nutrition and increase community food security
* deepen people's understanding of local ecosystems
* promote biodiversity and seed saving
* provide vocational training and work experience
* help prevent drug  and alcohol abuse
* enhance neighborhood safety and beauty
        * build coalitions among groups dedicated to community
revitalization




Select "From The Roots Up" at  the ACGA Website:
http://ag.arizona.edu/~bradleyl/acga/acga.htm



            _____________________________________________________
                             O.O.A.S.I.S., Inc.
             Cruelty-free Sustainable Agriculture and Food Relief
          <a href="http://www.gnofn.org/~oxoasis/dgroup.htm">OX</a>

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