Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 38 Editor's Choice: 5
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Do consumers really understand what true organic would mean?
[Read the article: Squeezing out local produce]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm an organic produce farmer in Ohio. I currently work 80+ hrs per week, have $15,000 in debt and have earned a grand total of $1500 this season to put in my pocket. Granted, part of this is because I have a new business. Even so--I've done the math: My maximum revenue would be about $20,000 minus about $10,000 expenses. This leaves me with $10,000 for myself, well below the poverty line. I'm sure there are plenty of things I can do to increase my margins and add value to my product (Maybe 25%?). Even then, however, we are not talking about a living wage here.
So, after two years of constant toil for a few thousand dollars, my question is: Do food-conscious Americans really know what it would cost to produce truly organic, fair-wage, sustainable food? Most Americans spend only about 12% of their income on food. This is the lowest in the world, even among other developed countries. We've become so used to cheap subsidized, commodity-based foods like high-fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, etc., that we've come to see cheap food (even cheap organic food) as some kind of birthright. Meanwhile, we don't think twice about shelling out the big bucks for an overpriced house or SUV.
If we were actually to give farmers a true living wage, eliminate unfair commodity and energy subsidies (which actually drive the price of food down, not up), and promote truly sustainable agriculture, we would have to get used to paying twice what we currently pay for food. Is organic America prepared to pay this price? If they really care about the values behind organic, they have to face up to the facts. If, on the other hand, all they want is the organic label slapped on their cheap milk carton, the Wal-marts of the world will prevail.
Don't get me wrong, by the way; I love farming. It's rewards are numerous: phyical health and exercise, access to fresh vegetables, being outdoors, social contact with customers. But it's very hard work; the kind of physical work most Americans have never experienced. If farmers cannot be given a fair wage for their products, we will burn ourselves out--running just to stand still. More and more farmers will go out of business and more organic production will get sent overseas.
What will happen to a country where all our food production is shipped overseas? What if gas prices continue to rise to unsustainable levels and food cannot be shipped long distances anymore? What happens when we find out all of our good agricultural land has been depleted beyond repair or paved over with suburban sprawl? What happens when no one knows how to farm anymore and we desperately need farmers?
These are the core issues that the organic movement was founded on. It's now up to consumers to decide where we go next.
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For Christ's sake, please don't procreate...
[Read the article: Come as you are]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I love how evangelical Christians think it is their duty to multiply and inhabit the earth. Usually they point to a well-known passage where God tells Noah to "be fruitful and multiply." Never mind that Noah just survived a devastating worldwide flood where nearly everyone bit the dust except his family. Meanwhile, there are currently 6.6 billion people on the planet today and these Christians want to add more?
Unfortunately, for Christians eager to get hitched and do the nasty, there are just as many passages in the Bible advocating lifelong celibacy for Christians. After all, everyone knows the end is nigh and Jesus is coming back any day now, so what's the point in having children. Just check out Matthew 19:11 or Luke 17:26. 1 Corinthians 7.8 is another personal favorite. Paul compels his readers, "To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am." While these passages never rule out marriage in special cases where individuals cannot contain their passions, lifelong celibacy is apparently a superior state to "holy matrimony."
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What's the big deal?
[Read the article: The breast of times]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People who have a problem with breastfeeding after a certain age need to lighten up. A woman is not "sick" or "twisted" for using her breasts as they are supposed to be used. Sending someone to jail for taking a picture of herself breastfeeding her one-year-old child--what the fuck is wrong with this country?
As for the sex thing, I would really like to see research done on this. There are too many pseudo-psych theories out there based on old Freudian crap. You could argue that children raised on breastmilk are more likely to have a healthier, open attitude about sex and not see breasts as such a big deal.
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These women shouldn't be in prison
[Read the article: Women's shoes soothe prison blues]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No, concern about minor issues does not imply general support, but really, these women should not be in prison. Nor should most of the male prison population. Minor drug charges should land you in rehab. If you can't pay your rent check, you shouldn't have to resort to stealing. The gov't. should step up and solve these problems. Until then, worrying about all the niceties of prison life is really quite irrelevant when the system itself devalues these people to begin with.