Comments on: In The Elevator…

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:14:30 +0000

z…

What about us city people, living in apartments, condos, and town homes?

I live in a small, cramped condo with a tiny amount of patio space for growing anything. Last summer I grew a few pots of herbs, but I don’t have any real space for something like container gardening. And I can tell you right now, that my HOA won’t allow the use of the communal lawn area for gardening…no matter how bad the economy gets or how high food prices are (because it “devalues” the property).

For a large population of people, gardening is a luxury and not practical.

I would like to see the new administration take steps to make farming, and buying farmland, affordable for those of use who want to make the transition. My dream is to eventually buy a small amount of farmland for raising laying hens, growing a small orchard and veggie patch, and to raise a small herd of goats for cheese production.

We, as a nation, are strangling ourselves by the loss of small, family farms–which are being sold for either commercial or residential development or being sold to the monster Ag companies.

Small, family, agricultural development needs to be a priority.

By: MAC

MAC — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:47:39 +0000

The idea of an organic kitchen garden on the White House grounds is a traditional one, after all, and there’s a similar initiative on it by http://www.eattheview.com

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:59:19 +0000

Barbara, when I saw this project, I thought of you:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/06/an-organic-farm-on-the-wh_n_141875.html

I love the idea of an organic farm on the White House grounds – what a lovely message to put out and if it supplies the White House too, you can’t get more local and delicious!

By: z.

z. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:20:53 +0000

Jim, maybe I am a bit brutal but I think it’s better to spend more money on food and less on entertainment and other junk. Americans like their tvs and baseball games too much and that’s what is driving them away from our roots in the soil. they don’t have time to garden because they want to watch ESPN and CMT. And yes, as you suspected, I am religious, a Christian, in fact, and that’s just what I believe. I’m sorry, but I don’t think anything besides rising prices are really going to force most people to garden. As a country, we are just too lazy. We’d rather work more hours at our cushy office job to pay for those groceries than get our hands dirty growing our own tomatoes. But if the prices were high enough, people might begin to think of how they could provide for themselves.

Also let me say that I really don’t understand all that much about food politics. I am just throwing around my opinions…maybe I really should study up on this since it does interest me. And quite possibly, raising prices of groceries alone is a terrible idea. But I suspect that when done in conjunction with a few other things, it really would help.

And for the record, I grow bushels of vegetables all summer long for my family. If I can do it, just about any one can!

Okay, did I make any sense at all?

By: Harry

Harry — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:32:15 +0000

Were I to discuss food with him, I’d say about what Andrea said.

Or I might get more general and point out, forcefully, that subsidies distort. All subsidies. To farmers to grow the corn that makes us unhealthy. To the energy producers that produce dirty energy. To the employers that tie us to them via tax-benefited health insurance. To driving that pollutes our air and strongly discourages other forms of transport.

More likely I’d address a different topic entirely, and go over all the recent history (past 20 years) that show that markets need reliable legal structures and regulation in order to work to the benefit of all. Markets without reliable legal structures and regulation turn into social Darwinism.