The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has become something like those obnoxious relatives many of us have, and whom we dont want around, not just on Thanksgiving, but any time.
In Minnesotas Cook County, in the northeast part of the state, ever more of MDAs equivalent of relatives are communicating that the agriculture regulators are not only not welcome, but should get the hell out of the area, and stay out.
Cook County officials dont like how the MDA is sticking its nose into the affairs of a long-established farm family the Berglund family, which owns Lake View Natural Dairy, a producer of raw milk. The MDA, of course, hates raw milk, even though it is legal for farmers to sell it direct to consumers. The agency has been nosing around the Berglund farm, trying to figure out how to make life difficult for the dairy, even though there’s been not a hint of illness, or complaints or concerns.
The MDA got off on the wrong foot last fall, when the local sheriff refused to help MDA agents serve contempt-of-court papers on Lake View Natural Dairy.
Then last week a local judge, Michael Cuzzo, refused to enforce his own contempt-of-court order, denying the MDA’s request to conduct an inspection of Lake View Natural Dairy, for at least 90 days while he assesses the state constitutional issues raised by Berglund’s defense lawyer, Zena Baer. This came after the MDAs lawyer had argued that the contempt order was the only legal issue deserving of attention.
Now, the Cook County Board of Commissioners is considering a resolution that would tell the MDA that, no, it isnt imagining that people dont like the agency. They really just dont like the MDA, and pretty much everything it stands for. On Tuesday, the county board will vote on whether to approve a statement of support for Lake View Natural Dairy that tells the MDA to cease their unfounded and, therefore, unwarranted actions against David Berglund and Lake View Natural Dairy located in Grand Marais, MN.
The final resolution the commissioners passed on Tuesday was shorter than what they posted on their web site; the full text is contained in a comment I wrote, following this post.
Supporters of the Berglund family are lobbying the county commissioners to vote their support of the resolution when they meet on Tuesday. Some may not view that it is the commissioners place to make their voice heard in this debate, writes Greg Gentz, a vocal area supporter of the Berglund family in its fight against the MDA. I say that this is the exact type of issue that is at the heart of the oath they took upon excepting their office!
Regardless of how the Tuesday vote turns out, the MDA’s dairy group may want to review the Dale Carnegie classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Maybe they can get their pals at the FDA to participate, and they can all get a quantity discount. After all, it’s getting pretty uncomfortable out there in the countryside the MDA patrols.
I have not viewed it.
Yet.
The website is
It says free to view through Sunday, 3/15. Such a deal? I dont know that either.
I dont know the duration. I dont know if it is endurable.
I see that there was an indiegogo funding campaign by the same name that closed on 7/10/2013.
Here are URLs:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bought-the-movie
http://free.boughtmovie.com/
http://www.boughtmovie.net/free-viewing/
https://www.facebook.com/BoughtMovie
Have a glyphosate free spring in the northern hemisphere!
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
p.s. super pi day is upon us on Sunday 3/14/15.
pi being 3.1415926535897, you know the rest. Non-repeating, non-ending.
And the next Super pi day wont be for one thousand years, 3/14/3015.
Enjoy it while it lasts. (And I have no idea what happened on 3/14/1592. At 6:53 in the morning.)
h/t Brunel and family
I thought *Bought* had been brought up.
And Ora Moose mentioned this movie in the fall of 2013.
Have you viewed *Bought* as well? And do you recommend it?
Ingvar
I hope that link works – it looks different than my usual links from my forum. Also, at the bottom of the quoted material is a link to read more info on it. When you click on that link, just keep scrolling because at first it looks like a blank page.
I think I didn’t order this because I have so many books on the same basic subject matter.
3 more deaths from pasteurized dairy.
At least this time the FDA changed its admonition and does not include warning not to drink or eat raw dairy. I guess they are half way to owning the fact that pasteurized dairy is a real threat and a high risk killer. They will be all the way when they dare include the word ” pasteurized ” in their press release. Not one mention of pasteurized in any of the press release or articles. Not even Bill Marler mentioned pasteurized in his story.
Half truths are lies. Zero deaths from raw milk since before 1972….deaths every year from processed dead guaranteed safe dairy products!!!! This takes the pasteurized dead body count to over 80!!
Made in Texas and shipped to Kansas. Maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to cross state lines?
“a finding that strongly suggests their infections (with listeria bacteria) were acquired in the hospital,” the CDC said.”
We all know that hospitals are very germy and places to be avoided.
“listeria isolated from specimens taken from four of the five patients at Via Christi St. Francis hospital in Wichita, Kansas, matched strains from Blue Bell products obtained this year in South Carolina and Texas.”
Gee, it’s everywhere!
Someday very soon, the FDA will see the light and be forced to admit that Listeria Monocytogenes is related to pasteurization ( and not raw milk ) and is damn dangerous. Dr. Martin at Cornell predicted increased deaths from pasteurization. Here it is!! Publicly, PHDs at UC Davis already say this and admit that pasteurization is associated closely to listeria and raw milk is not associated to listeria illness.
No ice cream for me…thank you.
It was worth the hour and a half.
Even our political tools are subject to this rule: any tool unused, unmaintained, left in the out of doors, exposed to the elements, in a short time will be ruin, unusable.
Here’s what “Bought” brought to my mind:
In the crucible of the American Revolution there was great focus on essential matters of governance. Once the Revolution was won the essence of the war for independence and self-government did not vanish but in one form or another form persisted. We still fight against tyranny at home and abroad, against foreign and domestic enemies of the republic. Often the fight is more subtle than the Revolution or the Civil War; for example, it may be battle against the precursors of tyranny such as administrative law and other corrupting influences at the foundations of the institutions of civilization.
So on March 23, 1775 in St. Johns Church in Richmond Virginia, Patrick Henry said, in part, these words:
it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth,
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves, and the House? …
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? …
Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.
Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
If weary, recall this phrase: lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope. May we persist that following generations may enjoy an ultimately successful defense of liberty, know its value, and never forget its cost.
Have a wonderful Sunday,
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
p.s. utter corruption and deceit is described AND the condoning thereof
My DH refers to the FDA as the friggin’ death administration . . . 😉
At the NFU policy committee I authored new policy that proposed this….a first ever definition of the word ” raw” as used in policy.
I proposed that raw means: the naturally occurring state of food or food ingredients, that is unaltered, never heated above 110 degrees F, not irradiated, not pressure treated or exposed to invasive chemicals.
We will see what the policy committee thinks about this definition. It will then be voted by delegates from all 50 states tomorrow. The awesome thing is that the NFU has well financed lobbyists that petition our congress and senators at the national level to assure that NFU policies become national policy.
Last year we were able to pass NFU policy in support of interstate commerce of raw milk. This year some one in a high level NFU policy position, wants that policy rescinded. I will take that fight to the floor in defense of current policy tomorrow. We will see how that goes….owe what fun!!!
I am sick and tired of fake raw almonds…fake raw cheeses…fake raw dried powdered milk!!
Yeah, “raw” is coming to be a marketing term, like “natural,” “fresh,” and even “organic.” Maybe if the NFU doesn’t take up the “raw” definition, RAWMI can begin to offer a definition.
When it comes to eating other raw foods, non-human foods, my sister was real good at that. Keep in mind, she was just a kid when doing this. She liked raw ground beef, dog biscuits and dog food as long as it was crunchy, bird seed, and who knows what else. When she was around two or three, she found another crunchy object that she attempted to eat. I was five or six, and still vividly remember the crushed up ‘red stuff’ in her mouth, along with the remaining part she was holding. I don’t know if she actually swallowed any of it, but it’s a wonder she didn’t cut her mouth and/or tongue. To this day, all she could ever tell me was, “But it was crunchy!”.
Kids will eat the darndest of things such as chewing gum that they picked up off the sidewalk or under the restaurant table.
Your sisters story reminds me of my son Jacob who would pick up virtually anything and eat it including dog food. It also reminds me of my dads hired hand, whose son was no more then two to three years old at the time and who use to wonder into the sheep yard and pick up the sheep turds and eat them. No issue.
Natural exposure to whatever accompanying microbes may exist on the various items that children put into their mouths has an overall positive effect on their immune system; dont tell my wife I said this!
Indeed their immune system will continue to evolve for the better, as long as they are not exposed to toxic drugs and chemicals such as antibiotics, vaccines, pesticides and rodenticides etc.
Ken
I don’t know if the farmers are using more chemicals in or on their fields/produce than when I was a kid. I know we were sprayed with ddt in NJ at Ft Monmouth.
Came to mind the editorial in the newspaper last Saturday particularly what weve been told = it takes 12 miles for a supertanker underway, to come to a dead stop in order to begin to turn around.
Same goes for this society : acknowledging a mistake then remedying it takes a generation.
In Canada, the media racket is so bleeding-obvious, its comical = the Trawna Grope+Flail is the mouthpiece for the federal Liberal Party. The National Post serves the same for the federal Conservatives. Here, the Victoria Times Colonist is the quasi-official mouthpiece for the provincial govt. So the fact that this piece [ URL below ] was given pride of place / amount of space, means : the mandarins who govern BritaliMumbia are paying close attention to the Campaign for REAL MILK harkening to the Weston A Price stuff and without being too conspiratorially-minded – certainly do monitor this forum
The province de Quebec always does what it wants, regardless of what The Rest of Canada thinks. So one may get all the REAL MILK you want, there, today. Once British Columbia de-criminalizes REAL MILK, it will be fait acomplis for the other 8 provinces
Page A12 Times Colonist for March 14 2015 Food intolerance growing concern
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-food-intolerance-a-growing-concern-1.1792336
Tomorrow I will present the argument for why defining raw is important and assures clarity for all involved. Be it for those that want pasteurized or those that demand unprocessed. Improperly labeled food is misleading.
It sure makes me wonder what has happened over the years. I was talking to someone this past weekend. I think she’s in her early 30s. I was telling her about some of the things we did as kids, and this day in age, no one would even think to do, or allow it to be done. I think everybody has gone soft. I told her kids are becoming a bunch of weenies. She is a mother, and has a little one under the age of two. I don’t know her well enough to ask about eating raw dough, or batter.
I used to save my chewing gum, and put it on my bed’s headboard. I did this well into my high school years, and never gave much thought about chewing it the next day.
My sister deliberately sought those items out. It must have been last year sometime when she was telling me she remembers eating all of that stuff, including the Christmas tree bulb.
I was pretty careful about most things I put in my mouth when I was younger. I did not eat or drink after anyone, family or not–I didn’t want their germs. I was also the one who got sick the least of anyone in my family. I guess I was more selective of the kinds of microbes I exposed myself to, and that includes now. I don’t like finger foods. I’m pretty particular about touching my food, but I’m not a sickly person either. There are a few things I avoid like the plague, and I’m not going to draw attention to it. I have my reasons, and my immune system is probably better off because of it. Clue: You named off three things that are related, and usually one place to get them…Happy sleuthing, Sherlock.
http://news.yahoo.com/trader-joes-recalls-raw-walnuts-products-over-salmonella-181933229.html
You are right to be concerned about defining Raw.
At a lecture several years ago the transfats situation vis-à-vis labeling law was explained this way:
1. The transfats are in one of three forms: single, double, or triple,
2. All three forms are equally bad (and they are very bad) for health,
3. It is easy, chemically, to split a triple into one double and one single,
4. The labeling law (ZERO TRANS FATS!!!) was written to pertain to and only to the triple form,
5. So that the triples are split up, the trans fats are still there, and the label says that they are not there.
6. The people that do things like this CAN GO TO HELL.
7. The NFU had better divorce itself from any such sophistry.
8. It is my opinion that the little guys doing it right can meet the food needs of society and that the big guys cannot. The big guys cant compete without subterfuge. What does that tell you?
Happy St. Patricks Day to all!
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
nb: St. Patrick c. 387 A.D. was a captured slave, escaped, equipped himself with the news of Jesus Christ, returned to the land of his being a slave, and changed the whole place for the better. They have not forgotten, the Irish.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is now zero-for-three in its campaign against Lake View Natural Dairy. First the local sheriff, then a state judge, and now the county commissioners have rejected the MDA’s effort to force the dairy to submit to inspections and questionable regulation. Supporter Greg Gentz reports that today, the Cook County commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of this resolution (which was shortened considerably from what the commissioners originally considered, as quoted in my blog post):
The Cook County Board of Commissioners will support Lake View Natural Dairy (LVND) and their protection under the Minnesota Constitutional Article 13, Section 7:
No license required to peddle. Any person may sell or peddle the products of the farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him without obtaining a license therefor.
We believe Article 13, Section 7 protects LVND from governmental intrusions, when LVND is privately associating with private men and women to sell and peddle the products of their farm at their farm location.
Furthermore, we support the consumers right under Article 13, Section 7 to privately associate with other private farmers or gardeners in a private relationship to purchase these products of the farm or garden.
We support LVND’s right to sell products of the farm under Article 13, Section 7 protections, while following safety measures applicable to raw dairy product farms.”
To provide financial backing to Lake View Natural Dairy, visit this site.
In the future perhaps this should act as a vital lesson to other oppressive MDA like regulatory agencies. Perhaps they will adapt friendlier, more hopeful policies and behaviors like….assisting rather than harassing raw milk producers.
Today was very interesting at NFU. I was able to get the first ever definition of “raw” defined. My definition which was very prescriptive and listed all the things that raw was not…died pretty quick. However…the negotiated consensus of the definition worked just fine. The final definition says: raw is “food in its naturally occuring state”. That works for me and sure beats raw being undefined. I would have fought harder for a defined definition, but I could see the fight brewing and took a win before the stabbing started.
Boy….GMOs are loved by Midwestern farmers. It was said at the convention that “farmers in America can be divided by who they have as a consumer”.
My wife Blaine kicked a little butt today. This is her first year as a delegate serving CA. She was able to get the word “Risk &” added along side the word “benefit” on the pro vaccination policies that NFU has in its policies. She stood and spoke as a nurse, a mom and grandmom….wow so compelling!! Go Blaine!!
Ken
Could it be that the FDA has yelled Wolf one to many times…now the consumers simply do not trust a single word they say? http://www.progressivedairy.com/dairy-basics/management/13316-milk-raw-store-bought
Conversely….consumers would rather trust another mom or their farmer!!
If market indicators mean anything…the latter appears to be very true. Next week a film crew will be at OPDC for three days. This is not just any film crew…this is a crew with a documentary story mission that includes Joel Salatin, other progressive farmers, opdc and features why raw milk and other whole unprocessed foods are sweeping the nation. Most importantly, the documentary will focus on how unprocessed foods have changed the lives of farmers, the environment, and their precious consumers health.
Ken
“An update on raw milk risks and opportunities”
Dairy basics – Management
Written by Progressive Dairyman Editor Emily Caldwell
Friday, 06 March 2015 11:46
(towards the end of the article. -JIO)
“…The Pasteurized Milk Ordinance also comes into play. Section 9 of the PMO prohibits the sale of unpasteurized milk to the final consumer. So unless a state has a law specifically legalizing the sale of raw milk and overriding this provision, theyre subject to this rule. Some states have not included section 9 in their adoption of the PMO.
Kennedy regards the FDA as the most anti-raw milk agency in the country. He said an official with FDA stated at a 2013 Illinois hearing that the agency considers all raw milk potentially adulterated. Under the PMO, any adulterated or misbranded milk may be impounded by a regulatory agency.
Additional amendments to the PMO are expected to be made at the 2015 National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, to be held April 24-29 in Portland, Oregon.”
Mr. J. Ingvar Odegaard
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/government-attacks-small-family-farm-in-schenectady-county-new-york/
I am reminded of Bob Badnarick and his now famous quote: “let them bring their vaccination needles and I will bring my 45… We will see which one makes a bigger hole!”
If this is not the purpose of the 2nd amendment…nothing ever was. Being secure in your person is sacred in America and it is defendable. Just have the guts to do so…
If the FDA and CDC were open and had integrity about vaccinations and had alternative single shots and fewer on the schedule like the EU….people would probably listen a little more. Pushing nearly 100 shots before year 18 is insane!!! In the EU it is more like 18 and they are spaced apart and target the important maladies. When the government serves pharma…time to fight back. Seriously….
I do sympathize with the guy in the article. I was plagued by one of those busybody types a few years ago. ‘Various’ people showed up at my place because they got complaints for one thing or another. I said that whoever is doing this should just mind their own freakin’ business. Fortunately for me, they agreed, but had respond to the call nonetheless. I even got a letter from the county humane society, and by then, I was REALLY pissed, so I called them. The woman I talked to said not to worry because a relative of hers went by my place on a regular basis, and said nothing was wrong. It didn’t stop, until one day, a woman confronted me while I had my hay guys here. I told HER to mind her own business, etc. She’s lucky I was milking at the time (left milkers on a few cows for a bit too long, oops) because she would have been dialing 911 for help to scrape her off the road. It’s been pretty quiet since then, but only a matter of time before someone else starts trouble. I’LL BE WAITING FOR THEM…
There are various official opinions floating out there depending where you live, however the consensus is that livestock will do just fine with snow as their only source of water. Horses, buffalo and cattle can go several months without water during a hard winter, and based on my experience, if given a choice, cattle and horses prefer snow. I have even seen them grab crusty snow and chew on it.
http://www.pbase.com/muddyboots/way_out_west
With all water sources frozen, the horses must eat snow to hydrate.
Even though they have a heated water source, sows will also trundle outside from the loafing barn during the winter and eat snow. And if locked in the barn they consider it treat if you toss them a pail of snow. In fact I wouldnt be surprised if that is what they did back in the days when water wasnt readily available during the winter.
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/faq7991 For eons, wild animals in Canada especially the large herbivores have relied on snow as their primary source of water through the winter. It has been shown that some wild species like reindeer actually prefer snow if given a choice Canadian ruminants, especially pregnant beef and bison cows and heifers, can do well eating snow.
Ken
No one checked any health records. The boarder patrol was muzzled about all the ill health they have seen coming across the boarder.
There are numerous pockets of active TB across the US now in schools. One high school in Kansas has 28 kids. http://rt.com/usa/242029-kansas-students-infected-tuberculosis/
Franklin High school on the south side of Sacramento has positive cases too, that area has a very high migrant population.
http://fox40.com/2015/03/10/up-to-300-students-exposed-to-tb-at-2-elk-grove-schools/
The drugs they give for treating TB can be lethal.
http://news.yahoo.com/popular-weed-killer-deemed-probable-carcinogen-un-182548855.html
Seems the French aren’t afraid to speak out against montanso. Our gov and the makers of Agent Orange said it was safe too….
I’m not even “anti-vaccine”. I’d just like to continue to make medical choices for my own children and myself consciously and based on personal risk and benefits. Given all the information, parents will come to different conclusions (not unlike raw milk!) . And we can discuss the pros and cons of vaccines all day long, and thats a worthwhile discussion! But people miss the point here. This debate is not about how great or how terrible the vaccines. Its about our basic human right of being secure in our person…about having the ultimate decision about what is done to our bodies. Does anyone study history anymore? This trend is not new, and it hasn’t gone well for the people historically.
I was asked by our very dear and well-meaning family doctor, “where does your right to choose end if it means violating my right not to be exposed to disease?” The answer is easy: “Your right to avoid exposure ends when it requires me to inject something into my body or the bodies of my children against my will.” Its such craziness! Because of fear, the masses so quickly trade one risk of illness exposure for something much, much worse…loss of security in our person. Bad, bad trade.
My Dad had strategically placed dams all over our ranch and part of the job for us kids was to go around and bust up the ice around the edges of each dam a couple of times every day. I used an old post hole digger and that thing was heavier than I was for quite some time! We also pitched bales and mineral blocks off the back of the old hay-hauling truck, after the haystacks were depleted in each pasture, no matter what the weather was doing in the winter. It was part of the risk of being a rancher. All of us kids had a vested interest in every blessed cow and bull on that ranch and we did our best to keep them alive and well.
No one forced him to become a doctor . . .
For decades people believed everything they were told by doctors, because doctors were supposed to be there to protect and help us. Does anyone else feel betrayed?
I pretty much knew the answers to my questions, but just in case I missed something, I figured someone else would let me know.
Weve always had both beef and dairy cattle on the farm. With respect to the beef herd my dad started off with Herefords, however he switched over to Angus for calving ease; they are second to none among the beef breeds in that department.
As far as the dairy herd is concerned, weve always had Jerseys and contrary to popular belief they are not as timid as is often claimed. In fact they adapt very well to cold winter weather and if given a choice between the loafing barn and the outside many will choose to sleep outside in the snow even in -40 degree weather. And despite a constant supply of fresh water both the dairy cattle and beef cattle will eat snow.
When it comes to lactating animals however they do need water if you want to maintain milk production and body weight.
I lost a bred heifer last winter. She was around three weeks from her due date. The water tanks were frozen, and we did have a lot of snow cover. I have two tanks in different areas. One is behind my house, and that was the one I could keep more water in, since they ate their hay nearby. The second tank was outside my old barn (which they use only if they want to have cover overhead), and that one only had a little room for water. It’s also the closest tank to my milking facility. I was filling buckets to take water to the yearling heifers about 30 feet away, and this bred heifer started drinking water like there was no tomorrow. I had been training her to come in to learn the milking routine (I have headlocks instead of stanchions–flat parlor style, and I switch groups), but noticed her manure was really stiff, and very dry looking. I found her dead the next day. I asked my vet about it, and he said if they hadn’t been drinking any water, and then drank a whole bunch at once, it could kill them. It had something to do with the salt in their body. I can’t remember what he called it.
Ken
Ken
I also liked Gene’s post a while back concerning trees. I closed my eyes after reading it, relaxed, and felt my blood pressure drop! The mind is amazing.
Here’s an interesting article about how California’s water crisis may finally push us away from industrial ag and force more of a move to local and sustainable agriculture. It definitely will take a crisis to force such a shift.
It doesn’t matter how much snow is on the ground. If their water is empty, they let me know it. Don’t get me wrong, I have seen them eat snow, but they still want the water. If my cows’, or especially the heifers’ tank is empty, or frozen, they cry until I give them water. I don’t think that heifer I lost was drinking out of the tank behind my house, and she surely wasn’t eating any snow. My cattle stay outside. That old barn is more of a wind break–it isn’t very big, because a good deal of the time, if the wind is out of the west, or north, they are standing on the lot between the buildings. We have finally gotten some temps in the 40s and 50s, and they will get to be out in the pasture until I start putting up wires to keep them off of it so that the grass will grow.
Some years ago, I heard about a young woman who entered some sort of water drinking contest, and it killed her. I’ll have to try and remember to ask my vet the exact name of what he said would have done that heifer in.
That IS unusual with the eye colors on not one, but two of your dogs. What are the odds of that?
I have an ‘internet friend’ who gave me the “Dairy Duchess” name. She’s called me a few other names relating to dairy farms, and farmers (may have even called me Dairy Chick), but I happened to like how she used it when she wrote to me. She uses the word “Queen” in her name, so I guess it fits. I use a different “Dairy ____”, but it’s not Dairy Queen or Princess.
Ken
Ken
The article eluded to the fact that future food supplies (and how we simply MUST depend on monsanto and the like to be our saviour) is the reason our gubmint is trying so hard to make people believe that horrendous climate change is in our future (the climate changes all the time and always has!) – – – as they fly around in jets and private planes and claim that’s ok. Well, as I see it, sterilizing seeds so they will only produce one crop is not the answer to that problem. This is BIGPHOOD’s answer to the problem? OMG.
How did we get to this point??
The potential for progress to access water is a measure of “Pain”. That is how humans create change,no change until pain pushes change. The fact is there are precious few areas in th USA that match the CA climate…in fact there are virtually none. All other areas are high above sea level and have a totally different rain fall or winter chill factor difference. CA feeds our country….yes there can be more smaller farms in town town areas. But that is not how our current system of money and export works. That’s not the power system that has built the CA kingdom of food.
The fact is that the USA is drowning in water…it is a distribution challenge. Water from areas that are flooding can be redirected to areas that grow jobs…feed the nation and also feed other parts of the world. If CA is allowed the dry up….the 8th largest economy of the world dries up. There are interests that just need “pain” and priorities will change and water will flow differently arround the USA. Food can not come from most areas of the USA…that is why food does not flow from those areas. If it could be grown there…it would already be grown there. As Secretary Vilsack said last week…America’s farmers have allowed the rest of us to focus on other things besides feeding ourselves.
There is a core niche interest in growing gardens….but this interest is very small and gardens do not grow almonds or beef or even dairy products to feed a nation at this population level and growing.
This is not fascist Germany in 1939 and we are not going to depopulate our county or other countries. We are going to start feeling pain….make changes, start to control birth rates, increase education, move water arrond, remediate bad water and salt water with solar and wind power and we will stimulate our economy and feed more people better at the same time.
The sky is not falling….but things are changing and we will change as well….but human nature and politics says….it takes lots of pain to get change made.
I think Mark is right, the total amount of water in the country or on the planet is a zero sum issue and more of a distribution problem, water evaporates and comes down somewhere else. Can’t we just run a huge pipeline from Oregon where there’s tons of rainfall, to California where it’s needed?
I have never been able to wrap my mind around American’s need to have lush useless lawns that are a huge drain on our water resources, instead of using that water to grow food. It’s strictly egotistical and defies logic, but maybe if the system crashes we could revise the train of thought. Repeat after me: LAWNS ARE UGLY!
Let’s outlaw car washes too unless they recycle the water. Hey I know let’s give CA the abundance of snow we have here in MA, free pickup just take it away.