On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:11:29 -0700, Paul Cherubini <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >I don't understand what's "unsustainable" about conventional >agricultural practices. Example: along the margins of the >GMO corn and soybean monocultures in the upper Midwest >USA I find native bee and butterfly pollinators are still abundant: it takes more then bees and butterflies in the fencerows to make farming sustainable. most of the landscape here is *owned* by monsantao, cargill, ADM and their like. through a monopoly on seeds, seed/chem systems, distribution and pricing a farmer almost has to resort to the latest chemical or GMO crop to make a go of it. many local rural communities have seen a massive loss of population as big ag takes over the landscape. the profits are pushed upstream to the processors while the producers get the scraps. IMO the feedlot operators are also mere tools of the system, they are told what to feed, what to inject and how much they will get per hundred weight. conventional farming has been reduced to a mindless robot like exsitance for many who also have huge payments to keep up with the big equipment, feedlot buildings etc that are required. the big joke is the Feds subsidize these operations. much of the ouput from this kind of agriculture is slowly killing many people via obesity and diabetes. the heavy use of antibiotics and hormones is an unknown but possible growing risk also. many farmers have been turned into tools of the system. they have little choice of how to play the game and make a living. likewise in the large migratorry operations get squat for their honey, while the packers move in foriegn honey into the country. the lifeline many are clinging to with their over medicated bees on contaminated comb is polllination. SEVERAL leading bee researchers have been quoted in the last 9 months as saying these migratory bees are stressed from the frequent movements and poor nutrition. how much more can we push this overall system? who can make a claim that American beekeeping IS sustainable? we have far less bees then are needed, there are constant hive crashes and crisis. the price of honey no matter what always seems to be in the barely do-able range. Is there some one on the list that thinks CCD would even be in our vocabulary if 95% of all US colonies were never moved and never had any regular or overdoses of TM, Checkmite, Apistan or jacked up blue shop rag treatments? a big part of the problem is Americans notion that food should be cheap. it is cheap nowadays because of the heavy use of corn syrup, corn & soybean by product fillers and other imported fillers from China. as aulluded to earlier the water quality in farm country is horrible, many streams and rivers here are undrinkable and do not sustain aqautic life. sure life goes on but at what cost? who owns the water, sky and quality of overall life? i'm just saying that we have the knowledge and capacity to have a more earth and people freindly system of producing food. it has to start with the consumer who rejects the junk that sits in the grocery stores or rejects some of the producer practices. the beggining of that trend is already happening, some are on the wagon, some are posers, some are left on the side line clueless. i don't think for a new york minute that big ag farmers or migratory beeks are "bad people" they are ordinary people that are trying to make a living. we all have to decide how we feel comfortable making a living and the ethics and so on that goes with that choice. if someone feels good about stesssing their bees, using harsh chem treatments or dumping atrazine on their land to make a living they have to live with that each night when they turn the lights off. IMO its the legacy we will leave for the next generation thats important not the money that was made now at any cost. ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************