tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56136149764740330912024-02-07T22:45:10.130-07:00Swords Into PlowsRaising a family and raising a farmFort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-63152605067093635592019-03-20T18:34:00.001-06:002019-03-20T18:36:39.492-06:00the hero worship of the founding fathers"The Constitution invests the people with just enough power to carry out the functions that it dictates.
If so, this explains a good deal about the American political system — its low ideological level, its narrowness of debate, its all-around thoughtlessness. Instead of freely thinking through the problems before them, Americans are required — programmed, actually — to think only in ways dictated by the founders.<br />
<br />
They are creatures of a pre-ordained democracy that limits their role to filling in certain blanks. They will argue endlessly about the “necessary and proper” clause in Article I or the meaning of the Second Amendment, but never about why, after more than two centuries, they should remain bound by such precepts in the first place. They debate what the Constitution allows them to debate and disregard the rest."<br />
<br />
-- <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/12/abolish-the-senate/">Abolish the Electoral College</a>
Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-73832028791239088942019-01-06T17:50:00.000-07:002019-01-06T17:50:03.496-07:00Promise"I think promising goes back to the unstated contract between a mother and child. It's no use her telling a child, 'You must not go near the edge of the cliff, or touch fire, or wander off,' unless the child agrees that it won't. If the child doesn't agree, then the mother must be more vigilant than is practical. What the child promises is to try to stay alive. What the mother promises, in return, is to love the child and try to keep it alive. That is the earliest contract humans make, or have ever made. So, when we ask a [crisis line] caller to promise, we are touching an ancient nerve. The equation written in our cells, in our bones, is that keeping yourself safe will lead to love. It is the oldest and simplest promise."<br />
<br />
-- Diane Ackerman, <i>A Slender Thread: Rediscovering Hope at the Heart of Crisis</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-43066297456169482892018-11-03T09:23:00.002-06:002018-11-03T09:23:26.400-06:00kinkeepers"The predominance of women in genealogical communities is consistent with the literature on "kinkeeping," the term coined by Carolyn J. Rosenthal to describe how the practice of maintaining family ties -- through activities such as fostering communication between members or providing emotional and financial aid to them -- was a form of gendered labor. Genealogists can be seen as fulfilling the role of kinkeeper in their families. With genealogical practices of prior times and of today, kinkeeping involves the work of connecting past and present kin with purposeful narrative."<br />
<br />
-- Alondra Nelson, <i>The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-54573841804682238872018-09-17T15:59:00.001-06:002018-09-17T15:59:19.642-06:00all they'll know of lifeThe two men [Robert E Lee and Joe Johnston] fell silent, seemed to be both enjoying the faint sound of a harmonica, muffled sounds of men moving about, fragments of conversation, all sounds of an army at rest.<br />
<br />
"Look out there, all over the camp. Even the card playing is quiet. This is no party. They're preparing for it, every man looking deep inside himself, asking the same questions, making his own peace."<br />
<br />
Johnston took his hat off, held it in his hands, stared at it. "No one plans this, Robert. No one says, 'I'm going to join the Army so I can fight a war.' you and I have been doing this for what? Eighteen years? After awhile you never expect to see something like this. Some of these boys are straight out of the Point, class of 1846, going straight from the classroom to combat. What will that do to them? They'll see the Army very differently than you or I do, Robert. War might even become... normal to them. You and I, we have lives to go home to, families. This war will end, and we will go back to doing what we always did before. But those boys, their lives will never be the same. All they'll know about life is fighting a war. Peacetime could be very dull."<br />
<br />
-- Jeff Shaara, <i>Gone for Soldiers: A Novel of the Mexican-American War</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-89867122844815693742018-08-26T13:47:00.000-06:002018-09-17T15:53:34.295-06:00"There was a time - not long ago - when Americans could honestly look their kids in the eye and promise they would enjoy a better life than their parents had. That was the essence of the American Dream, now receding into memory for many and at its moment of greatest peril."<br />
<br />
- David Rolf, <i>The Fight For $15</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-31204076319335698282017-10-07T19:28:00.002-06:002017-10-07T19:28:54.590-06:00A small green islandThere is a small green island<br />
where one white cow lives alone, a meadow of an island.<br />
<br />
The cow grazes till nightfull, full and fat,<br />
but during the night she panics<br />
and grows thin as a single hair.<br />
What shall I eat tomorrow? There is nothing left.<br />
By dawn the grass has grown up again, waist-high.<br />
The cow starts eating and by dark<br />
the meadow is clipped short.<br />
<br />
She is full of strength and energy, but she panics<br />
in the dark as before and grows abnormally thin overnight.<br />
The cow does this over and over,<br />
and this is all she does.<br />
<br />
She never thinks, This meadow has never failed<br />
to grow back. Why should I be afraid every night<br />
that it won't. The cow is the bodily soul.<br />
The island field is this world where that grows<br />
lean with fear and fat with blessing, lean and fat.<br />
<br />
White cow, don't make yourself miserable<br />
with what's to come, or not to come.<br />
<br />
-- RumiFort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-59292598435439211262017-07-11T21:21:00.000-06:002017-07-11T21:21:09.810-06:00"What I really love about traditional music -- Irish, gypsy, American roots, whatever -- is how it exists in context with what's come before," DiMario [of Crooked Still] says. "It's about real people, going through real stuff, who needed music to survive. I'm more moved by a scratchy field recording, out of tune and with rough edges, than anything modern. The emotional content underneath resonates with deeper meaning."<br />
<br />
-- <i>No Depression #76: Abigail Washburn and The Next Generation</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-49700524869959490272017-06-07T12:07:00.000-06:002017-06-07T12:07:00.394-06:00Enthusiasm"Enthusiasm is an attribute that feeds our happiness. [It] brightens a situation. It feeds energy. It feels good. When I was a seminary student, my teacher demanded enthusiasm. He taught us that four things would feed it: wanting to be enthusiastic; sticking with it; letting ourselves be happy; and being careful not to get too carried away because that could lead to having-to-lie-on-the-floor exhaustion. [...] We had to give ourselves permission to feel the joy that is a by-product of enthusiasm. Joy can be a little embarrassing if you aren't used to it. It feels a little too Hallmark TV Channelish. A little false. Except it isn't. It's true and it feeds our happiness, our health, and our sanity as it balances out the inevitable sorrows in our lives. [...]<br />
<br />
I can tell when people live their lives with enthusiasm. They are surrounded by things they love. They are happy. And they are helpful -- whether you are an old friend or a stranger asking for directions."<br />
<br />
-- Geri Larkin, <i>Plant Seed, Pull Weed: Nurturing the Garden of Your Life"</i>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-38817437372971845462015-08-01T18:39:00.000-06:002016-02-11T18:40:53.723-07:00Matching Fashion<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs9N04I_QWfVzejQeP_krGq3ycfZ0x0gv_go0SkySxoO7L428OXuhyphenhyphenlryOLgYTv3-MF2r3bZGaD58fZEVIwwrfzJ2MQ5tbkZUIn49KntfdAjyBKy6RzzFIzkteKPZDxbGk9m_SCWzvILX/s1600/IMG_2158.JPG" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifs9N04I_QWfVzejQeP_krGq3ycfZ0x0gv_go0SkySxoO7L428OXuhyphenhyphenlryOLgYTv3-MF2r3bZGaD58fZEVIwwrfzJ2MQ5tbkZUIn49KntfdAjyBKy6RzzFIzkteKPZDxbGk9m_SCWzvILX/s320/IMG_2158.JPG" /></a>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-29152115841870964752015-07-01T18:37:00.000-06:002016-02-11T18:38:09.068-07:00Visualization<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFt9KqUKcn2dDcdZUUL8FSVT9vlVWoWdopgKZoE2bx-9gqn89rIPqz1HAqqA4_c5KFJu79i5wUk55o14HhUUTsXTKHJtnMKRAKE7I0A6uQF1RK1JqmYVAtGib3-jdc-3yFs2qoLpKx2rD/s1600/11077945_10206063218247152_2766869891067998682_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFt9KqUKcn2dDcdZUUL8FSVT9vlVWoWdopgKZoE2bx-9gqn89rIPqz1HAqqA4_c5KFJu79i5wUk55o14HhUUTsXTKHJtnMKRAKE7I0A6uQF1RK1JqmYVAtGib3-jdc-3yFs2qoLpKx2rD/s320/11077945_10206063218247152_2766869891067998682_o.jpg" /></a>Fort Fasnachthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516481623218037083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-79479992514368916012014-12-11T19:58:00.000-07:002015-04-06T06:16:36.010-06:00hard work makes you happy"Psychologists use the Experience Sampling Method, or ESM to find out how we really feel during different parts of our day. Subjects are interrupted at random intervals with a pager or by text message and asked to report two pieces of information: what they're doing and how they feel. One of the most common findings of ESM research is that what we think is "fun" is actually mildly depressing.<br />
<br />
Virtually every activity that we would describe as a 'relaxing' kind of fun -- watching television, eating chocolate, window-shopping, or just chilling out -- doesn't make us feel better In fact, we consistently report feeling worse afterward than when we started "having fun": less motivated, less confident, and less engaged overall. But how can so many of us be so wrong about what's fun? Shouldn't we have a better intuitive sense of what actually makes us feel better?<br />
<br />
We certainly have a strong intuitive sense of what makes us feel bad, and negative stress and anxiety are usually at the top of the list. ESM researchers believe that when we consciously seek out relaxing fun, we're usually trying to reverse these negative feelings. When we seek out passive entertainmnt and low-engagement activities, we're using them as a counterbalance to how stimulated and overwhelmed we feel.<br />
<br />
But by trying to have easy fun, we actually often wind up moving ourselves too far in the opposite direction. We go from stress and anxiety straight to boredom and depression. We'd be much better off avoiding easy fun and seeking out hard fun, or hard work that we enjoy, instead."<br />
<br />
-- Jane McGonigal, <i>Reality Is Broken</i><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-6364879839774791932014-05-16T07:02:00.000-06:002014-06-13T07:02:48.779-06:00family photo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeXGMbXuj4AwkNEZuPVjDmBSg86BDBy2WGHYss81rQCCsZuwsvIhtkijry-yGNdCiZNqVXm6eFfDt7eezdbSsz4wy3WKBJmRTm2Z_W6qJDb-xiDPLhuH65o4NRMKj3-VvvbhOMkHJ53Zu/s1600/farmfamilyphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPeXGMbXuj4AwkNEZuPVjDmBSg86BDBy2WGHYss81rQCCsZuwsvIhtkijry-yGNdCiZNqVXm6eFfDt7eezdbSsz4wy3WKBJmRTm2Z_W6qJDb-xiDPLhuH65o4NRMKj3-VvvbhOMkHJ53Zu/s320/farmfamilyphoto.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-86473278167684230462013-10-19T09:25:00.001-06:002013-12-11T07:43:57.917-07:00chicken love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFE0dqsTu8iVkLuefek4Tx6P2Avha3RzYgFOB2F6NHP6ltwy_Ubbl9UD9Zvsvrs9bE_a75eioitzCw4RpjIaRNSApTN6M8FZI3-sDRFvXxyZPK7FOFf6N_FxdKFyZEnp3NdA53OhgKT55G/s1600/IMG_0033a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFE0dqsTu8iVkLuefek4Tx6P2Avha3RzYgFOB2F6NHP6ltwy_Ubbl9UD9Zvsvrs9bE_a75eioitzCw4RpjIaRNSApTN6M8FZI3-sDRFvXxyZPK7FOFf6N_FxdKFyZEnp3NdA53OhgKT55G/s320/IMG_0033a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-21602287203466357542013-07-26T07:50:00.002-06:002013-10-19T09:26:09.154-06:00We now have Pinterest!<br />
See the latest ideas <a href=http://pinterest.com/zev4/boards/>here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-81552882582357480622013-04-22T18:42:00.003-06:002013-04-22T18:42:47.315-06:00I take photos... right out of the camera!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWECJVxj2-ov2MmV8EY7WvWkcL9tWW3fVuiynjd6d2IqjJLz18mnEg6XnrcbsyfqAtVmgOrINv0DG42e_2SceXN7K578JkvKL1nIDAt8Ahf0LRp7ZMnjdtcOWy3k5rQnv2Gl-0Hdmxv3Dl/s1600/IMG_8769.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWECJVxj2-ov2MmV8EY7WvWkcL9tWW3fVuiynjd6d2IqjJLz18mnEg6XnrcbsyfqAtVmgOrINv0DG42e_2SceXN7K578JkvKL1nIDAt8Ahf0LRp7ZMnjdtcOWy3k5rQnv2Gl-0Hdmxv3Dl/s320/IMG_8769.JPG" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-62832092130516619402013-04-04T18:57:00.000-06:002013-04-22T19:13:47.790-06:00This is my adventure vest.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcvG2h0iNWluclP3Do2fFsaBJNRopY6etWbf4eU5ZfsYWqMaNbYjgkJQ9TyXmKTM3MGdPSLIQd7yvaqYTv8RJLjQYsU5q83FCkowK_DyF0GSCc-8bCHabAgdc5qghBu86Kum04aEN_z4w/s1600/safarivest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLcvG2h0iNWluclP3Do2fFsaBJNRopY6etWbf4eU5ZfsYWqMaNbYjgkJQ9TyXmKTM3MGdPSLIQd7yvaqYTv8RJLjQYsU5q83FCkowK_DyF0GSCc-8bCHabAgdc5qghBu86Kum04aEN_z4w/s320/safarivest.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-70313842939084629602012-12-04T18:46:00.000-07:002014-12-11T19:59:06.669-07:00don't even think about messing with my baby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmXy88uptRzQB62KxPltwDAU4BzdY2GSYYImxbnmxoj8R-h-orpuLw8ZhDTCpFoX4sXAy2dPZYDdlMYE9tAhiHFpI5OgK7d3uPO5p55INTt5gBppwXRiRX6sPszeLzmxR0I-GMRRFOcB4/s1600/IMG_8553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmXy88uptRzQB62KxPltwDAU4BzdY2GSYYImxbnmxoj8R-h-orpuLw8ZhDTCpFoX4sXAy2dPZYDdlMYE9tAhiHFpI5OgK7d3uPO5p55INTt5gBppwXRiRX6sPszeLzmxR0I-GMRRFOcB4/s320/IMG_8553.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-11008148858338954512012-09-24T18:48:00.000-06:002013-04-22T18:49:44.627-06:00Goodbye, Colorado...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGyhyphenhyphenA4TzhqcEaNx_gOVjEh2gfCuU3OPKiRc9lg0KFoMOxtZuq2ZK4PH5stkvL8xxAZRczN1FbuE02o14l5jol-xO7lXy2TN13-Rixbxdn_fjmeXvB3QTpRNaqLZSC_f8po0k8AvqvQoU/s1600/IMG_8531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxGyhyphenhyphenA4TzhqcEaNx_gOVjEh2gfCuU3OPKiRc9lg0KFoMOxtZuq2ZK4PH5stkvL8xxAZRczN1FbuE02o14l5jol-xO7lXy2TN13-Rixbxdn_fjmeXvB3QTpRNaqLZSC_f8po0k8AvqvQoU/s320/IMG_8531.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Sadly, as we move on from our military post at Fort Carson, we will be moving back to the other mountains -- the Appalachians. Stay tuned for our next episode.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-66325348472934432812012-09-04T19:14:00.000-06:002013-04-22T19:15:05.523-06:00Chasing balloons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbOtazba513datfzl_S5-QjL1grWv17zZRBLkWP27YRmZjQhyT8srAtkO2DMERsp-Y0LRdZfY0sCs14Riz1Nh0f4iR2h_L3fEMuC1YkXRGDufNSwlPaFnKY2N5039NJsvsAXheX1sOc0l/s1600/chasing+balloons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLbOtazba513datfzl_S5-QjL1grWv17zZRBLkWP27YRmZjQhyT8srAtkO2DMERsp-Y0LRdZfY0sCs14Riz1Nh0f4iR2h_L3fEMuC1YkXRGDufNSwlPaFnKY2N5039NJsvsAXheX1sOc0l/s320/chasing+balloons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-52508725828782664782012-06-01T17:12:00.001-06:002013-08-13T15:34:21.861-06:00Let's go for a ride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEO0fHREawtCjyoGEhBEJe0st_l3RCcM2WH40aq7v8XA8D6l5IYnFEv5_aDQpwp39vmcokCN-r_iI3A7oUcj01vPQ7fehWhDzPnDvYFomW6yKhAGK_x2qnQxQ7s8lDr9ooMDfzDZ7J4_7R/s1600/IMG_8112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEO0fHREawtCjyoGEhBEJe0st_l3RCcM2WH40aq7v8XA8D6l5IYnFEv5_aDQpwp39vmcokCN-r_iI3A7oUcj01vPQ7fehWhDzPnDvYFomW6yKhAGK_x2qnQxQ7s8lDr9ooMDfzDZ7J4_7R/s400/IMG_8112.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-11062873241335787792012-05-27T08:14:00.000-06:002012-05-27T08:14:12.092-06:00shadows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw4gs3wfIFUTZqm_UiFy2EJ_PLOGBPpUfmohWXHQzyllmHi-gUpMI6HalnpCI_PIg8yxvVWje1juKDfZoS0mq-YmkxBd7J0mUgKjML9foNULDYRXBoDwWmMxp4cw8DPEOdrI76E3sKQ-t/s1600/IMG_7968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw4gs3wfIFUTZqm_UiFy2EJ_PLOGBPpUfmohWXHQzyllmHi-gUpMI6HalnpCI_PIg8yxvVWje1juKDfZoS0mq-YmkxBd7J0mUgKjML9foNULDYRXBoDwWmMxp4cw8DPEOdrI76E3sKQ-t/s400/IMG_7968.JPG" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-30187941868746899262012-05-20T20:09:00.002-06:002012-05-20T20:09:39.891-06:00$25 Reward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR9inkLVu_cQvgBcHqFu9Sg39W9Y20Fcr-5f2MrGLNQDlMnQLM5IYbz47ofwtDgantYgpwmIY70G1L9qUi5X9iuONnj0dX9bW_g0G0zSGBtCzvERM0RGXBeAmxlhyoaVV3WN27vpnWGQ7/s1600/IMG_7878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR9inkLVu_cQvgBcHqFu9Sg39W9Y20Fcr-5f2MrGLNQDlMnQLM5IYbz47ofwtDgantYgpwmIY70G1L9qUi5X9iuONnj0dX9bW_g0G0zSGBtCzvERM0RGXBeAmxlhyoaVV3WN27vpnWGQ7/s400/IMG_7878.JPG" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-62693625525490842032012-05-15T10:51:00.000-06:002013-12-11T07:42:31.251-07:00consolidating instability<blockquote>"Farming is also a high-risk industry. On the one hand, this goes without saying. On the other hand, risk is hard to appreciate at a distance. When we hear about weather destroying citrus crops in Florida, or the shutdown of a milk distribution and processing company in the Northeast, or a fresh spinach food-borne illness advisory coming from California, we don’t immediately appreciate the impact. Since weather, capital markets, and food safety are such large issues, it is hard to grasp their impact on the volatility of farming. ... The shutdown of a milk processing company recently happened. It began as a result of financial markets responding to financial improprieties at the parent company in Europe, which had been acquiring milk processing facilities and companies throughout the United States. When the parent firm collapsed, hundreds of dairy farmers were suddenly without a distributor for their product. <b>Imagine knowing that consumers are eager to consume your product but that you can’t get it to them because of a business crisis on another continent.</b>"</blockquote><br />
This excerpt comes from a <a href="http://www.iplantofarm.com/documents/EnteringtheFarmingFieldAPrimerFINAL.pdf">Entering the Farming Field</a>, a cautionary pamphlet for new farmers published by the Pennsylvania Center for Farm Transitions. This is just another in a string of information handouts I've read recently, which all claim to point a finger at you, young dreamer, and ask pointedly whether you are <i>sure you really want to get into this farming stuff?</i><br />
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The most interesting thing to me about this particular pamphlet is that most of the ills and pitfalls it identifies are the reason farming attracts me in the first place. Why should my community's food supply be disturbed by a business crisis on another continent? That level of centralization and corporate "efficiency" might work for widgets, but why would we even consider putting something so dear as the milk and bread our families must eat every single day into such fickle hands? Farming is inherently risky and unpredictable due to forces of mother nature, and doesn't need the mysteries of the global marketplace added on top.<br />
<br />
Why should a farm not sell directly to consumers?<br />
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My idea of food safety is to look into the eye of a mother who comes to my farm to pick up her weekly CSA share. When she tells me she's concerned about spinach contamination in California, I'll be able to say, "Well, it's a good thing we don't grow any California spinach here."<br />
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Of course, direct farm-to-consumer sales are impractical in some senses. It's much easier for a dairy farmer to focus on milking, and sell their milk directly to someone who picks it up in a truck hundreds of gallons at a time and takes it somewhere else to be bottled. It might make sense for four or five dairy farms to get together and form a cooperative with someone who owns a bottling plant, who then also handles the deliveries to a local grocery store. It's bigger than a single farming family could manage on their own, and more efficient, and probably results in better profit for farmers and better quality control for consumers. Yet it's small enough that, as a child, I could bicycle to the dairy and visit the cows in person, speak to an employee who was tolerant of a short interruption from a neighbor, and be assured that I could literally know where my milk came from, even when we bought it through the intermediary of a grocery store.<br />
<br />
I'm not opposed to small cooperatives and realize they are essential. One of the largest CSAs in Colorado, <a href=http://www.grantfarms.com>Grant Family Farms</a>, actually sources their product from several smaller farms across the front range, in addition to their main family-owned plot in west of Fort Collins. But these operations toe the edge between local accountability and consolidated efficiency. Perhaps one day we'll reach a point where a large CSA serving a half-dozen counties has replaced the big box grocery store as the most common place for families to get their evening suppers. Maybe, at some future date in our socio-economic evolution, we might even have grocery stores who source their food from local farms in the first place. Because a small CSA such as <a href=http://www.kristinkimball.com/essex-farm>Essex Farm</a>, the horse-drawn operation described in the book <i>The Dirty Life</i>, can feed only a small number of people. But truthfully, such a farm serves a only the small portion of society that is interested in preparing their own meals from raw ingredients. Insulation from international financial crises is a fringe benefit.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-74181438919521753282012-05-05T15:28:00.000-06:002013-04-22T19:29:33.935-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5613614976474033091.post-41849446631407056822012-05-04T16:55:00.001-06:002012-05-13T14:33:58.177-06:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYXEh1jz4lTNhbwOInIo0IRew1fkfyY5LB3Zn3ZBJyTyotVQKf82LNL2t7yRKfDNHYl3V7iceleaeU7KQ4ygGUvSv72Bi1YPh8Ya-9v3EGu83IkoZ53-Qn6qp8b-6qWrzM6QLaaNBWyRQ/s1600/IMG_7744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvYXEh1jz4lTNhbwOInIo0IRew1fkfyY5LB3Zn3ZBJyTyotVQKf82LNL2t7yRKfDNHYl3V7iceleaeU7KQ4ygGUvSv72Bi1YPh8Ya-9v3EGu83IkoZ53-Qn6qp8b-6qWrzM6QLaaNBWyRQ/s400/IMG_7744.JPG" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0