Reflections on the week's posts

Wow, loving the posts! Good job, all! Really enjoyable.

I’ll be catching up on the current readings tomorrow (Tues) and posting for the week, but just wanted to add a little more to this discussion …

I’m kinda glad the long post I posted last Wed a.m. disappeared – I think its percolated long enough now to come down to a pretty simple concept. Here it is:

1. Fine’s experiment struck me as a “stunt” (Dan post), yes, and a waste of $. But its not the $ that is a concern – money comes and goes and is made to be spent. Just like every resource, we have a responsibility to use it wisely, however, for maximum benefit. My main problem with Fine is that he wasted a lot by rushing “headlong” (Laurel), without considering how to do it right (as Laurel noted). Its wasteful. And THAT is my main issue – that, in an attempt to save something (energy, carbon output, his bit of the environment, whatever), to improve sustainability, he was wasteful. When he needed a goat water bucket, he could have gone to the dump or a yardsale and recycled. He didn’t think of it on his own and wasted the opportunity to ask, and include in his narrative, advice given him from those who would have been glad to shepherd him. There are lots of folks like me who appreciate the opportunity to share our knowledge – especially when we can’t use it much ourselves any longer. The point of the environmental movement is to conserve, save resources, improve sustainability. Fine wasted a lot (time, opportunity, social resources, livestock lives, position from which he could have modeled competent experimentation) in his misguided quest to accomplish conservation.

2. Far more aggregate benefit can be made by using ALL resources wisely, including $. Just because it comes and goes doesn’t mean its OK to waste it when its there, especially if one positions oneself as improving sustainibility. For instance, $100K could have subsidized 10 farmers providing their fresh produce to the schools (google the Farm to Table project) – this would have provided fresh fruit and veggies to over 4,000 students at school. Or, $100K would allow multiple ranchers to preserve and restore many miles of riparian habitat along public waterways and rivers where they graze cattle. Many ways those resources could have been used for REAL environmental benefit, i.e: for a lot of people and a wide geographic area. Its great that Fine did what he did – I guess I’m mostly bugged that he wasted a lot AND presented it as an admirable, even replicable, experiment. It was just unreasonable and unrealistic and, with much background in very practical matters, it rubs me wrong. Most folks who don’t have the background can do a lot more good by say, turning off water when you brush teeth, or re-using plastic bags, or buying used, than they can by attempting a big project for which they are unqualified.

So that’s that. Oh, and someone posted something about being “angry” … I’m not sure about anger … personally, I feel more sad that resources are being wasted in the name of conservation when the knowledge to avoid that waste is right here, available. Many of us hold it and preserve it, pass it along when we can. If anything, I probably feel frustration in addition to sadness because it seems that if the younger generations cultivated within themselves (as in the “inner garden”) more … humility? respect? Willingness to ask, to LOOK, as Linda says, to what we are shown … perhaps less would be wasted and more knowledge would be shared and created communally.

Which brings me to the last note I wanted to make here – I am also feeling SO GLAD and heartened to read of your experiences with farmer’s markets and sustainable-living folks. We are a great community and are so pleased to share with new learners. There are multiple markets around the Alb area and all are awesome. Access a list of NM farmers markets here: http://farmersmarketsnm.org/
AND THEN GO!!!!
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This is all very interesting to me because I find the sense of wonder expressed here on the blog absolutely fascinating and refreshing. I’ve lived the lifestyle for so long (as a matter of choice, in fact – ask me about that choice sometime) that its just life to me, not a marvel or novelty. So its nice to appreciate the general sense of wonder I read here. I think I feel a little disoriented because I was hoping for more analysis of the environmental movement, or sub-movements, how the public conversation is constructed, how we can influence the positioning, etc. Even with Salt of the Earth and Killer of Sheep and Off the Map, I’m not seeing a new connection, not personally, not yet. And I’m trying to wrap my head around how all this review of concepts and the machinations of big ag (Food Inc) and social injustices (which is, and has been, foundational for me for 20+years) is related to the rhetoric of environmentalism. Maybe we are just surveying the “landscape” right now? I guess part of what I’m feeling is that all these ideas and concepts were part of my early education, self education, practical and lived experience that I integrated by choice into my life for so long. My efforts for the past 6 years have been to grow beyond, because the lifestyle ive lived lost its stimulatory qualities for me. Sure, the goats are adorable and pets and even friends – but who wants to have to be home every day, morning and night, to go out and milk the goats? Nah.

Its not tenable – most of us can use our time far more wisely and to greater effect. So this is what I’ve done over the past number of years now – transitioned from doing the farm work myself (my nursery was largest producer of certified organic culinary and medicinal herbs in the SW) to helping others do their’s more effectively, organic ag advocacy, education (@ NM Org Farming Conference & NMHGA Herbal Expos), leading the herb growers assn (Board pres 2.5yrs), farm consulting (next meeting 9/25 before our hike), meeting with local and state reps (next monday), raising public awareness, securing funding, etc.

For me, environmentalism is a lifestyle and all about the judicious use of resources. Efficiency in every endeavor. And has been all my life.

And btw: turns out Kevin Forrest and Alb Alternative Energy people aren't diesel mechanics and that creates a snag when wanting to use just veg fuel. He’s a real smart guy and apparently a great helicopter mechanic but not diesel engines. Here’s what happened: the conversion worked great – I was driving 700+ miles/week on deliveries and to farmers markets and it saved a LOT of fuel to run on veg. But then the high pressure pump went out and needed to be replaced (engine part, not part of conversion system). The pump has a toothed wheel that has to be installed with teeth matching engine just so. Kevin couldn’t get it – he had it installed but it ran like crap. So I took it to the diesel mechanics (great guys at Comanche and Morris) BUT diesel mehanics won’t work on engines with veg systems because they simply don’t know the technology and it raises too many liability issues. So I had to disconnect the veg system to have the high pressure pump installed correctly (Kevin had it set 4 teeth off). Bottom line: every vehicle will need maintenance work on the engine (esp big Ford trucks). veg guys are not diesel mechanics and diesel mechanics won’t work on veg systems. So it was have a non-running veg truck or a well-running diesel. Since I drive that truck only about 10 miles/month nowadays, the veg system is disconnected and I’m on straight diesel. One more example of how a really great technology is not the most efficient in every situation. So maybe sustainability is situational?