Organic Farming for Health & Prosperity

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Jan 21, 2012, “The Organic Farming For Health & Prosperity Report is a review of the American Scientific literature concerning organic farming in the United States, designed to examine the many benefits of American organic agriculture.”

 

“Organic Farming for Health & Prosperity. Farmers are the largest group of ecosystem managers on the earth. Organic farming is a rapidly expanding economic sector and makes an important contribution to human health, the health of the economy, and the health of the planet. Read the full report here…. http://bit.ly/y338gK
  • Comments:
    • Robert Brothers ‎”~ EXCELLENT FACTUAL REPORT. For example, ” The organic industry has grown from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $29 billion in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 19 percent from 1997‐2008. The organic agriculture sector grew by 8 percent in 2010.”
    • Oyoon Aljazeera, Christine Van Den Meerssche, Jim Snyder, Bella Bell, Rinio Kourdaki,Chris Adams, and Rosalie Anne like this.

30Yr Study: Organic Farming Outperforms Conventional, Chemical Farming

Dec 23, 2011, blog.friendseat.com | “Based on a 30-year side-by-side trial of conventional and organic farming methods at Pennsylvania’s Rodale Institute, organic farming outperformed conventional farming in every category.”

“30Yr Study: Organic Farming Outperforms Conventional, Chemical Farming | FriendsEAT.com
blog.friendseat.com
A thirty year study finds that organic farming produces more than conventional…”
  • Robert Brothers, and Good Vibrations like this

The Number Of Farmers’ Markets In America Has Exploded — Here’s Where They’re Really Popular

farmers markets mapAugust 4, 2011, www.businessinsider.com | “There’s a growing desire among many Americans to have a closer connection to the food they eat, and one place where that connection is fostered is the local farmers’ market. The USDA’s Economic Research Service tracks multiple aspects of how food is produced and consumed in the United States. They recently made a chart showing how the number of farmers’ markets in the U.S. has more than quadrupled since the mid-nineties.

Data from the USDA shows how the number of farmers’ markets in the US has changed, and where markets are concentrated.
businessinsider.com
COMMENTS:
  •   Jeffreys Raynolds This is so great – we have the largest ground swell of permaculture and small home farmers in this country right now – hundreds of groups on Facebook, and this good news! YAY humans!”

In 1999, 35 million small family plots produced 90% of Russia’s potatoes, 77% of vegetables, 87% of fruits, 59% of meat, 49% of milk — way to go, people!

August 9, 2009, www.thebovine.wordpress.com | “In 2003 the Russian President signed into law a further “Private Garden Plot Act” enabling Russian citizens to receive free of charge from the state, plots of land in private inheritable ownership. Sizes of the plots differ by region but are between one and three hectares each [1 hectare = 2.2 acres]. Produce grown on these plots is not subject to taxation.”

 

Leila Bee shared a link.
“In 1999, 35 million small family plots produced 90% of Russia’s potatoes, 77% of vegetables, 87% of.
thebovine.wordpress.com
And since 1999, it seems things have only gotten better when it comes to small-scale agriculture in Russia. In 2003 the Russian President signed into law a further “Private Garden Plot Act…”
  • Comments:
    • Leila Bee‎”in Russia, we can already see the evidence that they are thinking small. How else can you explain that in 1997 small households in Russia independently grew 97% of Russia’s potatoes, 77% of its berries and fruit, and 73% of its vegetables, and those percentages have risen in the decade since then.” Vladmir Megré not quite the same percentages but close…I’ll see if I can find more.
    • Leila Bee finding lots of interesting russian gardening sites..http://www.the-village.ru/village/people/people/96403-moskovskie-ogorodnikithe movement is everywhere, I love it!
    • Leila Bee http://www.freshcongress.com/resources/documents/1271673375andriyyarmak.pdfSeems to pretty much agree with the previous statements, although production of domestic veg% is not as high. However this data may not be taking into account fruit and veg that never hits the market but goes from garden to table (dasha produce.)
    • GoodNews FortheEarth‎~ Thanks for the other sources! Now we all have some reading to do : ) It makes a lot of sense that people faced with economic hardship will start growing more of their own food, and wonderful that they are able to do so.
    • Leila Bee The dacha system in Russia is not a new one, it’s been in and out of vogue since Peter the Great. Growing one’s own food is part of Russian tradition:-) It just tricky finding solid facts when I don’t speak Russian, I’m working with translator programs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacha
    • Caron von Zeil likes this.

Willie Smits: How we re-grew a rainforest

March 3, 2009, www.youtube.com | “By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans — and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.”

Willie Smits: How we re-grew a rainforest
http://www.ted.com By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving l…
  • Robert Brothers Shalahnia Riversong, Veronica Smith, and Good Vibrations like this.

Greening the Desert

March 1, 2007, www.permaculture.org | “The Permaculture Institute of Australia has created a system to transform 10 acres of dead African desert into a food forest.  The 10 acre landscape had been poisoned with pesticides and naturally occurring salt and was considered a dead, barren wasteland.  The Institute created a system which catches rainwater and filters it into the earth.  The filtering flushed the soil of salt and pesticides and allowed trees, shrubs, and grasses to grow.”

“Here’s an incredibly upbeat story from a permaculture practitioner: Geoff Lawton established a garden in a dry salty desert in Jordan. Permaculture techniques offer us so much, and one real cause for optimism is that you can grow food even on quite degraded land that industrial monoculture will leave behind. Geoff’s story is extreme, but it really happened! 🙂
Permaculture Research Institute of Australia » Greening the Desert
permaculture.org.au
This is just one example of how permaculture can transform the environment, and, in so doing, dramatically change lives. By evidencing the dramatic transformation possible in the world’s worst agricultural scenarios, we hope to make people stand up and listen.”
Comments:
Robert Brothers “A wonderful video that gives us hope! It very clearly shows how the miracle was accomplished — capturing all of the minimal rainfall in raised ditches,heavily mulched . . . etc. Please watch this and pass it on!”