Neighborhood organizations: stalwarts of the local economy.

In a previous article, we took the position that protectionism is an idea that merits further perusal as a means of developing our local industries. In this article we will attempt to define the role played by neighborhood organizations in reviving and stimulating the local economy.
What is a neighborhood organization?
A neighborhood organization is one made up of concerned citizens coming together to tackle the pressing issues that are peculiar to that locality. It should operate in a small enough area so that you can know everyone else fairly well, have a real voice in what the community does, and yet it is large enough to have real diversity, and offer and accomplish more than you could alone or as a household. If it is truly a community, with many overlapping relationships (co-worker, friend, neighbor, etc.), then it exerts an important pressure on its members to develop their personal integrity and take seriously the issues to be addressed.
It employs a participatory form of governorship as opposed to the representative form whereby we elect a Member of Parliament who disappears only to reappear at election time. Neighborhood organizations are invaluable in the pursuit of good food, good health, a pleasant home, a friendly community, satisfying work, time to play and a sense of security.
We will address some of the areas in which people working together can stimulate the local economy.
Community supported agriculture
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way for consumers to buy local, food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of "shares" to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included such as poultry or meats. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a "membership" or a "subscription") and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of produce each week or other defined period. With techniques such as irrigation and green house farming, farmers will be able to offer produce free from the influence of seasonal rains.
Advantages for farmers:
• Gets to spend time learning the marketing aspect of the business.
• Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm's cash flow
• Will sell directly to the consumer so will retain the majority of the profit that would have gone to a middleman.
• Has an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow
Advantages for consumers:
• Eats ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
• Find that kids typically favor food from "their" farm – this would lead to a more varied nutritious diet
• Develops a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learns about how food is grown
• Food will be presumably less expensive since it has a shorter distance to travel and has less packaging
Civic engagement
Neighborhood groups, well organized would be able to take to task government agencies and the local county council on delivery of essential services. They would attend council hearings, if they are held, and demand some floor time to present their opinions. As a recent example, there was a fire in Ongata Rongai, a township outside Nairobi, The fire department from Nairobi responded after a while. From this story, we learn that the local county council does not have an emergency response department and it registers businesses without inspecting for fire alarms and fire exits. In such a situation, a neighborhood organization could demand accountability and an open audit of county revenues to ascertain how they spend it.
Local groups would also be able to hold adult awareness classes in topics such as:
• Civics and the rights of citizens under the law
• Health awareness and associated topics such as healthy eating and disease prevention.
• Cultural and sporting events. These would advance neighborliness and promote national cohesion devoid of stereotypes.
A sense of security
Neighborhood groups well organized groups would lead the way in demanding from the government adequate security for their region. For every cluster of population there should a police station or security outpost within reach to respond to emergency situations. They would demand the police stations have updated communications equipment and emergency response vehicles.
Neighborhood Watch Program.
This is a citizen ran program with roots in the U.S.A that may contain some useful ideas that may be adopted for rural and urban neighborhoods.
What it is
Neighborhood Watch is a crime prevention program that teaches citizens how to help themselves by identifying and reporting suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.
The town of Ngong, outside Nairobi, was recently hit by a spate of robberies whereby victims were drugged then robbed. Victims interviewed gave descriptions of the gang yet police have not apprehended them. Livestock are even being driven off farms by rustlers. An alert neighborhood, watching out for each other and raising the alarm can prevent crimes before they happen.
In addition, Neighborhood Watch provides citizens with the opportunity to make their neighborhoods safer and improve the quality of life. Neighborhood Watch groups typically focus on observation and awareness as a means of preventing crime and employ strategies that range from simply promoting social interaction to active patrols by groups of citizens. All Neighborhood Watches share one foundational idea, that bringing community members together to reestablish control of their neighborhoods promotes an increased quality of life and reduces the crime rate in that area.
Strategies employed
• After forming the initial group, consisting of resident volunteers, the group will identify any problem areas and set priorities on which to tackle and in what order
• They would establish a partnership with local law enforcement. Ways in which residents and the police can work together is: the police can help residents start patrol groups, the police can set up a dedicated phone line for tips to prevent impeding crime or tips leading to the arrest of law breakers.
• They would identify projects beyond crime prevention. One way to accomplish this is to create and embark upon new projects so that there is always a goal towards which the team is aspiring. Projects may include: building a neighborhood playground, regular town or village cleaning and beautification, volunteer work with the local hospital or school among others.
Community supported enterprises
Many businesses, especially in most rural areas, play an irreplaceable part in community life. They are the hub of the community, they are meeting and lounging places, and they are historical places while others provide unique services to locals such as credit purchases based on good faith.
It would therefore be prudent for neighborhood residents to support local businesses to maintain the unique life style that is the essence of rural life. Also by supporting local businesses, the money spent stays in the neighborhood and is reinvested enhancing the quality of life. Take the simplified example of the farmer family whose produce is sold pre-order. They then take part of their earnings and use it to commission uniforms for their school children from the local seamstress. She will then use that sale to pay her local taxes and spend some in the neighborhood. If her product is good and her business expands, she may hire employees. This will lead to more jobs for residents who will in turn have money to spend on other businesses. This is one way in which a community thrives and grows.
Tax revenue generated by local businesses will also be used to improve the provision of essential services such as health, education and security.
If a business were to run into financial trouble, the neighborhood organization could bail it out in a unique way by buying shares redeemable for goods or services later. Take the example of a neighborhood eatery. If in financial trouble, the neighborhood may purchase shares of the business at a set value in exchange for a cash infusion to prop the business up. When the business steadies, investors would then redeem their shares for meals over a period of time. This way the business remains operable and the residents have a place to eat and socialize.
Conclusion
Although neighborhoods, especially in urban areas, are invariably made up of residents, often with nothing in common, looking for affordable housing, they would be well served to get to know each other and take pride in the preservation and progress of their neighborhoods. Thriving and vibrant neighborhoods would by extension lead to a healthy and progressive nation.
Full disclosure: The opinions expressed in this and other preceding articles are excerpted from the manifesto of a budding political party that will be seeking the mandate of the Kenyan people in the general elections of 2017. We will continually strive to present solutions with substance to issues affecting fellow Kenyans in order to uplift the living standards of this generation and bring prosperity to future generations.

Arguments for the promotion of Protectionism

Previously we decried the practice of agribusiness and extolled the merits of peasant farming as the viable way forward towards food self sufficiency. This article was prompted by a recent news item in the BBC. The article talked about the Kenyan flower growers facing sales leveling-off in the export sector this winter season. The ensuing effect has been the scaling back of labor.
Our position is that we should not be engaged in cultivating cash crops for export to the detriment of growing food to feed the nation. This leads us to recommend an enforceable policy of protectionism to regulate what we export and to safeguard infant industries.
This edict would entail a drastic reformulation of our trade policies including rethinking our foreign trade agreements.
What is protectionism?
Protectionism is the policy of imposing duties or quotas on imports in order to protect, from global competition, home industries from overseas competition. This in turn would lead to the growth of local industries, the growth of jobs and a better living standard for the citizens due to money being spent and reinvested locally.
Benefits of protectionism:
• Protects infant industries: When industries are just beginning, it makes sense to protect them from the perils of foreign competition at first, until the industry grows and matures. At that time the protection can be lifted and the mature company will be competitive.
• Raises government revenue: Government revenue increases since the Kenya government collects the tariff revenue. This revenue could be used to fund social welfare programs.
• Stricter enforcement of labor and environmental laws: With government monitoring, workers will be paid a fair living wage. Ground and air pollution laws will be enforced and those companies violating will be subject to fines and mandatory cleanup.
• Restricts market flooding of sub-standard wares: The government could establish a quality bureau to inspect all foreign made goods being imported into the country. The operating principle would be ‘we should not import it if we can make it’. An example would be the ‘mitumba industry’. The local market is flooded with used clothing from abroad yet we can make clothing here at home by supporting the cotton growers and the textile industry. An option would even be the growing of hemp for the textile industry.
Drawbacks
Initially the Kenyan consumer will pay higher prices for locally manufactured products because the production process will not be as efficient and will be fraught with errors as the learning curve grows.
Going forward:
• As workers become more experienced and efficient, prices will drop. The government will ease tariffs and producers will then be able to compete with foreign made products. If there is a surplus in production, it may be exported to neighboring countries thereby bringing in foreign revenue.
• There will be an increase in the availability of jobs in the manufacturing and agricultural sector. This will in turn stimulate the local economy due to workers spending more on other services.
• With an experienced workforce, they may then in turn train interns so skills are perpetuated generationally. The skilled workforce may also be able to apply their skills to other areas of the industrial economy.
• We would have to partition the huge tracts of idle land to give to citizens willing to work it. They would in turn pay land rent as the only form of taxation. We would not tax their produce. This would lead to a decent living wage for the people.
• To finance the budding industries, we will set up community banks to serve localities. They would service loans to individuals or co-operatives to undertake these ventures.
• As different regions specialize in the manufacture of different products, a limited barter system could be adopted for trade. Neighboring regions that do not produce could become processors.
Conclusion.
This article is purposefully rudimentary to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. We admit it calls for drastic changes in the way we run the economy but it needs to be done if we are to emerge from the economic doldrums that has perpetually engulfed the nation.
We will call on Kenya’s learned economists and other professionals for planning and implementation.
Full disclosure: The opinions expressed in this and other preceding articles will form the basis of a political grass roots movement that will be seeking the mandate of the Kenyan people in the general elections of 2017. We believe in presenting solutions with substance to issues affecting fellow Kenyans instead of the empty rhetoric and the petty quibbles that are the hallmark of those presently in power.

People power leadership: Examples from developing nations

In this article we will try to learn from other developing nations on policies they have implemented that are working in favor of their people. The leaders in Kenya today, whose only quality is insatiable avarice, are unwaveringly bent on propagating the incessant pillaging of government resources. This is easily accomplished because of a politically indolent populace mesmerized by exiguous allurements in exchange for votes.
We seek to learn from those that have gone before us and those that are doing commendable works to empower their people. Some of the examples we will highlight have not found favor with developed countries due to practices such as nationalization of lucrative industries once operated by multinationals and the practice of government socialism. We are open to progressive ideas from any arena regardless of political ideology.
Costa Rica: peace promotion over insatiable impunity
Some of the material for this section on Costa Rica has been taken from Yes! magazine. Full article can be found HERE.
When the New Economics Foundation released its second Happy Planet Index, a ranking of countries based on their environmental impact and the health and happiness of their citizens, the No. 1 spot went to Costa Rica, population 4 million. The United States’ ranking: No. 114.
Kenya did have the unsavory distinction of making it to the rankings of the failed states index.
The Importance of Peace
Domestic and international peace has long been a priority in Costa Rica. In 1948, the country abolished its military, allowing it to spend more on health and education. Its University of Peace, established in 1980, offers a master’s degree in peace and conflict studies as well as ongoing workshops
Provision of health services
Nationwide, Costa Ricans benefit from a combination of government-run and private insurance options. Costa Rica promotes good health among its citizens even before they are born, sending doctors and nurses out into the countryside to provide prenatal care and teach parents how to raise healthy children.
Protecting the Landscape
The Costa Rican government’s promotion of peace and health for its citizens extends to a peaceful and healthy relationship to the planet. Costa Rica has pioneered techniques of land management, reforestation, and alternatives to fossil fuels. Spurred by rapid deforestation of its pristine rainforests due to logging and agriculture, the country began converting parts of its territory to national parks in the 1970s and prohibited the export of certain trees.
In 1996 Costa Rica introduced the Payment for Environmental Services Program (PES). Oil importers and water-bottling and sewage-treatment plants now have to pay a special tax to do business in the country, while other businesses contribute via a voluntary carbon-offset fee. The money is used to pay local people to protect the trees, water, and soil in their surrounding environment by abstaining from cattle ranching and illegal logging.
In a further effort to go green, the country has banned oil drilling within its borders and invests heavily in renewable energy sources like hydroelectric, wind, and geothermal power, which now provide 95 percent of its energy.
Bolivia and the succor of socialism.
When Evo Morales was elected Bolivia's president in December 2005, it represented a radical change in the country's history
Since 2005 GDP in Bolivia, one of South America's poorest countries, has jumped from $9bn to $19bn, pushing up per capita income to $1,671. Foreign currency reserves have soared thanks partly to revenue from the nationalized energy and mining sectors. The IMF expects economy to grow 2.8% next year, stellar by regional standards.
Although his government has been unable to accomplish much of what it set out to do due to the bureaucrats digging in their heels and the country's élites hating his populist rhetoric, Morales remains popular with his people.
Here is a summation of the policies of Evo Morales:
ECONOMY - Morales is trying to increase state revenue from energy and mining and has pledged to invest the extra cash to fight poverty. He has nationalized the country's largest telecommunications company, Entel.
ENERGY - Morales has sharply increased taxes paid by energy companies and energy companies including Brazil's Petrobras, Spain's Repsol and France's Total have agreed to continue operating in Bolivia under the rules set by Morales. Morales has also hiked the price Argentina and Brazil must pay for Bolivian natural gas.
MINING - Morales nationalized the country's largest smelter, Vinto, in 2007 and has increased taxes on mining companies.
LAND - Morales' ambitious plan to redistribute swathes of "illegally-owned" or "idle" land among the poor in opposition-controlled provinces was approved by Congress, but then stalled because of strong resistance from opposition governors.
SOCIAL PROGRAMS- Morales has created programs to give cash to school children, new mothers and the elderly with money from hydrocarbon revenues previously assigned to regional governments.

THOMAS SANKARA: ardent advocate of African self-reliance.
As Africa looks desperately for leaders of integrity and vision, the life and ideals of the late Thomas Sankara seem more and more relevant, especially in our rudderless Kenya.
Sankara, a charismatic army captain, came to power in Burkina Faso, in 1983, in a popularly supported coup. He immediately launched the most ambitious program for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent. To symbolize this rebirth, he even renamed his country from the French colonial Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, ‘Land of Upright Men.’ As soon as he took office, he reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of chauffeur-driven Mercedes and 1st class airline tickets.
The policies of Thomas Sankara:
• He was the first African leader to appoint women to major cabinet positions and to recruit them actively for the military. He outlawed forced marriages and encouraged women to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.
• He launched a nation-wide public health campaign vaccinating over 2 ½ million people in a week, a world record.
• He was also one of the first African environmentalists, planting over 10 million trees to retain soil and halt the growing desertification of the Sahel.
• He promoted local cotton production and even required public servants to wear a traditional tunic, woven from Burkinabe cotton and sewn by Burkinabe craftsmen.
• He redistributed land from the feudal landlords and gave it directly to the peasants. Wheat production rose in just three years from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare, making the country food self-sufficient.
• He started an ambitious road and rail building program to tie the nation together, eschewing any foreign aid by relying on his country’s greatest resource, the energy and commitment of its own people.
• Sankara spoke eloquently and unflinching in forums like the Organization of African Unity against continued neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance. He opposed foreign aid, saying that ‘he, who feeds you, controls you.’
Sankara’s brief revolution offers an alternative or at least the possibility of another route for African development based on autonomy and local self-reliance.
Worthy mention:Black Panther party social programs
The Black Panther Party social programs sought to empower black people in America. Of special note is the Free Breakfast for Children Program, which spread from Oakland, to every major city in America where there was a Party chapter. Thousands upon thousands of poor and hungry children were fed free breakfasts every day by the Party under this program. The magnitude and powerful impact of this program was such that the federal government was pressed and shamed into adopting a similar program for public schools across the nation.
Conclusion
The policies we have cited had some drawbacks implementing and sustaining, we will concentrate on the good we can take away and make our own.
• The redistribution of idle land to people willing to work it is an issue that needs to be addressed. We have offered a solution several times before in previous articles.
• The promotion of peace as evidenced by Costa Rica is an idea that Kenyans should adopt. We should discourage political alliances based on tribes colluding to amass votes in order to wedge out rival tribes.
• Industries and processing plants polluting the atmosphere or the ground should have to pay additional taxes. These taxes would then be used to fund social programs.
• Supporting local production instead of relying on imports will go a long way towards self sufficiency. In order to do this we would have to establish community corporations and local sources of financing. We will address this topic in a later article.
• Reliance on foreign aid is a topic we addressed previously. Like Sankara did, we should utilize the energy of the people to initiate ‘public good’ community projects through volunteerism. We are working on a program aimed at members of a community exchanging their time for services instead of money.
We leave the reader with this quote:
"Every Kenyan man, woman and child is entitled to a decent and just living. That is a birthright. It is not a privilege. He is entitled as far as is humanly possible to equal educational, job and health opportunities irrespective of his parentage, race or creed or his area of origin in this land. If that is so, deliberate efforts should be made to eliminate all obstacles that today stand in the way of this just goal. That is the primary task of the machinery called Government: our Government."
- Josiah Mwangi Kariuki
We entreat all reform minded Kenyans to join together in a revolution at the ballot. We will make the egregiously inept elite cede to the will of the people who demand progress and better living standards today and for future generations!

Cuba: National policy for sustainable agriculture

In the previous article, we took the position that sustainable agriculture was the way forward to help build vibrant rural economies. In this article, we will study Cuba as a success story in sustainable organic farming. This farming revolution was forced upon the Cuban people by their practice of agribusiness to serve an export market that collapsed after the Soviet Union withdraw support. This situation is eerily similar to what is being practiced in Kenya today by the growing of cash crops for export although not to such a grand scale.
The article below has been gleaned from several sources.
A brief history
From 1492 to 1898, Cuba was a colony of Spain. Both the native people and the forest were annihilated to make way for large cattle and sugar farms in the hands of a few wealthy owners and worked by slaves.
In 1898, the United States entered into the Spanish-American war, Spain was easily defeated, and Cuba was under US military rule from 1898 to 1902. Over the next few decades, U.S businesses and individuals acquired some of the best land and US marines were stationed in Cuba to protect US interests. Sugar production continued to increase in importance at the expense of food production, which caused greater reliance on food imports. Wealth was concentrated in a few hands, and the vast majority of Cubans continued to live in poverty without access to land or incomes sufficient to feed their families.
On December 31, 1958, the Batista government was overthrown, and a socialist government took power. The expropriation of US property in Cuba led to a US policy of isolation. By 1960, the isolationist policies caused Fidel Castro to turn to the Soviet Bloc. By 1962, Cuba effectively was a Soviet satellite. Cuban agricultural policies followed the Soviet model—large monocultural state farms were highly mechanized and heavily reliant on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Soviet Union subsidized this industrial model by trading its oil, chemicals, and machinery for Cuban sugar at preferential rates.
Then, in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Almost overnight $6 billion in Soviet subsidies to Cuba disappeared. At the same time, the US trade embargo tightened, and Cuba was plunged into an economic crisis that was further exacerbated by the United States passing the "Cuban Democracy Act," in 1992 which prohibited assistance to Cuba in the form of food, medicine, and medical supplies.
State implemented reform
Cuba radically changed the state sector in 1993; 80% of the farmland was then held by the state and over half was turned over to workers in the form of cooperatives-UBPC (Basic Unit of Cooperative Production). Farmers lease state land rent free in perpetuity, in exchange for meeting production quotas. A 1994 reform permitted farmers to sell their excess production at farmers' markets.
The reforms emphasized five basic principles:
• Focus on agro ecological technology: this was supported by the state/university research, education, and extensions system.
• Land reform; state farms were transformed to cooperatives or broken into smaller private units, and anyone wishing to farm could do so rent free.
• Fair prices to farmers: Farmers can sell their excess production at farmers' markets; average incomes of farmers are three times that of other workers in Cuba.
• Emphasis on local production: Urban agriculture played a big part in this reform. More on this below.
• Farmer-to-farmer training:this served as the backbone of the extension system.

Urban Agriculture
Another area in which an innovative approach has been applied is that of urban agriculture. The Cuban government promoted and nurtured the public enthusiasm for urban agriculture. It ruled that any unused city lot, even state-owned, could be taken over by citizens to grow food. Growers were permitted to sell their surpluses on the open market.
Government programs were launched to help city folks learn to farm. Experts explained organic growing, composting, and natural pest control and water conservation. Shops were opened to sell seeds and supplies. An estimated 1,000 kiosks for fresh local produce were set up at farm gates and busy street corners throughout Havana.
The popular gardens range in size from a few square meters to large plots of land which are cultivated by individuals or community groups.
Production in other agricultural areas
The reforms have not yielded dramatic results for sugar, meat, or dairy, nor for traditional import crops (rice and beans). Cuba continues to rely on food imports, as it has since it was colonized. Cuba buys rice from India and China, dairy products from the European Union, grains from South America and Eastern Europe, and meat from Canada and Brazil. Cuba has to buy these products from distant countries, adding on average 30% to the cost of food imports over what they would pay for US products.
Effect on meat production
Meat production and dairy production were hit particularly hard by the loss of subsidized Soviet feed and petroleum. The loss of petroleum meant that animal traction became a strategy to reduce reliance on farm machinery. Animal traction is also better for soil management, particularly given the smaller farm size after land was redistributed. However, the conversion to animal traction was impeded by lack of oxen and expertise. The solution was to prohibit slaughter of cattle without government permission (in order to build up the herd) and to create "schools" to train the oxen (and presumably farmers).
Other government programs
Social equity is a clearly a higher priority for the Cuban government than personal liberty. Despite being the second poorest country in the Americas, there is no widespread hunger; housing is generally free, if dilapidated and crowded; Cubans are one of the most educated populations in the world; and there is universal free health care. All Cubans have access to a basic (although minimal) diet through their ration card. Cubans supplement this with food they grow, barter for, or buy at farm stands, farmers' markets, or dollar stores.
The Future
It seems likely that Cuba will continue to promote agro ecological practices and to expand urban agriculture simply because they are yielding results. The bad experiences with large agricultural operations, both before and after communism, make it unlikely that anyone could credibly promote a return to large, high-input operations as a matter of national policy.
The positive results that farmers, university researchers, and extension are getting from the transformation of Cuban agriculture will likely encourage them to continue to pursue sustainable practices whatever comes next. Cuban people are eating better and healthier than before, though things are far from perfect. However, the relevant comparison is to other Latin American countries; Cuba simply does not have the widespread hunger, destitution, and suffering that are commonplace in countries with much higher GDP per capita.
Conclusion
There are many lessons we can learn from Cuba for Kenya:
• The government giving citizens plots to farm on in urban areas could go a long way to alleviate hunger and stabilize our food supplies in the urban areas.
• The food ration card to ensure all Kenyans get access to a basic diet is a positive. The government could contract local and rural farmers for this program.
• A barter system, food for food or food for services by urban and rural farmers would be an idea worth researching and implementing.
• The possible establishment of a sustainable agricultural department by the government to train urban and rural farmers in organic agriculture
• Discounted availability of seeds and agricultural supplies would help potential urban and rural farmers.
Next we a will study a few other examples from other developing nations that have implemented positive policies in sustainability.

Peasant farming: The viable way forward

Previously we addressed and expounded on the ills of agribusiness. In this article we will make a case for sustainable farming as the answer to progress and prosperity. Many of the ideas discussed in this article are not novel. What we aim to do is to make them prominent in our campaign to retake Kenya by focusing on supporting a sustainable middle class in the rural areas. We aim to provide a financial, educational and social framework that will afford economic opportunity and support to family farmers who will form the bedrock of vibrant, sustainable rural economies. This is in contrast to the policy propagated by the elite entrenched land barons (with huge tracts held for speculation) who endlessly recycle themselves to protect their ill gotten gains.
What is sustainability?
Sustainability in general rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This definition is equally applicable in all areas of the vibrant rural societies we are trying to agitate for through our policies. We previously identified these areas and we will address them separately as we go along.
Why promote small farms?
Small family farms are the backbone of a community, a nation, and of society as a whole. A nation of family farms is settled, balanced and stable, and generally sustainable.
Sustainable farms are small. They're mixed, mixed crops, mixed trees and mixed livestock, with all three mixed together in an integrated pattern that mimics natural biodiversity and reaps the benefits of collaborating with nature. The main benefit is health: healthy soil, healthy crops and livestock, and healthy yields, along with low input costs.
Mixed family farms provide sustenance, food security and a healthy surplus for sale or barter, they far out-produce the bigger, mechanized farms.
What is sustainable agriculture?
Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities.
Principles of this type of agriculture include:
Conservation and preservation
In a sustainable system, soil is kept in balance. Crops are rotated through the fields to replace nutrients in the soil. Where there is livestock, animals graze the land, then manure from those animals is used to fertilize the soil.
Biodiversity
Farms raise different types of plants, which are rotated around the fields to enrich the soil and help prevent disease and pest outbreaks. Chemical pesticides are used minimally and only when necessary; many sustainable farms do not use any form of chemicals.
Animal welfare
Animals are treated humanely and with respect, and are well cared for. They are permitted to carry out their natural behaviors, such as grazing, rooting or pecking, and are fed a natural diet appropriate for their species.
Economically viable
Farm workers are paid a fair wage and farmers receive a fair price for their produce in the open market.
Sustainable farms support local economies by providing jobs for members of the community and purchasing supplies from local businesses. Farmers will also have money to spend on other businesses in the community that provide services or products.
Why buy sustainably produced food?
1. Health.
Grass fed beef is healthier than factory farmed grain fed meat. That frozen patty or that hamburger from that popular joint could contain meat from many different sources. It is surprising what they allow to go into the making of a ‘beef’ patty.
The concept of sustainability also involves eating local, which means buying food from a farm as close to you as possible. This cuts down on the length of time between when the food is harvested or processed and when you eat it. After being harvested, food begins to lose nutrients, so the less time between the farm and your dinner plate; the more nutritious the food is for you.
2. Tastes Better.
Most people claim that sustainably-raised food simply tastes better. We all know the difference in taste in eggs produced by free range chickens compared to those produced by factory farms.
3. Environment.
Sustainable farms do not raise more animals than the land is capable of sustaining. Family farms will take all the animal manure and use it replenish the earth. This eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers.
Factory farms cram too many animals in one place. The manure they make is then dumped it into our ecosystem resulting in rivers and the air becoming polluted.
Conclusion
This is by no means an exhaustive article; it only serves as an introduction to get a discussion going on how we can move our country forward.
The next article will be a case study of Cuba which when faced with a U.S. embargo together with the collapse of the Soviet Union managed to develop one of the most efficient organic agriculture systems in the world.
We welcome reader suggestions