Comments on: The Spiraling Cost of . . . Fertilizer http://grittv.org/2008/06/06/the-spiraling-cost-of-fertilizer/ Cultivating a Better Conversation Sat, 14 May 2011 01:31:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Aquifer http://grittv.org/2008/06/06/the-spiraling-cost-of-fertilizer/comment-page-1/#comment-101 Aquifer Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:37:44 +0000 http://www.grittv.org/2008/06/06/the-spiraling-cost-of-fertilizer/#comment-101 <p>It is my understanding that fossil fuels are also very much involved in fertilizer production ( am I wrong about this?) Hmmm. In any case whatever did Mother Nature do before “fertilizer” was introduced? Somehow, for over 4 billion years, she managed to produce an astounding amount of organic material in varying degrees of complexity sufficient to sustain an astonishing number and variety of life forms by - recycling - everything, and by not producing monocultures of anything in large amounts over large areas. We (homo sapiens?) got here, for Pete’s sake, through the auspices of the original organic farmer. </p> <p>Although I do not have an exhaustive, nor even necessarily correct, understanding of the work of people like Vandana Shiva, I do believe there are studies out there that indicate that organic farming methods with the right mixture of biota can (and do) actually produce a greater yield of nutrients per acre than our industry intensive and high tech (GMO) methods, with less extraneous (and polluting) input. It is more labor intensive but on the other hand is it better to employ people to grow real organic potatoes or to make fake processed potato chips? </p> <p>Maybe you could have a discussion about this with Vandana Shiva.</p> It is my understanding that fossil fuels are also very much involved in fertilizer production ( am I wrong about this?) Hmmm. In any case whatever did Mother Nature do before “fertilizer” was introduced? Somehow, for over 4 billion years, she managed to produce an astounding amount of organic material in varying degrees of complexity sufficient to sustain an astonishing number and variety of life forms by – recycling – everything, and by not producing monocultures of anything in large amounts over large areas. We (homo sapiens?) got here, for Pete’s sake, through the auspices of the original organic farmer.

Although I do not have an exhaustive, nor even necessarily correct, understanding of the work of people like Vandana Shiva, I do believe there are studies out there that indicate that organic farming methods with the right mixture of biota can (and do) actually produce a greater yield of nutrients per acre than our industry intensive and high tech (GMO) methods, with less extraneous (and polluting) input. It is more labor intensive but on the other hand is it better to employ people to grow real organic potatoes or to make fake processed potato chips?

Maybe you could have a discussion about this with Vandana Shiva.

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