It stinks mostly because I wrote up this LONG post, and Blogger decided to eat it. Thanks for nothing, you big stinky-butt. I hope rocks fall on your head!
So, basically, this is the condensed version. I posted a comment to High Hopes Gardens, which sounded a little something like this:
"Hey there High Hopes Gardens!
I'm Coloratura, a student at USC, currently writing essays about sustainableagriculture and the negative impact of "corporate farms" and such on the environment. I stumbled across your blog while looking for blogs that were relevant to my research subject, which is sustainable farming. And, therefore, small farms! :) So, I just had a couple "practical"-type questions for you, just due to increased curiosity from my latest project, I hope they're not too silly for you!
Anyway, I was just curious about the "practicality" of farming; I mean, you havethree children, how do you school them? Homeschooling seems a little too time-consuming, on top of running a farm, although it also seems difficult to commuteto and from a school, if you live far from it. And, what do you do in your free time? I mean, do you ("you" being collective for your family) have enough free time on the farm to take up any hobbies?
Sorry for all the curiosity; being a city-girl my whole life, your farm sounds absolutely incredible, and I'd love to hear more about how everyday life is there. :) Thanks so much for writing your blog, it's a fascinating read!
Best of luck to you with the fires, we've been having some of those in Californialately as well, and they're no fun at all!! I hope everyone stays safe. :)
~Coloratura"
Here's where you can find the original blog, and my post: http://highhopesgardens.com/blog/2007/10/29/october-29-2007-city-smoke-country-smoke/
In closing, I am angry at Blogger. Because it ate my post. >:[ Grr.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Some new sources
Welp! I'm at home, and I don't have access to my computer at USC, so I figured I could upload my new research here to keep track of what I'm doing. :) I've been trying to find some new sources for CAFO information, since all I have is the Pollan book, and here's a new one I found:
Airborne Bacteria in CAFOs: Transfer of Resistance from Animals to Humans (in Environews; Science Selections)
Julia R. Barrett
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 113, No. 2. (Feb., 2005), pp. A116-A117.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0091-6765%28200502%29113%3A2%3CA116%3AABICTO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
This is from Jstor, which I shall be perusing further. Let's see if I can figure out the Edit button!
In random news, I realized that I misspelled "coloratura" in my blogger account name. I either did this because there's already a "Coloratura" titled blog, or because I was extremely sleepy and didn't realize I was misspelling it. Gah. Talk about embarassing! Let's pretend it was purposeful, shall we?
EDIT: Hey! I figured out how to work it! Here's another source, more academic, but I'll use it for some of my facts.
Concentrated Swine Feeding Operations and Public Health: A Review of Occupational and Community Health Effects (in Research; Reviews)
Dana Cole; Lori Todd; Steve Wing
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, No. 8. (Aug., 2000), pp. 685-699.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0091-6765%28200008%29108%3A8%3C685%3ACSFOAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
Technological Change in the Agriculture of the United States and Australia
William McD. Herr
Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 48, No. 2. (May, 1966), pp. 264-271.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1071-1031%28196605%2948%3A2%3C264%3ATCITAO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A
Abstract: This study compares agriculture in the United States with agriculture in Australia with respect to technological change as measured by the Solow model. Over the past three decades the rate of technological change has been about four times as fast in the United States as in Australia. The analysis indicates that three-fourths of this difference may be attributed to two structural features: (a) economies of size associated with out-migration of labor, and (b) the composition of output. The study concludes by noting, first, that comparisons between regions or between countries may help one to understand the character of technological change, and, second, that because of structural differences, the introduction of technical improvements into the agricultural sectors of different countries may not yield similar results.
And, running out of options for sources, I'm going to include this website: it gives some good facts, more than I could find in Jstor and ProQuest combined, and it seems to be reputable. Plus, it's not Wikipedia!
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Australia-AGRICULTURE.html
Airborne Bacteria in CAFOs: Transfer of Resistance from Animals to Humans (in Environews; Science Selections)
Julia R. Barrett
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 113, No. 2. (Feb., 2005), pp. A116-A117.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0091-6765%28200502%29113%3A2%3CA116%3AABICTO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I
This is from Jstor, which I shall be perusing further. Let's see if I can figure out the Edit button!
In random news, I realized that I misspelled "coloratura" in my blogger account name. I either did this because there's already a "Coloratura" titled blog, or because I was extremely sleepy and didn't realize I was misspelling it. Gah. Talk about embarassing! Let's pretend it was purposeful, shall we?
EDIT: Hey! I figured out how to work it! Here's another source, more academic, but I'll use it for some of my facts.
Concentrated Swine Feeding Operations and Public Health: A Review of Occupational and Community Health Effects (in Research; Reviews)
Dana Cole; Lori Todd; Steve Wing
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, No. 8. (Aug., 2000), pp. 685-699.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0091-6765%28200008%29108%3A8%3C685%3ACSFOAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S
Technological Change in the Agriculture of the United States and Australia
William McD. Herr
Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 48, No. 2. (May, 1966), pp. 264-271.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=1071-1031%28196605%2948%3A2%3C264%3ATCITAO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A
Abstract: This study compares agriculture in the United States with agriculture in Australia with respect to technological change as measured by the Solow model. Over the past three decades the rate of technological change has been about four times as fast in the United States as in Australia. The analysis indicates that three-fourths of this difference may be attributed to two structural features: (a) economies of size associated with out-migration of labor, and (b) the composition of output. The study concludes by noting, first, that comparisons between regions or between countries may help one to understand the character of technological change, and, second, that because of structural differences, the introduction of technical improvements into the agricultural sectors of different countries may not yield similar results.
And, running out of options for sources, I'm going to include this website: it gives some good facts, more than I could find in Jstor and ProQuest combined, and it seems to be reputable. Plus, it's not Wikipedia!
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Australia-AGRICULTURE.html
Friday, October 12, 2007
Annotated Bibliography: Take 2
Well, for those of us who haven't been keeping up, it's time to submit the final copy of my annotated bibliography! I've been madly looking up more 'opinionated' sources on JSTOR and ProQuest, so there's not a lot of commonalities between the bibliographies, which is hopefully a good thing. So, here are my sources, along with a brief overview of what they are aiming to talk about:
"Here's the final draft of my annotated bibliography, which is all about American agricultural practices (CAFOs, and the like), and how a similar but different country (Australia) faces the same requirements. I will be comparing their agribusiness models, and comparing the two in terms of profit, sustainability, and overall damage (or lack-thereof) to the environment."
____________________________________________________________________
ACTUAL ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Brown, Corie. "Hot topic: our fragile food system :[HOME EDITION]. " Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, Calif.] 23 May 2007,F.1. Los Angeles Times. ProQuest. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 12 Oct. 2007
Corie Brown, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times food section, reports about the dangers facing the future of our food at a symposium about the nature of sustainable agriculture. In this article, she reports that leading experts believe the global food system to be fragile, and in need of serious revamping into sustainability. This article gives a wide band of information on what professionals believe should be done for the future of sustainable agriculture, as well as what extent sustainable agriculture should be taken to.
Frost, Lionel, "Australian Agricultural Historiography: A Survey,"Agricultural History, Vol. 71, No. 4. (Autumn, 1997), pp. 479-490.
Lionel Frost, an award-winning writer, most frequently writes about the environmental impacts taking place in Australia, North America and the Third World. In this article, Frost explores the history of Australian farming in a similar fashion to Pollan's discussion of the American farm in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma." However, while there are similarities in the work, Frost illustrates that Australia is a very different land mass from North America, especially given the large amount of infertile land in Australia. Despite lacking evidence about the beginning stages of Australian farming, Frost is able to craft a powerful essay that covers a multitude of viewpoints, historical periods and regions of Australia. Overall, this essay will be most helpful to my essay by giving me a very solid background in Australian farming. In this sense, Frost's article is a parallel to Pollan's book, as they both give extensive background on farming practices, without a lot of opinion to blur the facts.
Pollan, Michael, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," United States of America: Penguin Books, 2006.
Michael Pollan, a contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an excellent explanation of the American agribusiness of today, from the founding of the first farms to the most recent developments of the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)-based systems. Pollan explores the scientific step-by-step process from corn to hamburger and all stages in between, as well as the more personal question of why the reader should care about what they're eating, and how it was produced. He also examines the alternatives to the modern 'ideal' of American agribusiness, the CAFO, as well as the lack of sustainability in the current American agribusiness practice. In short, Pollan asks that Americans look at their food, and truly understand where it came from, and how it came to be.
Schmidt, Charles W., Serving up Food Safety: Who Wants a Piece of the Pie? (in Environews; Spheres of Influence), Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 109, No. 7. (Jul., 2001), pp. A324-A327.
In this opinionated article, Schmidt (a toxicologist-turned-author with a Masters Degree in Public Health) argues that the federal regulations in the United States aren't equipped to handle the large amount of agriculture they are supposed to be monitoring, and that the infrastructure is too fragmented to be as effective as it should be. In addition, Schmidt explains that all attempts to change the regulations so far have resulted in nothing, and that there would need to be an extremely large amount of money poured into such a venture to make it successful. This essay is an excellent partner to the Staley essay, as it describes almost the same situation, but on the opposite side of the coin. While Australian farmers are struggling to compete with the under-regulated (and therefore cheaper) American agriculture, Americans are suffering from the effects of poorly-regulated food safety. In the end, both sides obviously suffer, although very little is done to change it.
Staley, Louise. "How to destroy a country town. " Review - Institute of Public Affairs 57.4 (2005): 5-6. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 12 Oct. 2007
Louise Staley, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Affairs in Australia, writes this opinion piece in defensive of the community of farmers in Australia. She contends that over-regulation of Australian farms are causing them to be unable to compete in a world market, as well as crushing the rural farmers. She believes that regulation is causing farms to lose their viability, and could even spell doom for the rural farmer by disallowing him the support of his community. This piece gives a new view into some of the modern concerns of the Australian farmer, and her opinion piece clearly showcases some of the competition taking place between America and Australia on a global scale. Clearly, if America had as many regulations on their farming as Australia did, Australians wouldn't be struggling in the global market. But instead of advocating higher standards for all countries, Staley advocates lowering the Australian regulations for farming.
"Here's the final draft of my annotated bibliography, which is all about American agricultural practices (CAFOs, and the like), and how a similar but different country (Australia) faces the same requirements. I will be comparing their agribusiness models, and comparing the two in terms of profit, sustainability, and overall damage (or lack-thereof) to the environment."
____________________________________________________________________
ACTUAL ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Brown, Corie. "Hot topic: our fragile food system :[HOME EDITION]. " Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, Calif.] 23 May 2007,F.1. Los Angeles Times. ProQuest. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 12 Oct. 2007
Corie Brown, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times food section, reports about the dangers facing the future of our food at a symposium about the nature of sustainable agriculture. In this article, she reports that leading experts believe the global food system to be fragile, and in need of serious revamping into sustainability. This article gives a wide band of information on what professionals believe should be done for the future of sustainable agriculture, as well as what extent sustainable agriculture should be taken to.
Frost, Lionel, "Australian Agricultural Historiography: A Survey,"Agricultural History, Vol. 71, No. 4. (Autumn, 1997), pp. 479-490.
Lionel Frost, an award-winning writer, most frequently writes about the environmental impacts taking place in Australia, North America and the Third World. In this article, Frost explores the history of Australian farming in a similar fashion to Pollan's discussion of the American farm in his book "The Omnivore's Dilemma." However, while there are similarities in the work, Frost illustrates that Australia is a very different land mass from North America, especially given the large amount of infertile land in Australia. Despite lacking evidence about the beginning stages of Australian farming, Frost is able to craft a powerful essay that covers a multitude of viewpoints, historical periods and regions of Australia. Overall, this essay will be most helpful to my essay by giving me a very solid background in Australian farming. In this sense, Frost's article is a parallel to Pollan's book, as they both give extensive background on farming practices, without a lot of opinion to blur the facts.
Pollan, Michael, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," United States of America: Penguin Books, 2006.
Michael Pollan, a contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an excellent explanation of the American agribusiness of today, from the founding of the first farms to the most recent developments of the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)-based systems. Pollan explores the scientific step-by-step process from corn to hamburger and all stages in between, as well as the more personal question of why the reader should care about what they're eating, and how it was produced. He also examines the alternatives to the modern 'ideal' of American agribusiness, the CAFO, as well as the lack of sustainability in the current American agribusiness practice. In short, Pollan asks that Americans look at their food, and truly understand where it came from, and how it came to be.
Schmidt, Charles W., Serving up Food Safety: Who Wants a Piece of the Pie? (in Environews; Spheres of Influence), Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 109, No. 7. (Jul., 2001), pp. A324-A327.
In this opinionated article, Schmidt (a toxicologist-turned-author with a Masters Degree in Public Health) argues that the federal regulations in the United States aren't equipped to handle the large amount of agriculture they are supposed to be monitoring, and that the infrastructure is too fragmented to be as effective as it should be. In addition, Schmidt explains that all attempts to change the regulations so far have resulted in nothing, and that there would need to be an extremely large amount of money poured into such a venture to make it successful. This essay is an excellent partner to the Staley essay, as it describes almost the same situation, but on the opposite side of the coin. While Australian farmers are struggling to compete with the under-regulated (and therefore cheaper) American agriculture, Americans are suffering from the effects of poorly-regulated food safety. In the end, both sides obviously suffer, although very little is done to change it.
Staley, Louise. "How to destroy a country town. " Review - Institute of Public Affairs 57.4 (2005): 5-6. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. 12 Oct. 2007
Louise Staley, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Affairs in Australia, writes this opinion piece in defensive of the community of farmers in Australia. She contends that over-regulation of Australian farms are causing them to be unable to compete in a world market, as well as crushing the rural farmers. She believes that regulation is causing farms to lose their viability, and could even spell doom for the rural farmer by disallowing him the support of his community. This piece gives a new view into some of the modern concerns of the Australian farmer, and her opinion piece clearly showcases some of the competition taking place between America and Australia on a global scale. Clearly, if America had as many regulations on their farming as Australia did, Australians wouldn't be struggling in the global market. But instead of advocating higher standards for all countries, Staley advocates lowering the Australian regulations for farming.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft
Here's the rough draft of my annotated bibliography, which is all about American agricultural practices (CAFOs, and the like), and how a similar but different country (Australia) faces the same requirements. I will be comparing their agribusiness models, and comparing the two in terms of profit, sustainability, and overall damage (or lack-thereof) to the environment.
So without further ado, here's the rough copy of my annotated bibliography!
_________________________
Burkholder, JoAnn; Libra, Bob; Weyer, Peter, "Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality," Environmental Health Perspectives 115 no2 (February 2007): 308-12
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In this piece by Burkholder, Libra, and Weyer, the sustainability of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are explored in relation to the pollution they cause in surrounding bodies of water. While farming has always caused some pollution in surrounding bodies of water, they feel that this pollution (antibiotics, etc) has become a rising problem due to the rising amount of CAFOs in the United States. This pollution will have serious impacts upon human and environmental health in the long run, which is why this work group explains the need for enforcement of ecosystem monitoring in the areas surrounding CAFOs.
Cribb, Julian, "Can Australia save the world?," News in Science, http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/cribb/story.htm
Julian Cribb, Director of National Awareness for Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, explains that most of the world's poverty (and therefore a great deal of its suffering) is caused by lack of food, water, and land. With the world's water consumption going up exponentially, it seems likely that there will be some kind of catastrophic war over the rapidly dwindling resources we have left to us. Cribb states that, due to its exceedingly bio diverse agriculture and knowledge of sustainable farming practices, Australia should be the nation to lead the rest of the world into the sustainable agriculture practices that they currently use. In short, Cribb believes that Australia can be the nation-- the only nation-- to solve the shortages of food, land, and water.
Lehane, Bob, "Feeding the future-- sustainable agriculture," Nova: Science in the News, http://www.science.org.au/nova/071/071key.htm
Bob Lehane writes in Nova, a magazine published by the Australian Academy of Science, about sustainable agriculture in Australia. Sustainable agriculture is a term used to describe planting crops in such a way that it does not exhaust the soil of its nutrients. If soil, nutrients and water are used up faster than they can be naturally replenished, then the farming system is unsustainable. He explains that biodiversity is required to keep the land sustainable, as well as keeping the naturally salty soil from becoming too salty. Overall, Lehane describes a system in which Australia is working with farmers to create a agricultural system that is both sustainable and profitable.
Pollan, Michael, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," United States of America: Penguin Books, 2006.
Michael Pollan, a contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an excellent explanation of the American agribusiness of today, from the founding of the first farms to the most recent developments of the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)-based systems. Pollan explores the scientific step-by-step process from corn to hamburger and all stages in between, as well as the more personal question of why the reader should care about what they're eating, and how it was produced. He also examines the alternatives to the modern 'ideal' of American agribusiness, the CAFO, as well as the lack of sustainability in the current American agribusiness practice. In short, Pollan asks that Americans look at their food, and truly understand where it came from, and how it came to be.
Tillotson, James, "Agribusiness--The Backbone of Our Diet for Better....or for Worse?????," Nutrition Today 41 no5 (September/October 2006): 233-8
James Tillotson writes in Nutrition Today, an established journal that publishes articles by leading nutritionists and scientists who endorse scientifically sound food, diet, and nutritional practices. In this two-part essay, Tillotson explores the American definition of agribusiness and gives a brief overview over the history and workings of agriculture business in the United States today. He explains that although it raises some hot-button issues, it not only makes our food cheaper, but easy to attain and very secure as well. His argument focuses mostly on the capitalistic benefits of the system, rather than the dangers of its pollution and fossil-fuel consumption. Tillotson comes to the conclusion that overall, agribusiness is better for the United States, seemingly ignoring the fact that it will be a short-lived system due to its unsustainable agriculture.
So without further ado, here's the rough copy of my annotated bibliography!
_________________________
Burkholder, JoAnn; Libra, Bob; Weyer, Peter, "Impacts of Waste from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality," Environmental Health Perspectives 115 no2 (February 2007): 308-12
Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) is a monthly journal of peer-reviewed research and news on the impact of the environment on human health, published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In this piece by Burkholder, Libra, and Weyer, the sustainability of CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are explored in relation to the pollution they cause in surrounding bodies of water. While farming has always caused some pollution in surrounding bodies of water, they feel that this pollution (antibiotics, etc) has become a rising problem due to the rising amount of CAFOs in the United States. This pollution will have serious impacts upon human and environmental health in the long run, which is why this work group explains the need for enforcement of ecosystem monitoring in the areas surrounding CAFOs.
Cribb, Julian, "Can Australia save the world?," News in Science, http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/cribb/story.htm
Julian Cribb, Director of National Awareness for Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, explains that most of the world's poverty (and therefore a great deal of its suffering) is caused by lack of food, water, and land. With the world's water consumption going up exponentially, it seems likely that there will be some kind of catastrophic war over the rapidly dwindling resources we have left to us. Cribb states that, due to its exceedingly bio diverse agriculture and knowledge of sustainable farming practices, Australia should be the nation to lead the rest of the world into the sustainable agriculture practices that they currently use. In short, Cribb believes that Australia can be the nation-- the only nation-- to solve the shortages of food, land, and water.
Lehane, Bob, "Feeding the future-- sustainable agriculture," Nova: Science in the News, http://www.science.org.au/nova/071/071key.htm
Bob Lehane writes in Nova, a magazine published by the Australian Academy of Science, about sustainable agriculture in Australia. Sustainable agriculture is a term used to describe planting crops in such a way that it does not exhaust the soil of its nutrients. If soil, nutrients and water are used up faster than they can be naturally replenished, then the farming system is unsustainable. He explains that biodiversity is required to keep the land sustainable, as well as keeping the naturally salty soil from becoming too salty. Overall, Lehane describes a system in which Australia is working with farmers to create a agricultural system that is both sustainable and profitable.
Pollan, Michael, "The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals," United States of America: Penguin Books, 2006.
Michael Pollan, a contributing editor to the New York Times Magazine and Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, gives an excellent explanation of the American agribusiness of today, from the founding of the first farms to the most recent developments of the CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)-based systems. Pollan explores the scientific step-by-step process from corn to hamburger and all stages in between, as well as the more personal question of why the reader should care about what they're eating, and how it was produced. He also examines the alternatives to the modern 'ideal' of American agribusiness, the CAFO, as well as the lack of sustainability in the current American agribusiness practice. In short, Pollan asks that Americans look at their food, and truly understand where it came from, and how it came to be.
Tillotson, James, "Agribusiness--The Backbone of Our Diet for Better....or for Worse?????," Nutrition Today 41 no5 (September/October 2006): 233-8
James Tillotson writes in Nutrition Today, an established journal that publishes articles by leading nutritionists and scientists who endorse scientifically sound food, diet, and nutritional practices. In this two-part essay, Tillotson explores the American definition of agribusiness and gives a brief overview over the history and workings of agriculture business in the United States today. He explains that although it raises some hot-button issues, it not only makes our food cheaper, but easy to attain and very secure as well. His argument focuses mostly on the capitalistic benefits of the system, rather than the dangers of its pollution and fossil-fuel consumption. Tillotson comes to the conclusion that overall, agribusiness is better for the United States, seemingly ignoring the fact that it will be a short-lived system due to its unsustainable agriculture.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wow! Here I am!
Well, here's my first 'official' post on the blog! Very new to me! So uh, let's see if this comes out all right! :)
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