[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Steven McFadden/CSA book (fwd)



Michele:

You're exactly right in pointing out inconsistencies of booksignings
about CSA in a Barnes/Noble bookstore.  Unfortunately, the structure of
our economy and society make it VERY hard (not impossible, mind you) to
consistently make good decisions for our local community in terms of what
we buy and where we buy it.  I agree that we have to be very vigilant
about seeing the contradictions (the SUVs owned by CSA members.) of our
actions and I'm glad you pointed it out.  It's a constant struggle for
all of us.  Sustainable Agriculture and Food has to be within a
consistent framework for all of our actions or it won't be very long
term.  But we need to support people wherever they are at -- naive
environmentals w/ bumperstickers on their SUVs, sus. ag farmers who shop
at Walmart etc, an ethical consumer who has to buy sport shoes made in
China b/c they're the only ones that fit -- and work on education about
contradictory actions and the interconnections of all spheres of life in
order to make a long-term viable movement.

Mary

Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 20:30:32 -0500
> From: "Michele Gale-Sinex/CIAS, UW-Madison" <gale-sinex@aae.wisc.edu>
> To: sanet-mg@amani.ces.ncsu.edu
> Subject: Steven McFadden/CSA book
>
> Howdy, all--
>
> Does a vast and potentially instructive irony lie in the fact that
> Steve McFadden is doing a CSA book-signing at Barnes & Noble, the
> MegaCorp That Devoured A Zillion Independent Bookstores? Or is this
> my foolish-consistency-hobgoblin hog-tying my tiny mind?  :^)
>
> Barnes & Noble is to the book trade what Starbuck's is to coffee
> houses:  devouring local businesses and gorging themselves on
> impulse shoppers.  (As a WebHead friend said the other day as we
> perused a wall of brick-thick "How to use Windows" volumes in a
> Silicon Valley computer bookstore, "Buy a book, kill a tree!" But I
> digress.)
>
> ...oughtn't we sustaggies use sustainable ag to teach a
> progressive/local ethic of communication and business as well as a
> progressive/local ethic of land use and community?  And to challenge
> things like the lifestyle of the shopping mall and the mega-store?
>
> Picture it: people come to the local shopping mall's Barnes & Noble
> to talk about sustainability and local economy and a self-sustaining
> food system?  Tell me, please, that the authors are going to raise
> this as an issue at their reading!  And will ask those who attend the
> reading to shop henceforth at local independent bookstores.
>
> [Regional Food Systems axiom 3.578:  Biting the hand that feeds one
> can be a good first step toward feeding oneself.]
>
> Then there's this:
>
> > "The movement is continuing to grow," McFadden says. "People who
> > care about their food, the environment, and their children, ought
> > to take a close look at CSA and what it can do for them and the
> > community where they live. It would work great on Long Island."
>
> Are the authors and the publisher promoting this book and CSA in the
> Bronx too?  Lots of open space there for gardens.  Last I was thru
> they'd torn down a whole buncha buildings.  Big empty lots. Hungry
> people.  Not much by way of stores.  And need for community axis.
> And for green.
>
> Barnes & Noble got a store there?  You bet your boopkey they don't.
>
> Disclaimer:  there's nothing personal in my comments. Ya see, I saw
> one too many upscale suburban Madisonians drinking coffee in shiny
> new Sport Utility Vehicles with environmentalist bumperstickers
> parked outside the whole foods (small letters) store this a.m. I'm
> not saying that's what Steven and Trauger are doing...I've got my
> red flags up, is all. Sure, you can sell the Obvious to the Affluent
> and call it social change.  But they'll buy something else when they
> get tired of arugula and root vegetables.
>
> In my not so humble opinion, any CSA member who has a household
> income of over $X per year--or who owns one of those bleeping SUVs or
> has more than 500 square feet of lawn--should be required by the
> CSA's formers/farmers to provide a half-share for people with low
> incomes. $100-300?--that's not many tanks of gas to run around
> suburbia at 13 mpg or whatever the riding lawn mower gets these days.
> Seems a small tithe in return for the privilege of choosing
> excellent food and the wisdom to know the difference.
>
> Of course, that may well be akin to selling sustainable ag as
> indulgences for environmental and other sins (SUVs excluded), but
> somebody's gotta lure the next Martin Luther up to the door, demmit.
>
> :^)
>
> peace
> michele
>
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
> Center for Integrated Ag Systems
> UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
> Voice: (608) 262-8018   FAX: (608) 265-3020
> http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> It is necessary for me to establish a winner image.
> Therefore, I have to beat somebody. --Richard Nixon
> :
> :
> :
> http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london   InterGarden
> london@sunSITE.unc.edu   llondon@bellsouth.net


begin:          vcard
fn:             Mary Hendrickson, PhD
n:              Hendrickson, PhD;Mary
org:            Department of Rural Sociology
adr;dom:        ;;University of Missouri;Columbia;MO;65211;
email;internet: rusomh@showme.missouri.edu
tel;work:       573-882-7463
tel;fax:        573-882-1473
note:           "Food Circles:  Creating Local Sustainable Food Systems"
x-mozilla-cpt:  ;0
x-mozilla-html: FALSE
version:        2.1
end:            vcard


References: