How's your DNA?

The BBC reported this morning on a recent study from Patiala University in Punjab, India that showed DNA damage among farmers who blanket their crops in pesticides. Researchers believe this DNA damage is tied to the cancer rates among Indian farmers. Such a link between pesticides and cancer is, of course, no surprise to anyone who's studied ecology. This field shows clearly that you can't affect one part of a biological community without causing a ripple effect through the environment. We all know the chemical companies will deny and attempt to confuse this type of research to their grave. Let's just hope they don't take us all down with them.

Common sense trumps big biz

At least in Montville, ME. 

Today's Maine Sunday Telegram has an interesting story about this Central Maine town's recently passed ban on genetically modified crops. It's the first of its kind in the US (outside of California). As anyone with half a brain knows, these frankenfood crops are a financial windfall to chemical companies who cook up seeds with such nifty traits as embedded pesticides and the inability to produce seeds that a farmer can plant the following year. Farmers still stuck in old paradigms of monoculture and chemically-intensive agriculture may fall prey to these companies' slick marketing messages of science overruling nature. But thankfully here in Maine, most farmers are smarter than that.

As the story says: "Rather than compete with farm states in commodity crops that are dependent on genetic modification, why not capitalize on consumer demand and premium prices for organically-raised produce and animals? Rather than hurting the economy (organic gardener Kai) George said, sustainable agriculture could generate new revenue."

All the while protecting Maine's claim to setting the standard for "the way life should be."

Locavore harvest

Earl Dotter photograph

Another Art Walk venue we hope to hit tonight is the Meg Perry Center where "Farmworkers Feed Us All" is opening. The show by photojournalist Earl Dotter and audio-producer Tennessee Williams was up at the Augusta State House at the end of February. It offers a peek into the lives and working conditions of migrant workers during the 2007 harvest in Maine.

Good news for people who eat

Back in the 1970s when my parents went “back-to-the-land” and started the commune, we had a tough go peddling our organic veggies and free-range eggs. The farmers’ markets in Maine were best described as “fledgling” and most people were still in awe of the vast offerings of cheap food at the local supermarket. People wondered: Why bother buying local?

But as this story in today’s NYT’s Fashion & Style section documents, college-educated, 20- and 30-somethings are once again heading to the hills and tilling the soil. But this time they have economics on their side:

“the growing market for organic and locally grown produce is making it possible for well-run small farms to thrive, said Ken Meter, 58, who studies the economics of food as an analyst at the Crossroads Resource Center, a nonprofit advocacy group for local food initiatives that is based in Minnesota.”