tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post111263309400278460..comments2024-03-24T09:36:51.494-04:00Comments on delagar: Back from the Red Statedelagarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18197857250240640822noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-1112669290151032712005-04-04T21:48:00.000-05:002005-04-04T21:48:00.000-05:00I think you've characterized the place well. Mr. ...I think you've characterized the place well. Mr. Geeky grew up in Indy and his folks (and most of his relatives) still live there. We have to prep ourselves and our kids before we go there. I lived in Bloomington for six years which is an oasis, really. Sure, there are plenty of red state folk around, but less so. Lots of organic farming and the like. But everywhere else. <BR/><BR/>It's funny. I never thought of those farms as rich, but you're right. They're so green compared to what you see in Arkansas. I always think of Arkansas as a very brown state and I've traveled through most of it. I never really thought of Indiana as so green until you mentioned it. The cost of living there is similar though and is in fact, declining, which I think is a bad sign. I get some sort of sick pleasure out of that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10766222493968363248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-1112648334400718492005-04-04T15:58:00.000-05:002005-04-04T15:58:00.000-05:00The farmers who practice farming for the public he...The farmers who practice farming for the public health--those who use organic or integrative techniques--have small farms and get nothing, and it costs more to harvest their crops. The farmers who poison the crops, give cancer to the workers, and destroy the groundwater get help. And the factory farms, where unspeakable cruelty and disregard for the public health are practiced daily, are rich corporations. <BR/><BR/>The use of chemical fertilizers in the midwest kills thousands of fish and other marine life every year by creating a "dead zone" the size of Massachusetts off the coast of Louisiana. There is always a discussion about what to do about it, but if the farmers just used organic fertilizer, the problem would be gone. They would also have bigger and healthier crops, but there would be an adverse effect on Monsanto, so there you are.<BR/><BR/>A recent essay in Harper's about organic farming in Cuba (Cuba and Mexico developed vast numbers of organic farms because the farmers could not afford to buy pesticides and herbicides) mentioned that--if the entire world were to take up organic farming--all wildlife habitats would be destroyed. I like to think that there would be a workaround to that problem because it boggles my mind to think that doing something the natural way would destroy so much life. On the other hand, how could we possibly destroy more life than we do with factory farming?<BR/><BR/>I have always heard that Indianapolis was a scary place. You have just confirmed it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com