No subject

Wed Mar 9 06:22:29 CET 2016

<br>
-----<br>
Dear GTN Colleagues,<br>
<br>
Thanks for this. It was easy to read Frances=E2=80=99 work, and my response=
 is as if I have been invaded by a bunch of ticks - tick, tick, tick, tick,=
 tick. From my perspective, Frances, you are 100% on the right track, and I=
 agree with every word you have written. And you even got methane&#39;s GWP=
 right, at 34! Some top science journalists are still using the wrong, old =
numbers. So my congratulations.<br>
<br>
The most urgent question in my mind therefore becomes, how? You mention foc=
using far more than 1% of global agricultural research on organic farming, =
which is clearly needed. And in your last paragraph, you emphasize the need=
 for democratic governance, which is also clearly needed. But many countrie=
s already have good democratic governance, without undue corporate corrupti=
on=E2=80=94I sympathize with GTN members living in America, which is a temp=
orarily failed and corrupted democracy. So just as progressive states can b=
e laboratories of change in the US, so can progressive countries, globally.=
 If more key countries such as Sweden, Denmark (aiming at 100% organic =E2=
=80=9Cas soon as possible=E2=80=9D), Bhutan (aiming to be 100% organic by 2=
020), Ethiopia, Lichtenstein (31% of farmland is organic), and Austria (19.=
5% organic) could show the world how effective small-scale organic and agro=
-ecological farming is, it would establish a beach-head into larger countri=
es. (See<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.fibl.org/en/themes/organic-farming-statistics.html" r=
el=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">www.fibl.org/en/themes/organic-farming-=
statistics.html</a> for statistics)<br>
<br>
In my book Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible (<a href=3D"ht=
tp://www.journeytothefuture.ca" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">www.jo=
urneytothefuture.ca</a>), set in the year 2032, there&#39;s a dialogue betw=
een a nurse and my visitor to the future, in which she explains how all far=
ming in Canada came to be organic. There are several chapters devoted to fo=
od and farming, but this is a relevant contribution for GTN, since it shows=
 a way to make the switch:<br>
<br>
****<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CHow much of it=E2=80=99s organic?=E2=80=9D All of it. All food gro=
wn in Canada is organic these days. It=E2=80=99s not all five-star, but thr=
ee or four-star is still pretty good.=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
I was really surprised.<br>
<br>
Back in my time, only two percent of Canada=E2=80=99s farms were organic. =
=E2=80=9CWhat made all the farmers go organic?=E2=80=9D I asked.<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CAnd what=E2=80=99s the five-star system?=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CFive-star means that as well as using no chemicals, the farmers bu=
ild their soil, treat their farm animals with kindness, pay fair wages and =
take care of their wildlife. They get a star for each if they meet the requ=
irements.=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s impressive.=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CAs to why the farmers went organic, it all happened quite quickly.=
 Soon after the OMEGA Days the government commissioned a study to investiga=
te the full cost of conventional farming. They looked at everything from fa=
rming=E2=80=99s climate impact to the loss of habitat and species, herbicid=
e-resistant super-weeds, nitrogen pollution from fertilizers getting into t=
he water, soil erosion, the impact on bees, the abuse of antibiotics, and n=
egative health impacts caused by the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and=
 the loss of essential nutrients from the soil. That includes cancer and de=
mentia, which had been linked to the use of pesticides and nitrogen fertili=
zers. Maybe autism, too. Pre-natal exposure to pesticides was also contribu=
ting to ADHD, and to a fall in children=E2=80=99s IQ. A crop like celery wa=
s being sprayed with as many as sixty-seven different pesticides. Can you b=
elieve it? When the government saw the full social, environmental and healt=
hcare impact they brought in a tax on<br>
pesticides and fertilizers, to recover the costs.=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9CJust like that? Didn=E2=80=99t the farmers protest?=E2=80=9D<br>
<br>
=E2=80=9COh, for sure. There was a lot of complaining. But there were many =
benefits to going organic. It eliminated the cost of fertilizers and pestic=
ides, and when the farmers realized that they could save money and get bett=
er yields it became a no-brainer. Conventional yields had been falling anyw=
ay due to pesticide resistance and the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds,=
 especially with the genetically modified crops, so the farmers didn=E2=80=
=99t need much persuading. The government gave the money back to the farmer=
s to subsidize their transition to organic, and the rest is history.=E2=80=
=9D<br>
<br>
best wishes,<br>
Guy Dauncey<br>
<br>
FRSA Author, Speaker, Futurist<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.earthfuture.com" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank"=
>www.earthfuture.com</a><br>
Author of Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible Author of The C=
limate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming<br>
Founder of the BC Sustainable Energy Association<br>
<br>
**************************************<br>
<br>
Monday, February 29, 2016<br>