Last week, Time magazine featured, on the front cover, a major article on the broken state of our food production system: Time Cover (Go to the “Read the Cover Story” link at the bottom of the page.) It was enlightening in that this issue is finally becoming a mainstream concern, that people are more aware of what they eat and where it comes from. Our food is cheap but at such a high cost to us, our economy, and our environment. Read it. See what you think.
Ah, here’s some edifying reading materials you might find interesting:

• Small Farmers Journal
• American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
• American Farmland Trust

I’m a techno-geek and I live on a 20 acre farm on the rainy side of the Cascades in a 93 year old farmhouse.There are so many advantages to being here. It’s quiet. I have fresh vegetables and fruits just outside my door nine months of the year. My neighbors raise or grow anything I can’t. There’s a fantastic community here. There is always something going on. I have my dog, Max, with me. Everytime I drive down the valley and up the hill to my house, all my worries and stresses fall away. It’s just lovely every day of the year, rain, shine, or four feet of snow.

However, there are issues…and some disadvantages to this life. They include:

• How do we conserve farmland and make it sustainable?
• How do we deal with the rural technology divide?
• How do we bring farmers back to the land?
• Why did my bak choi bolt this year?
• What role does the online world play in sustainable food growing practices?
• How can farmers contribute to preserving the environment?
• How do we get farm fresh products to under-served markets?
• How do we get kids out to the farms and teach them about their food?
• What’s the perfect background for my page?

I’m going to explore these themes, and a few other tasty topics, on these pages.

Ad infinitum…