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Should Farming Go Local, Not Global?

Posted by: Nate Berg

2 November 2006 - 9:00am

This article from Grist raises the question of what would happen to the economic viability of Midwest farms if they kept their neighbors as customers and dropped the far-off corporations that currently keep them afloat.

"Like other U.S. citizens, Farm Belt residents increasingly turn to the supermarket, and thus the vast and far-flung industrial networks that supply it, for their sustenance. The region's corn returns to its residents in the form of corn-syrup-sweetened Coca-Cola and corn-fed McDonald's burgers."

"Another, potentially more sustainable, solution would be to rethink what a farm is for. Currently, a typical farm in the Midwest produces inputs for industrial production. What if, instead, farms focused on growing fresh food for their neighbors?"

Full Story: Bread Basket Case
Source: Grist, November 1, 2006
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