Notes on How to be a
Low Impact Fitness Farmer
&
Singing Gardner

An article, The Scourge of Agriculture, was sent in to the thinktank. It initiated the following discussion on a healthy diet and a healthy environment:

i reply:

very interesting. several great points are made:

1) the war on terrorism is bogus
2) the war on drugs is hypocritical (i do not know of a single person that is not addicted to "drugs.")
3) vegetarianism and organic farming are both harmful (and perhaps more harmful than a mix of foods/techniques)
4) a single plot with a single crop is devastating/not the best method in the long run.

#3 & 4 are the ones i've been experimenting on lately... and, seeds are an important part of it... just like he said in the article.

last year i started to make my own seed for this year. this was done by saving seeds and drying them on wax paper.

however, i've also been experimenting with multiple crops in a single plot. there over a dozen plots this year. the most successful plot from last year has turned out to be seed heaven.

i've all the seeds i tried to make... i was able to start 2 plants.

but, in the experimental "raised" garden... several hundred plants... in several varieties of crops... have sprouted on their own. i've been transplanting/thinning... and expect that i won't need to buy seed for these crops in the foreseeable future.

in fact, i'm considering what to do with the surplus... put a little stand by the road... or put a little sign on the information super highway?

or maybe a "plant exchange" would make more sense/cents

for instance... i've been thinking about trees, too

i've several dozens trees in pots... they were either started from seeds in fruit i ate (left over apple seeds)... or from sprouts found in the yard.

there is a couple hundred year old black cherry tree in my yard that has given me a bunch of nice lil' trees (as well as an old sugar maple that's babies are showing up all over the place)

maybe there are people in other places... with other varieties that would like to trade? ya know... sortof a virtual orchard... and a virtual garden.

i've considered doing it among ourselves... but am not sure about the law? i know international will raise questions... but can we send produce to each other within the US... and not cause a problem? spreading of insects, none indigenous plants, etc.?


the use of land for farming is one of the biggest man-made problems going... the clearing of land for farms is contributing to global warming in such a way as to compound the problem in an exponential way.

so,
a) by not using the farmland at its most productive level is a sin... millions of humans will needlessly die because some people think they are doing the earth a favor
b) they are not doing any favors... beside causing more land to be used in the farming process... they too think they are chemical free like a swami? what do you think shit is made of? how harmful is shit to the environment? farm water runoff from "organic" farms is a leading contaminator of fresh drinking water.
c) as the article points out, vegetarians participate in the killing of almost all indigenous wildlife by taking it over to grow their vegetables... their un-indigenous food... their UN-natural vegetables

vegetarians and organic food lovers are not only planet killers... they are animal killers... and baby killers, too


indigenous

we ain't talked about diets in a long time... indigenous made me think of my basic diet advice --

eat indigenous to your climate

for instance, i like fruit high in vitamin c.... so i use to eat a lot of oranges. now, i eat more cherries and raspberries, etc

i noticed this simple change made my ph level much nicer to live with

so, not only is it hard to get fat on this diet... the chemicals needed to make you feel best are found in the local grown foods.


fencing... something else i do that comes "naturally" to me... so, i forget to mention it for others.

ya know how i was talking about not clearing land and doing single crops?

not only am i growing a variety of crops in a variety of locations... i'm also trying not to separate the plants from the animals (too much)

that is to say... low impact farming means you do not destroy or drastically alter a habitat (at least that is how i'm defining it.)

instead of enclosing a large space with a fence... i'm putting up many small fences... and particular fences to protect single plants from particular animals.

this method allows the plants and animals to live in harmony... including this human that gets to eat, too.

so far this method actually seems to make pest control easier... the "good" stuff eats the "bad stuff" that would have eaten my crops... in combination with the plants... that seem to help protect other species (the tomatoes, pole beans and snow peas appear to like climbing together... and growing together)... all this has allowed me to farm with no "chemicals"


i started thinking about what i'm experimenting with... and tried to make an inventory... if anyone has ideas about growing... exchanging?

many of these are grown in more than one variety. sometimes, like with tomatoes, this is done for taste. with some plants, it must done (such as apples or blueberries which need to cross pollinate.)

i'm sure i'm forgetting some....

Click Here For a Real Player Garden Video

FRUITS
tomatoes, grapes / raisins, apples, cherries, pears, plums, peaches, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries

NUTS & MISC.
sunflower seeds, figs, sugar maples

VEGATABLES
carrots, radishes, lettuce, peas, snow peas, beans (yellow and green), lima beans, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, potatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, watermelons, cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini and squash, peppers, Swiss chard, scallions, garlic and a wide variety of herbs n' spices


peter replied:

FRUITS
tomatoes - Try Early Girls. They have the longest growing season, and they're better than beefsteaks. Very juicy, sweet, and tomatoey. They're so prolific, you have to give them away to friends.

raspberries - Yah, east coast raspberries are the best. All you have to do is trim the stems every year and give them enough water and they go wild.

strawberries - never had any success with these.

Here's the best one, that you didn't mention: a fruit bearing mulberry tree. There are two types of mulberry trees - the kind that bears fruit and the kind that doesn't. Normally, the fruit bearing variety only grows on the east coast, and they often grow into the shape of a giant umbrella when they're fully grown, with branches hanging down to the ground, and a shady hiding place beneath them. My parents had one when I was a kid, and we used to hide from them underneath the tree and eat berries. They're better than blackberries or anything other than raspberries, as far as I'm concerned. I found one in Walnut Creek, I planted it, and it did very well. Sadly, I had to leave it behind for the next lucky people.

NUTS & MISC.
figs - I used to have a fig tree, but it was really the neighbor's and it hung over my fence. I noticed that new fig trees were constantly wanting to grow in my yard underneath the branches of the neighbor's tree. I used to pull them out because I already had the use of theirs.

VEGATABLES
carrots - never had any luck with these either. All I got was short little

ones that tasted good.

radishes - easy, but hardly worth it.

lettuce - these are a piece of cake, and all varieties appear to do equally well.

beans (yellow and green) - Blue Lake variety is by far the best. Don't waste time on any others. Try to find the kind that grow on poles with a string set up, not bush beans.

lima beans - Yecchhh.

watermelons - just like pumpkins. All they need is sun and lots of water and they go nuts.

cucumbers - same thing, but be sure to use ONLY the long English cucumbers. The normal variety ain't nearly as good.

pumpkins - well, you can go crazy with these, injecting them with milk and trying to grow a prize winning huge one.

zucchini and squash - piece of cake again. They just go wild without much effort.

peppers - go for orange or yellow peppers. They're the sweetest.


peter had said: lima beans - Yecchhh.

i reply:
heehe... that's kinda funny. did ya know they were invented down the road from me... on the burpee farm?

they are a "man-made" vegetable, so to speak... that predates "genetically modified foods"... and are one of the "healthiest" foods per growing acre

plus, another strange example of trying to figure the best way to work with nature

it also made me think about growing indigenous plants... though the lima bean was "man made"... it was invented in this region by using science borrowed from mother nature... and it's been around for a long time... so, i guess it is indigenous to my farming?


wally said: the fundamental problem with humans -- greed.

i reply:
that's kinda funny... earlier today... before reading this... i was talking to someone about our no greed pledge

and... yes... greed can be a problem about surplus

but, i think surplus has other problems, too... like it makes it easy to be lazy... and not strive to survive.

and, it takes up resources like transporting, storing, disposing of, etc.

but, surplus can be a non-greed helper... like peter said about the tomatoes... you end up giving them away when they are so plentiful

(in fact, that was one of my little surprises for some of ya... i was going to ship out little surplus boxes from the farming experiment... almost always a surplus of cherries, tomatoes and some other stuph... if i don't give it away, it will just rot... like i said... a problem with surplus is storing/disposing of. but, i'm still wrestlin' with sending these seed laden plants outta state.)

here is my bigger greed paradox that has to do with the experiments we're runnin':

H2O experiment -- alternative energy and water solutions low impact farming -- alternative eating solutions

energy, food and water... for humanity

free... we're giving the information and tools away

however, am i being greedy, if i realize that humanity will not accept our gift... sleeping giant will not wakeup and behave in a rational manor

(sleeping giant has traditionally voted with his dollar... and will likely continue as long as he can afford it. first, he will vote for alternatives that aren't good solutions. ... well i should say that's 2nd. first, he will vote to continue with status quo... until like sidd said... "people starve in the cold and the dark." then, vote for bad alternatives... then he will vote as indicated below.)

i am using alternative energy solutions with this in mind
i am using low impact farming techniques with this in mind
i am using irrigation and drinking water methods with this in mind

sooo... if i practice now... i'll be good... when i HAVE to be. that if i'm not good... i'll go broke, starve and freeze to death? and if i am good people will pay top dollar (or top commodities) for what i have?

thus, my forecasted surplus has created a greed dilemma
(turning my cucumber into a real pickle)

see what i mean?


i said:
anyone who uses electricity but is against nuclear energy... outta here!

peter replied:
I guess that includes me. I'm dead against nuclear power. I mean, talk about a big time POLLUTER with a half life of 250,000 years! There's simply no known way to dispose of the waste shit. What are you gonna do with it? Put it into barrels and bury it inside mountains like they do now? Put it all into the State of Nevada where nobody cares? Throw it into the ocean and risk an utter nightmare? Shoot it into space and risk having the rocket blow up on the way outahere? And the potential for explosion, core melt down like at Chernyobal, and even terrorist attack. You must be nuts thinking this is some kinda solution!


peter said:
I also told you about several great Saints that are called "breatharians" because they never eat food at all - just liquids.

a billion people survive on vegetarian diets ... carefully choose vegetables for amino acids typically found in animal protein

i reply:
1) show me the people!
2) show me the combination of amino acids!

i can not find a healthy, naturally occurring group of vegetarians ... not living... nor any time in history.

i can not find that combination of amino acids... i can come close... but not the real thing. (the right beans and milk come close.)

what i can show you are many, many people who appear to have suffered long-term brain damage.

peter said:
I did it for lots of years.

i reply:
are you sure you didn't cause brain damage? have you ever had mental problems?

i add:
though i've not seen a scientific study, for the last many years i've been watching... and i've noticed a striking similarity to individuals who:
1) have taken acid
2) are vegetarians

i don't know it as fact, but my observation has been that they appear to cause the same type of brain damage

vegetarians who take acid seem to have the most severe condition


speaking of brain damage... there is another wacko practice i should mention -- the water drinkers

though the myth got a lot of attention in the last year, there are still many who practice drinking too much water

they are under some brainwashed belief that it helps cleanse their bodies

drinking too much water is dangerous (in extreme cases they call it drowning)

but, in less severe instances, it just causes long term brain damage

messing with your electrolytes is a dangerous game

most of these people who insist on drinking X amount of glasses of water a day do not understand that they are giving themselves brain damage

drink when you are thirsty

drink regular tap water (not soft water... not sports drinks) -- http://kingarthur.com/live/Kidz/water.html


hmmm... i suppose i should offer what advice i can... should you know a vegetarian

1) any permanent brain damage will be permanent
2) however, some of the symptoms can become milder when the proper diet is reintroduced

a kinda instant antidote is a cheesesteak (or cheeseburger) ... with orange cheese... the oranger the better

in general, the orange color found in cheese is made from a vegetable extract... not only is it high in beta carotene... but when combined with animal proteins (such as in the milk and steak) it appears to take on some supernatural anti-oxidant qualities


vegetarian info

ya know... it's weird... i can not find ANY unbiased info on the subject

the closest i could find was put out by this vegetarian organization... they try to turn it into gatherer... but as you can see they only end up turning it into gatherer-hunters

and they fail to mention the other costs/benefits... yes, at least 1/4 of the caloric intake is meat... but they don't mention time, mobility, dependence on weather conditions, by-products (skins, leather, medicines, etc.)

-------------------snip--------------------

http://www.newveg.av.org/veghistory.htm

It may surprise many people to hear that our early ancestors lived on a semivegetarian diet for several million years. Some anthropologists have fostered the stereotype of "man the hunter," but studies of contemporary "hunter-gatherers" suggest that early humans lived primarily on a diet of plant foods, with supplementation from animal flesh. Studies of tribal Australian aborigines and the Kung-San of South Africa-groups that live under conditions similar to those of our ancestors-show that only about one fourth of their caloric intake derives from animal products. Nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables are the staple foods of these groups. A view of early humans as gatherers rather than hunters is a more accurate portrayal.

-------------------snip--------------------

and when it comes to survival... and the need to eat meat... i'd suggest renting the movie, ALIVE!

this is more likely what Human will do when he gets hungry (except they won't wait for you to die... they'll eat ya fresh.)

by the way, there is a global warming movie that just came out and is getting a lot of hype (the day after tomorrow)

i saw al gore talking about it... but, the news story mentioned how neither kerry nor bush have used the words global warming

it also said a study shows 48% of americans think global warming is over exaggerated

the sleeping giant slumbers


before we publish this stuph, maybe we should get some definitions together. it seems a lot of emotion is evoked by certain words.

and, saying things like "strict vegetarian" sounds silly to me... so does "lacto-ovo-vegetarians"

a lacto-ovo-vegetarians is a type of omnivore... NOT a herbivore

to be a healthy human, and to cause the least amount of impact on our environment, one should choose to be an omnivore

as you can see, humans are omnivorous. and in fact, it is critical for children to attempt a 100% animal dependent diet for the first 9 months of life... as well as, the start of their life outside an animal.

(there ain't no substitute for mama's milk)

so show me a human that has not fed off an animal... and i'll be seeing some sorta test tube cloned mutant?

however, there is an argument to be made that the plant eating part went from being a grazer to being a farmer

the gallbladder

ideally it would still work... we wouldn't have adapted to be an agragarian society

then, it would be possible for us to still be hunter-grazers

solving the land clearing / global warming problem in a hurry?

Here is a proof of what I would like to publish on the definition of "human."


heeehe... and here's a lil' ironic twist for all you karma lovers

in this life, we are of animal

our physical "ness" is animal... even a "vegetarian" creates animal

in our next physical existence... it is likely we will be of plant matter

heeehe... so all you vegetarian wannabe's... just hold your breath... you will be

(heeehe... guess that's why they call it pushing up daisies)


I'd said: "there ain't no substitute for mama's milk"

peter replied:
And that doesn't count at all. What's a fetus supposed to do? Cook in house?

so, now i ramble on:
you see my point? pro-vegetarian arguments always end up with "that doesn't count."

but sure it counts. luckily it counts... the nutritional value counts. having been exposed to pediatric intensive care units for so long... i can tell you -- IT COUNTS

if a fetus... and then a baby doesn't not get the right amino acids to their brain... they end up calling the kid a vegetable

and, it counts with older people, too... you must have some animal things in your diet to live an active and healthy life

usually, vegetarians start by saying mother's milk doesn't count... then they must admit that certain other milks don't count... cheese doesn't count... yogurt doesn't count... eggs don't count... fish don't count, etc.

you can not stretch the word vegetarian to mean omnivorous... the word vegetarian is false by definition

man is human... not vegetation

man can not go one (1) generation without animal intake

at least it's never been done... and the only people trying frighten the crap out of me -- the Raelians

and about amino acids, sidd replied:
lysine is one amino acid that is difficult to get out of vegetables cant remember the other one ...

i add:
yes. there are 1 to a few... depending on your point of view

however, i've found that in my real life experiment it was more than just the missing coupla of amino acids... it was the whole "mixed use" eating thingie

i've never seen an official study on it... this is just a theory that was proven on my own body... and, unlike most scientific theories... i proved it first... and then figured out the theory (cause i didn't want to believe... i was trying to prove you didn't need animals... and ended up proving the opposite.)

the combination of certain amino acids... and other chemical compounds... appears to create a reaction when digested as a meal

for instance, calcium... that ain't an amino acid... right?

yet, when eaten together with certain foods, it appears to be more beneficial (you can get some calcium from a few plants... like the real dark green ones... but i do not believe it is enough... especially for women... plus, it can't have the same positive reaction without the other meat stuff. that's what concerns me about calcium enriched orange juice.)

so, not just animal protein... but other things that are most likely found in animals or animals milk, eggs, etc.

eat these together with plants to form a healthy meal


sidd replied:
heehee water eh ... almost impossible to drink enuf water to hurt there is only one case in the medical literature that i know of of someone in france drinking too much water ...

i add:
heeehe... well (sorry, no pun intended... well as in but... not as in deep and filled with water)... you are correct that it is unusual to purposely kill yourself with too much water

but... most people who drown do literally drink themselves to death. first, they take in as much water as their stomach can hold... then their lungs fill up.

that is why you need to watch when you try to resuscitate a drowning victim... they usually vomit a large amount of water

the large amount of water in their system can cause other long term problems if their electrolytes are not quickly but back in balance

most of the self-induced electrolyte messing doesn't result in death... only brain damage. you usually pass out before you have a chance to kill yourself. it most often happens when other chemicals are in the drink... like gateraid

however, last year a florida resident killed themselves... by throwing their electrolytes off drinking plain water

so, ya see these combination of chemicals from plant, animal, air and water... all that we take in... strike an important balance... too much... or too little of any... can certainly mess ya up... and sometimes kills


ok... here's one more proof that your humans ain't really vegetarians

are the we grazers? are we constantly eating?

no.

then, what are we fueling our bodies with when we are not eating?

don't tell me... meat?

we are eating the plants... and secretly storing them as animal fat and animal protein... and consuming the meat when no one is looking... aren't we?!?!?!

that is how the human body metabolizes food... it converts it into animal product for our body to use when it is needed


hmmm... i've been thinking about this --

"how can a vegetarian have anything to do with a medium of exchange (such as money?)"

throughout time, a portion of any medium of exchange has had to do with animals... the medium represents some part of an animal

a simple example is when the medium of exchange is actually made from the animal

in these parts, they used beaver pelts... there was no difference between beaver pelts and money... in fact, beaver pelts were money

sooooo,
(even though he is not killing or eating the beaver... he is just using the beaver pelt to buy vegies) would it be possible for a vegetarian to conduct business and not be a hypocrite?

in case the beaver pelts seemed to remote... here is how we do it today:

Live Cattle (LCM4) Jun 04 85.60
Feeder Cattle (FCQ4) Aug 04 107.00
Lean Hogs (LHM4) Jun 04 74.20
Pork Bellies (PBN4) Jul 04 112.50
CME Milk (DAM4) Jun 04 16.40
Butter (DBN4) Jul 04 183.000

for more meat: http://www2.barchart.com/mktcom.asp?section=meats

that last number is dollars. this is how we really exchange our money these days -- 1 dollar = 1/85th of a cow

there is no difference. the dollar in and of itself is almost worthless... it is what the dollar represents that has value... and a dollar represents 1/85th of a cow (or thereabouts... give 'er take a hair.)

soooo... next time you see a vegetarian with a dollar in his hand... you may want to remind him that is 1/85th of a cow

Please click here to learn about The Meaning Of Money


so, if we started with a Raelian clone... and put our baby on life support right out of the test tube... then we'd almost have a strict vegetarian?

the more i think about this... the sadder it is... i mean... in the real world... these are real babies... sooooo:

what is the difference between a pregnant crack addict and a pregnant vegetarian?


mierya says:
At any rate, this all seems quite silly. The human body will do whatever it needs to survive, including adjusting it's own nutrient requirements or production.

i reply:
silly? people hurting themselves, their kids, their fetus, and society?

why? because they want to believe they can turn themselves into a herbivore?

it's mad

from feesearch dictionary definitions:

herbivore
an animal that eats only plants: Cows and sheep are herbivores.

carnivore
an animal that eats meat: Lions and tigers are carnivores.

omnivore
one naturally able to eat both plants and meat: Pigs are omnivorous animals.

i add:
pigs... and so are humans (i often can't tell them apart)

there is no such thing as a healthy human herbivore

to believe otherwise hurts us all

A human is an omnivore that eats both plants and animals. in his pursuit of food, man has destroyed his habitat.

how about that? silly of us?


mireya said:
The human body will do whatever it needs to survive, including adjusting it's own nutrient requirements or production.

I add:
i wanted to talk about this before... yes... this is the best diet... LISTEN to your body and ADJUST

in all instances, you will hear it calling for animal products ... LISTEN to your body... don't tell it otherwise... do as it asks

and, you will also hear it calling for other deficiencies ... LISTEN to your body... again do as it asks

pregnant woman are a great example of this

their cravings usually occur because their body is telling them of a specific deficiency(s) in their diet

hangon... let me see what i can find on the net...

heehe... did you know our .gov had a 4woman?

from http://www.4woman.gov/faq/preg-nutr.htm:

Why do pregnant women crave certain foods?

"The "pickles and ice cream" choices and other appetite cravings of pregnant women may be reflections of the changes in nutritional needs. The fetus needs nourishment and the mother's body begins to absorb and metabolize nutrients differently. These changes help ensure normal development of the baby and fill the demands of lactation (nursing) after the baby is born."


the eating at one sitting... i found a quote about that:

"The amino acids in a complete protein food like beef and an incomplete protein food like beans can exchange their amino acids and become complete. However, for the exchange to take place in both instances, the foods must be eaten at one sitting."
-- The Dictionary Of Food

as for cravings... i find me... and a lot of other people get cravings for potassium

i like:
raisins 763mg (3 1/2 oz)
beef 370mg (3 1/2 oz steak)
carrots 341mg (3 1/2 oz)
apricots 281mg (3 medium - 3 1/2 oz)
and pretty much any nut (which also help magnesium deficiency):
pistachio 278mg (1 oz.)
walnuts 195mg (1 oz.)

i've found, like the amino acids in complete and incomplete proteins, mineral combinations must also be eaten together at one sitting.

zinc is also an important "trace element" and should be considered... it can be found in dairy products, eggs, liver, oysters, herring, sea weed and maple syrup. ( i prefer the beginning or end of the list... heeehe.)


i got to quiz a 13 year old on all this

amazing what them kids know (or a grazin' what they know... heeeehe)

he know all about herb/carn/omni vore's

when asked what is a human... he said omni... but sometimes can be a herb

when asked why human can't be a herb, he said -- proteins

so, he "got it" and wanted to know much more

we talked about a bunch of the reasons why man... at least today... is an omni

heeehe... he was also very interested in the gallbladder questions

and was "of enlightenment" to think of the global warming impact... of us all going out and eating our lawns

r,r,r,r... he even wanted to know if we could switch back in 1 generation

oh yeah

the quiz... and the after thoughts between the 2 of us we went on to consider

that man was always omni

but at first was more herb

as he said "how could we catch it?"

but when it come to eatin'

meat is more bang for the buck

so, we adapted to not even be able to really herb longterm no more as we learned to catch (or at least found easier places to catch... likely both)

just a 13 year old's theory, thou

so who knows?


i've been thinking of some other wacky things we do with eatin'...

vitamin A (retinol)
it's found in animal products
plus the body can produce it from the carotene in plants

carotene is a weird thing... dairy products have more vitamin A in the summer because the grass has more carotene in it

vitamin D (calciferol)
D, calcium and phosphorous... the combination is essential especially for unborn children

with the aid of the sun, our bodies can manufacture D

(which makes me wonder... about our growing need to protect our skin from the sun... does 45 sun screen stop us from getting the D we need?)


i wasn't going to bring this up... cuz it is my least favorite of the diet conversations. but, i would guess that man has always eaten what he could... this means edible plants... and very little in the way of large animals... but most likely almost all humans ate insects... and in fact we still do.

which brings up some good questions:
1) is a vegetarian that eats insects a vegetarian?
2) is it possible to go without eating insects? (insects are found in almost all stored and processed foods... they also crawl in your mouth while you are sleeping, etc. i would guess ALL humans eat insects and rodent poop... hard to avoid it.)

dag nab it... these questions are really bugging me!

heeehe


no doubt -- the average diet sucks... that was more the point... extreme is extreme... moderation is moderation... if forced to live in the extreme, deal with it... but why try to choose an extreme diet?

about men and women

there is quite a bit of difference between our diets... calcium and iron are good example

a lot of it has to do with the loss of blood every month, pregnancy, lactating, menopause, etc.

that's why...
there is usually not enough iron in women's diets however, iron kills men

when i found out, i killed myself for having taken vitamin supplements with iron

in terms of the environment... and the physical world... we do not have to have such a negative impact... we get to CHOOSE most of the damage we do... sorry to say... it is not equal... it should be very little negative and mostly positive... but it is unequal the other way

in fact, we couldn't be doing much more negative damage with as little positive affect... even if we tried harder... maybe that's because we're already trying so hard?

vegans are just one cause of needless negativity

i could name a bunch of other groups... peta... greenpeace, etc.

or, how about people that are for affirmative action... a racist policy?

the question to ask myself... is how can i make the smallest set of footprints while carrying the heaviest load?


i don't know the answer to whether it is physically possible for a human to be a carnivore

in terms of impact to the over all scheme...

the vegan thing came about because i tried to behave like one... though it is impossible to believe i'm anything but an omni

i never tried to be a carni

perhaps if i had, i'd be saying the same thing about them

the points of importance to me... are:
1) being a hypocrite is a bad thing... i should attempt not to be... i choose to try.
2) making a larger impact is a bad thing, too... also... as well as (so i don't want to be a hypocrite about trashing the place at the same time... that's even badder)

the fact of the matter is i eat very little meat

i'm not making any sort of pro-meat stance

i crave very little food... plant or animal

3) most eating (consuming) is an addiction

blame it on the consumers... not the producers or regulators


on this diet website we're working on... i was thinking of 3 separate websites... spirit/mind/body

but, as i thought about making a body fitness website... and all the years of sports training and coaching i've had

i found it funny where my thoughts landed

not in all the great exercise routines i know... but my low impact workout advice is the same as my low impact diet advice -- low impact gardening and farming

it is a whole lifestyle (and it sure beats going into a stinky n' dark basement to left weights.)

being in the best shape of my life seems to be directly linked to my work on the farm

and, that's something i always found interesting... i bought a lot of farms for people. the farmers i bought from usually surprised me in 2 ways:
1) smart business people... almost always had the wall street journal on their breakfast table
2) fit people... they often appeared 20-30 years younger than they really were... when i would ask these 70 year old farmers what they were going to do with all the money from selling the farm... they would say... "buy another farm... if i stop farming, i'll die" and things like "i don't know how to retire"

so this is what i do now... and it's surprising the muscles you develop. i'm getting massive forearms from holding that watering can... anyone wanna arm wrestle?

(if you have any good example of low impact fitness farming... please send em my way... as well as safety examples... cuz farm accidents is a leading way to maim yourself. when we moved that ford tractor and plow around, i almost took my finger off a coupla times.)


sidd replies:
the choice is not between strictly vegan as opposed to only meat diets
there is a continuum, along which the world's populations distribute themselves according to their culture and economics

it is true that living at either extreme of the range requires careful attention to and balancing of diet (google the strict vegetarians of south india for one extreme and the inuit populations of the arctic for the other ...)

energy and water inputs will become more expensive
so the world's fields, gardens and orchards will be converted to lower impact forms of cultivation

(google for no-till agriculture, raised bed farming and drip feed irrigation)

the current concern is the energy inputs

if the saudis are lying or mistaken about their capacity and reserves
we are in for an oil shock in the next decade, perhaps in the next 5 yrs or sooner

since i do not see any effort to detox from the oil needle

one of the first things this will do is make transport and travel travel more expensive

most of what we eat, drink, wear and live in comes from far away and requires substantial energy input to create

i also see a major risk of the climate changing too fast for human and nonhuman societies to react (google for beetle infestations of N. American forests)

that will render all our chess games moot


sidd had said: so the world's fields, gardens and orchards will be converted to lower impact forms of cultivation (google for no-till agriculture, raised bed farming and drip feed irrigation)

I reply:
i've been experimenting with all of these... and took some movies the other day... to put up on the web (Click Here For Irrigation)

there are a few other's i'm trying, too... like fencing types and how not to use fencing at all (i'd like to talk about omni gardens instead of single crop rotation, too... or should i call em poly gardens?)

an example of an observation... no-till agriculture... is a great way to get free seedlings... and not have to buy seed... something i wouldn't of thought of until it happened to me.

but... i don't have anything to support my claims

so, i could use any supporting documentation that you come across


low impact fitness farming

hmmmmm

i'll have to think about tieing this together with some other elements of a healthy lifestyle

besides the low impact fitness farming, i've found singing, playing a musical instrument and dancing to be important daily activities.

if you like you can do it all at the same time... like sing, dance and play the flute while you water the garden


pray for rain: low impact farming

if you like you can do it all at the same time... like sing, dance and play the flute while you water the garden

heehe... this got me to thinking about prayer and meditation

it seemed obvious to me... that you would "naturally" being do this at the same time... i mean how could you not?

(motionless meditation... is for someone who can't walk and chew gum at the same time... heeehe)

another thing to consider about this... we already waste about 1/3 of our life this way (8 hours of sleep/day)

why would we want to waste any of our precious waking hours this way?

Diet

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