Small Farms Create More Jobs

excerpt:

“All the ways being proposed to increase jobs right now are the same old methods that do not face the real cause of the dilemma. The awful truth is that we have created an economy that can’t afford people to do the work and so every year there are fewer meaningful jobs and more pretend jobs. Pretend jobs require pretend money.

All government really has to do is provide a level playing field where small intensive farming can compete fairly with large, heavily-subsidized, industrial farming and then stand back. A revolution will take place in new job creation and it will be in the right direction: more good food and a more stable society at a lesser overall cost.”

Read Gene Logsdon’s full post.

And if you aren’t familiar with Logsdon’s books, you’re really missing something. Here are just a few, packed with the kind of common sense that meets the definition of wisdom.

The Contrary Farmer   Logsdon offers an alternative to the decline of the family farm by explaining how to successfully engage in what he calls “cottage farming” part-time for enjoyment as well as profit.

Holy Shit: Managing Manure To Save Mankind  Logsdon, trenchant and humorous as always, makes an elegant case for wise use of what is now wasted. As with all his books, a worthy read.

All Flesh Is Grass: Pleasures & Promises Of Pasture Farming A terribly important and useful book covering the why’s and how’s of raising animals in a natural setting on their native diets.

Living at Nature’s Pace: Farming and the American Dream In a series of observations, for example, carefully calculating the efficiency of Amish farms, Logsdon predicts a rebirth of small-scale, profitable farms around the country using sustainable practices that will change the nation’s attitudes concerning agriculture.

Good Spirits: A New Look at Ol’ Demon Alcohol An entertaining, unusually holistic look at the role of alcohol.

You Can Go Home Again: Adventures of a Contrary Life As he describes his search for the good life, Logsdon upholds living simply, respecting the land, taking pleasure in self-reliance, and being neighborly.