While vegetarians we established a small homestead where we tried to grow our own food. As our understanding of agriculture grew we learned first hand how impractical ideas like vegetarianism are. The lesson learned was that an agri-culture was key to our survival on this planet. The writings of Wendell Berry best outlines the concept. The PDF below “The Agrarian Standard” is worth reading and reflecting upon and most importantly acting upon.
A one page summary of the Agrarian Standard
by Wendell Berry Summarized by Weird Sly Kip “The doof”
Why Local Matters: Industrialism vs Agrarianism
INDUSTRIALISM is placeless, the market a life force, they concentrates economic power away from the people who are exploited. Such an economy destroys everywhere it goes, simply because it is too ignorant not to do so.
To the servants of industrialism, a family farm is a damaging stereotype because local knowledge is what makes people truly native to their places and therefore caretakers of that place.
Industrialism impoverishes one place in order to be extravagant in another; inevitably this insatiable hunger for growth leads to endless war after endless war.
Who makes the gun into a sacrament—
The only response to the deification
Of tyranny by so-called “developed” nations’
Idolatry of ideology Lyrics by Bruce Coburn “Call it Democracy”
Agrarianism begins with givens: land, plants and animals and a willingness to hand down intact an inheritance from the past.
An agrarianism economy is one of good use and care. Whatever the market may say, the worth of the land is what it always was: Life. It is worth what food, clothing, shelter, and freedom are worth. The agrarian sense of abundance comes from renewal within limits; and innovation that improves our lives.
painting by Peter Krausz, Canti Series.
You will never vote away Industrialism, but you can starve it by becoming an urban gardeners, buying food from local farmers, start by being doubtful of the healthfulness of the corporate food system. It starts by being a person who understands why local matters; what it means to be landless.
The complete Agrarian Standard by Wendell Berry is available for download in PDF format.
Our Post Vegetarian Farm
Our farm only became able to support us when we started to keep cattle. A cow on a pasture is an integral part of our resilience as a species. The closer you get to animals, the more involved you are in the process, the more you will understand the significance of your own life and your place.
An understanding of grass land ecology and its role in our presence on this planet supersedes the urban rhetoric. Cattle, horses and dogs are part of what makes us human, if we cannot exist on that level we cease to fully exist.
Back to Vegetarian Revelation
Back to
My Vegetarian Past
Drinking the Kool-aid
The end of vegetarianism
Combining Proteins
Sustainability
The hired help
Cruelty
Land Use
Industrial Farming
Traditional lifestyle
House Walls
What’s Natural
Carbon
Keeping a herd vs being in a herd