a blog post for the land

i can think of no voice
no writer of the later part of the 20th century
who gives a more coherent critique
of the world of "agribusiness"
and the presuppositions from science
which have determined the growth of food
in our country and around the world
than one "wendell berry"

berry's working theme which reached
it's clearest expression in books like
"home economics" and "what are people for"
is: "the scientific-technological option which has given rise
to the large corporate farming industry has not only undermined
'agriculture" but the "culture" which grows from the
interweaving of a community; the land, the family,
the farm, the interdependency of farmers, the town
the interdependency of farms and communities where trade happens,
and the greater good which derives from healthy communities
rooted in the knowledge and respect for the land-
has been replaced by "land technologists" "earth scientists"

farmers no longer know the land they work
they depend on the bio-chemical determinants
from scientific laboratories
thus perpetuating a "mono-crop" pracitice
which depletes the soil
and necessitates a chemical replenishment
which in turn effects the water and
biological and botanical character of a place

it can be argued that this new scientific method
has done much to increase the yield in places
where a more naturally determined agriculture
brought about less

in some ways the modern approach has
made life for a big farmer easier
it has diminished some of the risk
inherent in any geographically determined place
by this i mean
places like north central montana
where farmers were either beholden to
the weather risks of wheat farming
and the grazing potential of cattle
now with chemical fertilizer
it is far easier to bank on a wheat crop
than gamble with the seasons
but the land and the erosion of chemically laden
topsoil has takin it's toll on the local watersheds
reducing cold streams to little more than
muddy ribbons of strange green growth
killing off much of the natural vegetation
around old streams
and replacing it with fertilizer enhanced
growth that clogs and more or less destroys
the natural flow of seasonal streams

it is safe to place wendell berry in the
modern category of environmentalist
but he is also a literary giant
one commonly overlooked for he has
worked in definite contrast to the academy

novels poetry collections essays
and a few plays have been the media
for his comprehensive and coherent view

his view remains completely local
while not oblivious to the "global" concerns
of our day
berry insists that the work of a man and a woman
are best focused within the community
where a person lives

this sensibility does not challenge the view
of someone like al gore
but to read wendell berry is to become aware
of the importance of being rooted in a place
and to work out the values of conservation of land
and thereby the conservation of culture
within a range that is feasible for the average human

world leaders can articulate visions for the planet
but perhaps all of us need to continually focus our efforts
within the region where we actually live

let us envision places where people live
with a happy dependency on local food
let us practice care for the land
where we live
and while keeping our senses alert
to the concerns of the planet
let us give our lives over to the real needs
that effect our homes and those of our neighbors

this will require nothing less than a reverence
for the soil and the vegetation of a place
before it was marked with the designs
malignant and benign
of mankinds endless efforts

we will have to dispense with the
"enlightment" vision of
"controlling nature"
and return to a "primitive" understanding
of "reverence for nature"

the greater salvation envisioned by
the "environmentalists" of today
will have to be worked out in the
local concerns of people willing to
think about the wisdom "land wise"
people of former days who wove the
patterns of relationship between land
family farm community

the "sustainable agriculture"
and the "organic food" movements
owe much of their ideology to the writing
and thinking of wendell berry

and for this we must be grateful