The Way We Were

(via Syd O) Check out this NYT piece on life during the depression. Really interesting/touching stuff. I post this because, with the prospects of peak oil/economic depression/climate change/etc., it's worth remembering that humans have been living on local, organic food; recycling everything they can; depending on neighbors and local trade; and simply surviving self-sufficiently from the beginning of time up until about the 1950's. So, I don't want to romanticize the Depression, but just acknowledge that we are survivors and can get along without credit default swaps, iPods, eBay, and cable TV.

In the winter the chickens would come up under the house and sit in the basement, so if we wanted a chicken we’d raise a plank up and reach down and get the chicken. (It was warm in the wintertime. The base of that chimney would be nice and warm; I don’t blame them for going down there.)

Also, I'm pretty sure that organics can feed the world too.

Last year, mandatory spending on farm subsidies was $7.5 billion, compared with $15 million for programs for organic and local foods, according to the House Appropriations Committee.