Hole Foods

I'm one of those who figures our collective treatment of animals, especially animals we eat, is a good indicator of our degree of cultural instability.   This is consistent with Wendell Berryish ideas that human culture must have sound agriculture to thrive. 

Santa Fe New Mexican has a great story this morning by Staci Matlock - Farming Small but Smart - about a couple of New Mexican families, smaller niche farming and ranching today in New Mexico.

(T)he number of farms shrank from 17,876 in 1997 to 15,170 in 2002... The number of cattle farms and ranches in the state decreased from 9,992 to 6,845 in the same period.    But Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Bernalillo and Valencia counties all saw an increase in small farms from 1992 to 2002, according to the service, bucking the trend.

Family farms are finding relief in niche markets that involve horticulture, organic farming and small-scale operations that market directly to customers, the Labor Department report says. Those niches, an understanding of the traditional skills and new knowledge needed to run a successful operation, and a deep love for life on the land are what drive the Romeros and the Moons. ...

``It has a lot to do with independence, about being your own boss,'' Matthew Romero said. ``But you have to be very resourceful to do this for a living.'' ...

... Michael Moon calls himself a bit of a 'ranching addict.'  "I'm not a strict traditionalist, but I love the culture.  "I think there's a huge hole in the American experience, not being on the land, not working with animals".