Men with micro-organisms & manure get my next hero vote

I watched my elderly Dad tottering around with great grandson in his wheelbarrow a couple of months back. His shaking arms renewed with vigor at the peals of laughter and appeals for 'again.' My daughter tells me that one of the things she loved most about visiting him, besides the wheelbarrow rides when she was little was being thrown into the horse manure pile from a great height. A sophisticated city gal now, who would believe it? He used to collect the horse poo from neighboring farm, age it and mix it in with other compost and soil. Beaudiful!

Dr Maarten Stapper, not quite my Dad's vintage has what ABC's Australian Story reports, 'some fascinating ideas on how to manage our land better.' They go on to say that, 'He is unconventional, stubborn and difficult. (Acutally that's like my Dad) As an advocate for biological farming, Dr Stapper has paid a high price for promoting a greener, cleaner way to grow food. Originally a CSIRO scientist, he left when it became clear his views on biological farming were incompatible with his employer. Today, he travels the country to educate farmers on how to use less chemicals in their soil and on their crops.'

The sad part is that 1) people think this method is new, radical and amazing, 2) CSIRO like so many other organisations have to justify the commercial viability of their research and development spend, (Makes you wonder whose pocket they are in), and 3) that we are so indoctrinated with beliefs about what is or isn't good for us that we seem to think it is normal to spray our seeds, our soil and our food with toxic chemicals.

I am sure Dad hasn't heard of Dr Stapper, and no he is not growing large scale agricultural crops, yet in his own way he knows how to work in harmony with healthy soil, micro-organisms, the lady bugs that eat the aphids and up the food chain to put a spread of intoxicatingly lush tomatoes and greens on his table. On an interesting end note, large scale farmers who are following biodynamic methods such as Stapper are making a good livelihood across all scales of long term sustainability for all.

Good for Stapper, my dad and those like them.

Photos are of said great grandson and manure pile.

Welcome or Warning

At the risk of waxing lyrical about 'the good ol' days' and 'awfulising' about the current state of the world I am led to question how we come to be subscribing to living in such a fear based society. Now I am not suggesting that you don't tie up your camels, but I do recall a time in Melbourne when we had Tram Conductors and Concierges. Now we have Inspectors on our public transport and armed Security Guards outside of banks and hotels.

In the good ol' days on the trams, some of the Connies even sang. Many were able to provide directions, reassure unfamiliar travellers and give a stern warning to those whose behavior was unbecoming. Today Inspectors stride onto the tram in the great-coats, puffed with the pride of the powerful, sanctioned by law to strong-arm any resistance.

I always rued the demise of the tram conductor. Their loss I believe was a marker of society going in the wrong direction. It wasn't just the job loss for struggling university students, performers and artists. Something more sinister and pervasive is escalation of a fear based society that assumes people will do the wrong thing. There is no doubt that punishment is a deterrent as long as there is constant monitoring. I just think it would be far better if we are going to start a trend to make it towards personal responsibility and good relations.

Harry Palmer, creator of the Avatar materials calls it Living Deliberately.

Tram photo courtesy of Ryan on Creative Common Search on Flock