Re: Bill Tucker's anti-SANET posting

Nathaniel S. Bacon (nbacon@zoo.uvm.edu)
Tue, 3 Dec 1996 11:41:13 -0500 (EST)

Don: I think it's important to separate practices in the conventional
cattle industry from the practices dicussed on graze-l. The farmers on
this list are involved in management-intensive grazing, which is designed
to prevent overgrazing, reduce purchased inputs, and increase
profitability. One could make a reasonable scientific arguement that
proper grazing of livestock is one of the most sustainable practices around.

Just as there are many ways to grow vegetables, or grains, there are many
ways to raise livestock. Let's not lump the "cattle industry" into one
big group.
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Nathaniel Bacon
360 South Winooski Ave
Apt. E
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-7701
nbacon@zoo.uvm.edu

On Mon, 2 Dec 1996, Don Lotter wrote:

> Re: Bill Tucker's posting to SANET, quoted below this message
>
>
> P.S. It is interesting to me that you came to SANET through the Graze-L
> list. The cattle industry, at least in the western US, (and this is no
> unsubstantiated claim, see Fleischner 1994) is the most destructive and
> unsustainable of all of the agricultural industries.
>
> Fleischner, T.L., 1994. Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western
> North America. Conservation Biol., v.8:629-644
>
> cc. SANET
>
>
> Bill Tucker's posting to SANET
> Dear Listers:
>
> Was connected with your list via a post on Graze-L recently. Having
> been subscribed and lurking for several days now, just wanted to
> summarize what I've learned.
>
> 1) The United States government is evil.
> 2) Fidel Castro is first and foremost a humanitarian.
> 3) World petroleum reserves will be depleted very soon.
> 4) World destruction (via global warming, rampant consumption, etc.)
> is imminent.
> 5) Persons working for ag companies (Monsanto) can be neatly
> compartmentalized into one of two categories--evil or having "sold
> out" their values.
>
> Review of your posts has stirred vague and unsettling memories. I
> recall as a child, a country boy from Mississippi, being scared
> breathless by reports that world petroleum reserves would be
> exhausted "momentarily" ("What will we do?", I thought). Now,
> many, many years later, I hear the same reports (although I
> understand that, this time, it's really, really, really true).
>
> The overall tone of your list strikes me as that of a group of people
> who are extremely dissatisfied with their environment, their country,
> other humans, and their "lot in life". I sincerely wish for each of
> you peace in resolving these conflicts.
>
> As an affirmed "evil scientist", my next post shall be to unsubscribe
> from this list. However, feel free to flail away at me directly via
> my e-mail address. Again, peace.
>
>
>