Sustainable Agriculture
Investing in a Healthy Future

Comments from our editors. One of the problems with online articles, is that anyone can write anything and present their material as “factual.” And those reading it, if they have similar views, will take it as gospel, while most others ignore it completely. Unlike writing papers for high school or college classes, where there is higher authority who will verify that your topic has been researched and is well written, stories posted online often have no content verification and tend to be overwritten: to long, too repetitive, too opinonated, or too hard to understand.

As publishers, we get a lot of these submissions. Frankly, we ignore most of them, since trying to weed through them to find the “good stuff” is like trying to wade through wet clay. Once in a while, though, it’s worth it, and we find a gem. The choice then is to edit or even rewrite. If that proves too difficult, but the information is too valuable not to share, we may write a companion piece that will substantiate the original submission.

The article “Our Collapsing Food System” by Jessie James is one of those. We checked the author’s unsubstantiated “facts” and found he was spot on. Trying to “rewrite” his piece to resource it would destroy it. We published it exactly as he submitted it (adding a few references for him). To back it up, we present a heavily referenced and footnoted companion piece, “Our Food System is Failing Us.”

Mr. James makes some excellent points. His article is an eye opener. Regardless of your views on Big Ag and Genetic Modification, you need to read it. And having done so, you need to take steps to protect yourself and your family.

Quinoa – an ornamental, nutritious plant well suited to our altitude and climate. A great grain with great potential for southwest Colorado. Jane Bennett photo.

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