Whether from this course or from other experiences in our lives, we have all developed biases about how sustainable living should be done, particularly in the Adirondacks. We have spent a considerable portion of our class time talking about the negative effects of generally unsustainable things such as large factory farming, logging, and mining. We have begun to look at both the positive and negative effects of these things on society and the environment, but I would argue that many of our biases, mine included, are too concrete and all-encompassing. We often yearn for the romanticized side of sustainable farming, imagining a place where each cow is milked by hand, and the animals have seemingly infinite pastures in which to roam and graze. On the other hand, the more crowded, technological farms are spurned and criticized. It is hard to find an in-between. The same is true of logging, I think. Even if trees are being replanted and the forest is regrowing consistently, logging itself still carries a very heavy, negative connotation.
Asgaard Farm was the best example of an "in-between" that I have seen in a while. Though the pastures did seem to go on forever, backed by beautiful mountain landscapes, the farmers who we toured with seemed to have a clear idea of the importance of a sustainable income as well as a sustainable practice. After the hand-milking process became too tedious and time consuming, Rhonda and David switched over to a more modern, technological, yet still small and hands-on system. They keep ten or more kids at a time in a small (ish) pen so as to save space and keep order. In essence, they sacrificed some of their more traditionally sustainable practices for more efficient ones, while still maintaining their ideals.
It was also interesting, and probably beneficial, to hear that these 'do-no-wrong' farmers were logging their property as well as cultivating goat dairy, beef, chickens, and a small garden. It seemed to be mostly small, well-organized, and sustainable logging activity, but it was still important for me to note that logging was used by these farmers as another form of income. This opened my eyes to view of logging I had essentially chosen to ignore in order to perpetuate my own biases about the horrors of larger scale logging operations.
The never-ending conflicts between man and wilderness, and sustainability and efficiency still continue, but it was comforting to see the beginnings of a somewhat successful balance.
I also found that the farm showed impressive balance between idealized sustainable farming and what is economically viable in today's industry. It's a balancing act, one that can't include too much of either extreme. The only concern I had about the type of farming exemplified by Asgaard Farm is that I am unsure as to how possible it is to start up without a substantial sum of money acquired in some other form. As we touched on a bit in class, the successful figures that we met last weekend were all from outside the Adirondacks and had a fair amount of money for whatever project they wanted to start in the mountains. Hopefully this is not the only recipe for success in the park.
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