Precious land / LJWorld.com

Letters to the Editor

Precious land

July 1, 2007

To the editor:

It was recently reported that a private business park has been proposed for 900 acres of the Kaw Valley, which has some of the most fertile land in the state. This soil is perfect for growing a wide variety of vegetables including potatoes and sweet corn. In fact, until the 1970s, there were several truck farms with vegetable stands in North Lawrence.

As the price of transport soars due to higher energy costs, we will have to return to growing produce close to home. That's why it is essential that we conserve our precious Kaw Valley land for future generations.

Clark H. Coan,

Lawrence

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Richard Heckler 9 years, 12 months ago

Hear Hear...

Richard Heckler 9 years, 12 months ago

Rebuilding The Farm http://www.sustainusa.org/localorganic/RebuildFarm.html

Can Organic Farming Feed The World http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.html

Buy Fresh Buy Local Published on Sunday, June 3, 2001 in the Boulder Daily Camera The Organic-Industrial Complex What do the words 'organic food' mean, now that the movement has become a $7.7-billion business dominated by large corporations? by Michael Pollan http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0603-03.htm

Local Harvest http://www.localharvest.org/

Buy Local Buy Fresh Buy Organic http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc.cfm

Lawrence Area Organic Farming http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=Local+Organic+farming+in+Lawrence+Kansas&btnG=Search

Kookamooka 9 years, 12 months ago

Let them continue to contaminate the farmland industries site. I know it isn't pretty having a big, old, ugly, factory just as you enter our fair city, but land is land.

peppermint 9 years, 12 months ago

Plant a belt of tall evergreen trees in front of Farmland and leave it to private business to deal with.

Don't pave over the Kaw Valley. That seems a terrible waste of precious good farm ground.

Jamesaust 9 years, 12 months ago

"This soil is perfect for growing a wide variety of vegetables including potatoes and sweet corn."

That's why we grow subsidized mass commodity crops on it: corn, wheat, soybeans.

Sorry, brother but you can grow potatoes and sweet corn almost anywhere in Kansas. But you can't put a business park just anywhere in Kansas.

Jamesaust 9 years, 12 months ago

That's why we grow subsidized mass commodity crops on it: corn, wheat, soybeans.
Max: "Do you care to qualify that statement?"

Only if anyone understood your point. Don't you think I know exactly what crops are subsidized? (Hint: not potatoes - or apples, or spinach, or peaches, or beets, or anything else that might be healthy for human consumption.)

Pine Family Farms - #1 largest subsidy recipient http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=010521876 USDA subsidies -- $1,033,910 Commodity subsidies -- $946,167 Top 3 commodities subsidized: 1. Corn - $672,225 2. Soybeans - $212,723 3. Wheat - $42,509

Great! We were just about to run out of corn! May God be praised that our wise government has taken these steps to preserve our fragile corn supplies.

Anyway .. gotta get to bed so I can get up and earn more money to subsidize Mr. Pine and our other welfare recipients (and of course our "precious" farmland).

nettieb 9 years, 12 months ago

How many people could live on that land that Pine is getting ready to annex? How many houses and business buildings?

What does it matter? No one can afford to buy decent housing in Lawrence anymore anyway.

And I absolutely agree with growing the agricultural aspect of that area, but I don't see anyone jumping to do it. Is the writer suggesting someone else come up with that idea?

Seems to me that all the bitching about all of this is merely armchair supervision. You tell other people what to and not to do with land they are willing to purchase and develop because it fits your agenda, but are you willing to buy it and start farming it yourselves?

nettieb 9 years, 12 months ago

^^^^EXACTLY!!!!^^^^^

pelliott 9 years, 12 months ago

It is almost insane that people think that there is nothing wrong with using some of the best topsoil in the world for industry rather than utilizing available empty industrial sites. Yes one can hit ones hand with a hammer, people have that right, and no i can't afford to buy everyones hammer to keep them from hitting themselfs, notrwould I want to. If I hear that someone is watering a lawn during a time of drought I don't ask, hey can i pay their water bill.