Distributism. . .

. . .sustainable agriculture, rural life, the family farm, organic/whole foods and a host of other good things were discussed at the Terra Madre 2004 conference in Turin this year. Robert Waldrop's long but fascinating report appears in the archives of the Caelum & Terra mailing list. It can be found here.

"It is impossible to know what the farmer's real work is: whether it is to plow, sow, and mow, or whether, at the same time, it is to eat and drink fresh produce, have children and breathe freely, since all these things are closely connected and when he does one of them he completes another. Everything is labor, and nothing is labor, in the social sense of the term, it is his life." Jean Giono, Letter to Farmers on Poverty and Peace, 1938.

"In the long run, no nation is healthier than its children or more prosperous than its farmers." Harry Truman.