Thursday, October 9, 2008

Green Jobs Now, 50 million new farmers needed

Last weekend I attended a Green Jobs Now Day of Action at the New Wave Cafe in New Bedford. The event was part of a larger nationwide event promoted by Green Jobs Now. Van Jones has recently published a book on the topic, "The Green Collar Economy". He'll be presenting at the upcoming Bioneers by the Bay Conference held the last weekend in October in New Bedford.

Recent economic turmoil makes me think about the importance of an economy based on tangible production of goods and investing in human capacity. Riane Eisler discusses much of this at length in her book "The Real Wealth of Nations" and Thomas Friedman has jumped on board with recent article promoting investments in the green economy and education. Perhaps valuing agriculture goods at parity, National Organization for Raw Materials (NORM) has some interesting points to consider, would be a good start for developing more opportunity for new farmers. Richard Heinberg has called for 50 million new farmers in a peak oil period.

Looking for information about farm apprenticeships for next growing season? Check out a list of links in word.doc file: Farming in 2009.

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