Farmland

In this film, young farmers invite you into their work of farming - it appears to be both a labor of love and in some cases factory farming.  However, over the years as a tiny farmer, I know the amount of work that goes into farming on any scale.  The need for large scale farming has resulted from the increasing population at the same time consumption of animals and poultry.  Many American homes consume beef and chicken and pork daily.  A typical diet is coldcuts for lunch, and chicken or steak for dinner.

When the demands for these products are not met in this country they are imported from China.  The lack of water in some regions of this country is frightening for the future of food production overall.

As a vegetarian, none of my diet requires the killing of an animal.  However, vegetable production is still a huge demand on natural resources.

As a vegetarian, I eat eggs.  The eggs I consume are from tiny farms that let the chickens live beyond the normal chopping block of most farms.  Most farms allow birds just months to live - which increases the profit margin because inputs, namely feed and labor, are so costly.  Also, they produce a more tender bird.  For years we cared for are own small flock of chickens - some of them lived 7 plus years!

As a vegetarian, I also consume dairy products - milk for my coffee and cheese on occasion.  Having milked goats, here again I see the birthing, and the milking, and the making of cheese - because I and the doe are making it happen.  However, I did not like the doe having to give birth each year.  I saw the amount of milk it takes to make a small amount of cheese.  And again, not by us, but the dark side of dairy is that these animals - even after being used as birth mothers and milkers non stop - are given a short time to live before they too are sent to the slaughterhouse.

I cant reconcile any of this because I am such a mush.  I limit my consumption of these goods.  Everyone can choose to limit the consumption of animals and animal products.  In a world where the population is growing rapidly and is so large - resources are limited.

On this note, I did forego children to aid in population control (I receive fulfillment in caring for the many animals I 've rescued).  However ridiculous this may sound, choices we make individually - collectively have an impact.

For example, families can have a small number of children.  Some people have vegetarian Mondays.  Some people choose to  be vegan.  Every little change reverses the strain on our Natural Resources for future generations.

California...

California is Fracking
...fracking is a process which injects water, sand and chemicals deep into shale rock to unlock the oil and gas underground...oil and gas companies are 'Fracking' in areas of California that grow almond trees and other vegetable commodities...  New York is one of the few States that have a moratorium on Fracking.  All around us - Penn, Ohio, ET AL - allow fracking.  

In California, just as in New Jersey, their Coastal region runs the length of the State.  Like NJ, the amount of fertile prime agricultural vegetable production is threatened by human developments and now FRACKING.  Most of our produce in the U. S. comes from California.  Does it matter that more and more farmland and waterways are being exposed to toxic chemicals?

Ommegang Brewery

I have not commented on this issue

"Fracking, short for "hydraulic fracturing," is a process for extracting natural gas from shale rock by pumping millions of gallons of pressurized water, sand and proprietary chemicals down a well...linked to earthquakes, sick people and livestock, poisoned water. "

I read arguments on both sides of the issue and have not sided with one nor the other.  

My life is modeled in adoration and reverence for nature.  So let me say this:

I understand the need for national security as it involves energy, and the comfort it provides.  We have ways to reduce and innovate energy utilization from all sources - coal, wood, gas, oil electric.  Landowners  have rights - eminent domain surpasses those rights - our choices are  regulated to protect neighbor's rights ie. noise ordinances, zoning laws etc.   the common good prevails.  Until there are no NEGATIVE impacts to people near gas drilling - we should not do it.  
Many small farmers LIKE ME have their lives built into their farms.
Everything we do has impact.  What will our footprints leave for future generations?

Open Land & Open Seas

As a preservationist of open land and open seas, I have a great sense of personal stewardship- small farms like our own preserve what is rural in America. Taking lessons from animals in nature, seeking shelter in forests, caves, burrows under the earth, without destruction to the environment. People have set about to sprawl so rapidly from the first suburbs of the 1890's - people moved further apart - automobile and airplane traffic became heavier and heavier - industrialized became populated. Marine and land ecosystems have collapsed under the weight - as internal mechanisms malfunction, homeostasis is lost.

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, "The composition of the atmosphere and soil, the cycling of nutrients through waterways, and many other ecological assets are all the result of living processes—and all are maintained and replenished by living ecosystems... For example, where farmlands under irrigation become saline, crop yields are reduced; this in turn may affect human nutritional security, child growth and development, and susceptibility to infectious diseases."

A return to the inner cities - rejuvenating old neighborhoods - parks created. Studies indicate that the more people relate to nature, the more they are likely to foster awareness and mitigate destruction of the natural environment.

Children are happiest when they are flapping in water, running across fields, caring for animals...I've seen it time and again. I've seen it with adults. Nature is part of us, and we part of it. While monetary goods and services can be uplifting, Nature touches the deepest part of us, and lifts us toward the sun!