I live in a smallish region in North Carolina with a very high standard of living. Actually, I now live on the edge of that region. It got to expensive for me to live in the heart of it. Highly educated people. Good median income. Socially and politically progressive. Farmers Markets to die for. Raleigh and Greensboro have big NC Dept. of Agriculture daily farmer's markets where the big regional growers (by regional standards - not corporate farms) market their produce and meat products. Locally grown though not any huge amount of organic or other stuff produced by advertised "sustainable" methods. Many more local biweekly markets that are cooperative enterprises. Must produce your crops or animal products within a 50 mile radius of those markets in order to even apply for a space. Smaller growers, many if not most grow organically, grow delicious specialty crops, and the food is truly wonderful and these are good stewards of the earth, by and large.

The real small growers can no longer label their produce "organic" don't have the time or resources to deal with the very cumbersome bureaucracy and fees that now require products labeled organic to be certified such. But if they put "sustainable grown" or "pesticide free" signs up that is still legal, and you can always ask the farmer behind the table about his/her growing methods and farming practices and expect an honest answer. Turned out that certified organic thing had it's victims.

Lots of coops or Whole Foods markets that provide other retail outlets for truly locally grown and sustainably farmed food, harvested very shortly before marketed in these retail outlets. Also lots of good local restaurants that provide them with markets, as well as delicious menus that take advantage of very local produce available in season.

More CSA's than I can shake a stick at. Free range, antibiotic and hormone free and even organically fed chicken, eggs, lamb, beef, pork, goat, cheese of all kinds. And it all costs a pretty penny. Not overpriced and none of these producers are getting rich. But it is expensive to produce food in this manner. These markets are tightly clustered in a few geographically close towns and cities dropped in the middle of 3 otherwise poor and rural counties. That is what creates the market. The CNA's, receptionists in doctors offices, bank tellers, grounds keepers, housekeeping staff, greeters at Walmart, sales clerks in the expensive specialty shops, wait staff and cooks in those restaurants, and the pensioners living on social security alone because they never made enough money to put aside retirement savings, and probably most didn't work where there was a 401K plan offered, can not afford any of that. Folks with modest incomes and families to raise can't afford most of it. Even the people who live out in the country who struggle to makes ends meet don't have the time to tend a garden that is going to have a decent return on the labor and materials needed to produce enough food for it to make financial sense - even using cheapest and most chemical means. Do you know what chicken feed costs? Do you know what it costs to raise your own chicken feed? I mention chickens because they are probably the least expensive source of organic fertilizer and composted manure for a struggling family or old woman or couple.

My grand father was the oldest of 13 kids. His family farmed and the 13 kids were free labor. They were able to take care of themselves, not easy but doable, in the late 19th and early 20th century. Hard life. My grandmother, one of only 2 kids and a father that died of typhoid when she was 4, was mostly raised in a Masonic Home because there weren't enough kids to keep the farm going.

Sustainable practices in the first world are only sustainable for those prosperous enough to be able to sustain anyway. We either have the trust funds, or family safety net to know that if it all went to hell we had family we could rely on, to pay for it, or to do it ourselves. I realize I am generalizing. Also know of several people here on Mudcat who are doing it anyway, with commitment and without the safety net, and also know their lives in many ways are very hard and marginal. And they are doing it still, by choice. Not everyone can do that though, for many and varied personal and social reasons.

Community gardens are great. But community gardens do not last over time without committed volunteers who have other resources, grants, the education to write grants, donations, fundraisers, etc. And a community garden can not produce enough food to feed an entire neighborhood. Does mean it should not be done. But recognize the limitations.

Cost for full share in a seasonal CSA in my county range from $455 to $700. Payments can be made in installments, but the full payment must be made, for most of the CSA's before the season of delivery begins. In otherwords, most CSA's require the ability to fully prepay for the season before crops start coming in. Nothing unreasonable about that. But out of reach for low income households. In my area, many low income households heat with fuel oil or propane. The prepayment requirement, even in installments, is out of reach because during the months prior to the growing season, they are stretched, and beyond stretched, to buy heating fuel through the cold months.

With truly subsistence living, hard as it is, it is possible, if the gods, weather and health permits, to pay it forward. Sustainable practices, on a global scale, or even on a country/societal scale, require conditions and acceptance of subsistence living (another generalization. I know there are exceptions.) When one must work away from home one does not have the hours (from can't see to can't see) to devote to subsistence.

Realize this may seem like a ramble to many, if not most of you. Hope at least some of you get my not well articulated drift.