I received the following information and though it would be a good opportunity for some of you young farmers and experienced horticulturalist with an interest in sustainable agriculture. 

Peace Corps Seeks Specialists in Sustainable Agriculture

Your Skills, Our Jobs

Sustainable Agriculture is a foundation for stable rural economies throughout world. Small farmers in these communities are struggling to adapt their traditional farming techniques in the face of a rapidly changing climate and increasingly unstable agricultural markets. As industrial agriculture expands globally, less attention has focused on the importance of small-scale producers in maintaining local food supplies. As a result, global food supplies are at historic lows. How are we going to feed the world’s growing population in the next century? Many policy-makers are beginning to question if capital-intensive farming practices are really the answer, or if these new technologies could pose new threats to the environment. Others worry that an over-reliance on industrial farming practices will limit the long-term sustainability and profitability of small-scale farmers. The Peace Corps has been called upon to help small-scale producers to develop more sustainable farming strategies and the agency is currently in need of experienced Americans to serve as technical agricultural specialists in countries that need their specific skills in sustainable and organic agriculture.

While serving two years abroad as an agricultural volunteer might seem like an unusual opportunity for many--nothing compares to the challenges and rewards of Peace Corps service. As valuable as your farming skills are at home, they can literally change lives when put to use as a Peace Corps volunteer.

What do Agriculture volunteers do?

Peace Corps volunteers serve overseas for 27 months and return to the United States as global citizens. They forge strong relationships in the communities that they live and serve in and empower farmers to engage in modern and sustainable practices that will improve the quality of life for their families and communities.

Peace Corps agriculture volunteers work closely with farmers to introduce effective organic and sustainable techniques and develop small business projects to increase market opportunities. From implementing soil conservation techniques such as composting, green manures, and contour planting, to promoting agroforestry techniques such as integrating timber and fruit trees on farms; Peace Corps volunteers make positive changes on the ground level by conducting field trials to increase crop production, teaching bio-intensive gardening techniques, promoting small animal husbandry, helping establish community banks, and working with farmers’ groups and cooperatives to improve organizational and business practices. Volunteers have a great deal of flexibility in their assignments to allow them to respond the needs of the local community. In Peace Corps, the needs of the local community come first.

The Benefits of Service

In addition to being offered a life-defining leadership experience abroad, there are considerable tangible benefits from Peace Corps service. Peace Corps provides a stipend to cover daily living expenses, travel to and from post, and a bonus of over $7400 for those who complete a 27-month tour. Volunteers receive full medical and dental coverage while serving; can take advantage of Peace Corps career services; and may qualify for graduate school opportunities, advantages in federal employment, and student loan deferment and cancellation.

The world is getting smaller and we are realizing that global problems demand local solutions. Peace Corps is one way to be part of the solution to the challenges facing our world. In the job market, employers value the very skills that make for a successful volunteer. Learning a new language and exposure to new cultures allow volunteers to return home as global citizens. Without question, this agricultural experience is highly valued by numerous organizations including the U.S. Forest Service, USAID, the National Park Service, USDA Extension Service, the U.S. Food and Nutrition Service, and many private corporations and public organizations seeking employees with sustainable farming skills and international experience.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities in agricultural science, protected area management, forestry, farm management and agribusiness, contact Frank Higdon at fhigdon@peacecorps.gov or visit www.peacecorps.gov.

Although monoculture (the practice of raising a single cash crop on extensive acreage) is a common business model in agriculture, it's a very bad idea. The Irish found this out the hard way back in the 1840s and again thirty years later – and if you know anything about your history, you know the how and why of it.

On the other hand, diversification of crops not only protects a community from famine is one crop should fail, it could actually be quite profitable. In fact, in a recent paper published by University of Iowa economics professor David Swenson, expanding production on farms in the Upper Midwest (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa) to include 28 different varieties of fruits and vegetables, it could turn locally-based agriculture into a (get this) three billion dollar a year industry – and have many other benefits as well.

The paper, which came out in 2010, is entitled "Selected Measures of the Economic Values of Increased Fruit and Vegetable Production and Consumption in the Upper Midwest." You can download and read the paper here.

In light of statements made by the prophets of doom that we are all heading into Malthusian catastrophe in which population is going to outstrip food supplies and we're all going to starve to death, a number of things struck me about Professor Swenson's work. First of all was his statement that under his model, produce for ten thousand people can be produced on under 100 acres of land. An area the size of one Iowa county (a little over 270,000 acres) could meet the needs of the entire population of the six-state region. But that's not the best part.

According to Swenson's research (remember, this guy is an economist), that produce would generate over $880 million in direct sales – and this figure would more than triple by the time it reached retail outlets. We're talking $3 billion a year, folks. But here's the best part: such a project would create more than 9600 new jobs in agriculture paying almost $27,000 a year.

By the way, this doesn't include the contributions that could be made by backyard gardeners and small family farms.

What produce are we talking about?  Apricots, raspberries, tomatoes, strawberries, pears, watermelon and cantaloupe for starters. As far as vegetables go, there's nutrient-rich greens including mustard greens, collards, kale and spinach; root vegetables like sweet potatoes and  carrots; garlic and eggplant, squash, cucumbers and more.

Unfortunately, at the moment a lot of land in that region has been given over to only three crops: maize, potatoes and wheat. Michigan is turning out to be the exception, however, and is already emerging as a major force in this new type of diversified agriculture. This could be the start of a new lease on life for this economically devastated state (you may remember awhile back I posted some info on a proposal to turn Detroit into the world's biggest urban farm).

So...what will it take for the other five states in the region to follow Michigan's lead? With the influence in D.C. of big corporations like Monsanto and ADR and their endless quest to control the world's food supply, I would not expect any help from our bought-and-paid for federal government. However, at the state and community levels, there may be some real hope – perhaps starting with some property tax reforms and incentives.

Time to start organizing.

You remember last week I was talking about how farmers and home gardeners can contribute to solving our global climate change problem. A quick review: as part of the process of photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and store it in their roots and in the soil and release oxygen into the air. Simple stuff – Biology 101.

The other problem is excess nitrogen however, which is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2. As I mentioned, folks who grow stuff use an awful lot of these nitrogen-based fertilizers, and plants and the soil can only absorb so much of it.

Obviously, one solution is to cut back on the use of nitrogen- and fossil-fuel based fertilizers and pesticides. But what are the alternatives?

There are other ways to build the soil (yes, Mother Nature does need a helping hand here from time to time). A lot of farmers in the Midwest are already doing it by planting winter cover crops. It's not a good idea to leave the soil uncovered during the off-season; idle soil is going to be releasing excess greenhouse gases. Put it to work by planting grains and legumes – or if nothing else, clover and alfalfa. This will help in preventing loss of soil from wind and water erosion; a side benefit is that it discourages noxious weeds. The best part however is that legumes convert nitrogen from the air and turn this into an all-natural fertilizer. Then, when you plow it under in the spring, it's taking carbon and putting that back into the soil, helping to sequester it down there.

Of course, you know about the benefits of planting trees. Agroforestry will possibly be the "next big thing" in agriculture, and is already being practiced in parts of Africa. But lets talk about the leftover food and yard waste you may be tossing out. When this stuff goes into a landfill with the other garbage, it gives off methane, which is another heat-trapping gas that's worse than CO2. However, when you dump this into a compost bin, it reduces methane production while storing CO2 – and eventually, you wind up with a fertilizer that is better than anything you could buy commercially. (Be advised that you can't just toss stuff in a pile and expect it to turn into compost – it takes time and there is a knack to it, which I'll discuss in a future post. But don't worry – it's not complicated.)

For you home and landscape gardeners, let's talk regional climate. Personally, I hate lawns. They're something we brought with us from England (a fairly rainy country) where aristocrats with bad manors (pun intended) used them to decorate the grounds. If you live in Portland Oregon or Seattle where it rains all the time, that's one thing – but if you live in Las Vegas or Phoenix, you really have no business growing a lawn. There are however a lot of attractive, drought-tolerant native species in the Southwest you can use to pretty up your home. If you must grow a lawn however, water at night, let it grow long, and when you do trim it, leave the clippings. They'll fertilize the soil and help pull in CO2.

And while you're at it, get rid of those gas-powered mowers. It's appalling how polluting those things are. Get an electric, or use a good old-fashioned hand mower – it's great exercise.

You've probably noticed that I don't talk so much about "Global Warming" as I do "Global Climate Change." "Warming" is a real misnomer; while some areas are indeed getting hot (like Georgia and Australia, which has been experiencing what some say is a permanent drought), other places are getting colder and wetter (just ask anyone in the Pacific Northwest, where they've only had about four days of sunshine for the past month).

However, it's becoming clearer that climates around the world are changing – and whether this is a good thing or a bad thing (generally it's the latter, since messing with nature rarely turns out well), it's pretty obvious that we humans and our activities are causing it. Specifically, it's the use of fossil fuels and the release of excess carbon into the atmosphere.

If you are a science fiction fan, you're probably familiar with the theme of time travel, and how it's usually a bad idea to bring something out of the past into the present (as in Jurassic Park). When we pull petroleum and coal out of the ground however, this is what we in essence are doing. Petroleum and coal is basically solar energy that was absorbed by plants living half a billion years ago and more. When these plants died and the geography of the planet changed, this vegetable matter went into the ground, where it was subjected to immense geologic pressures. As you know, plants absorb and trap carbon dioxide. When fossil fuels are burned, it releases this ancient CO2 back into the atmosphere – adding to what's already there in the here and now.

If you want to know what the end of this process could look like, take a peek at the planet Venus. (The average surface temperature on Venus is around 800 degrees.)

One of the ways to head of this disaster is by carbon "sequestration" – storing excess carbon in the soil. And that's where new and more environmentally-friendly farming and gardening practices come in.

You know that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. What you may not realize is this is how a plant feeds itself. You and I eat carbohydrates in the form of grains, root vegetables and so forth – which turns into sugar in our bodies. A plant has to make this on its own, however, by combining atmospheric carbon gases with hydrogen. In the process, a lot of this carbon gets stored in the roots, stem and even the soil, were microorganisms such as bacteria use it for the same purposes.

Carbon is not the only culprit, by the way; nitrogen (which is actually the most common gas in Earth's atmosphere) is also a heat-trapping gas. Unfortunately, home gardeners and a lot of farmers overdo it when using nitrogen-based fertilizers. Plants can only use a certain amount of it and the soil can only hold so much. The rest of it goes right back up into the air.

Next week, we'll talk about some practical solutions.