Air Date: Week of May 29, 1998

Missives in response to recent stories on forestry, organic standards, and the Colombian village of Gaviotas.

Transcript

CURWOOD: And now it's time to hear from you, our listeners.

[Music up and under]

CURWOOD: Stu Cohen, of Woodbridge, New Jersey hears us on WNYC in New York City. He was interested in our story on a sustainable forestry project in Costa Rica called "Tuva," which only harvests fallen timber. Mr. Cohen says that method is an improvement over traditional practices, but he writes, "I'm afraid that the project scientists will eventually learn that the resources provided by fallen trees are needed exactly where they fell, by the forest itself. The forest simply can't participate in compromises. It needs what it needs."

In response to our story on the USDA's proposed organic food standards, we got a call from WMPN listener, Kendall Brown, of Jackson, Mississippi. He took us to task for only focusing on the big three issues of irradiated food, genetically engineered seeds, and the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. "There were 60 different pieces of that regulation that are challenged, by Organic Watch, and by National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, and only 3 items were mentioned in your report."

And finally, Montrealer Louise Fabiani, who hears us on Vermont Public Radio, had this to say about our documentary about Gaviotas, the sustainable community in Colombia. "I had just been reading an article on the mining disaster in Spain," she wrote, "shortly after, Living on Earth played another installment of its water series. I suddenly felt so full of despair. But luckily, I walked back to the radio just in time to catch your piece on Gaviotas, and it gave me hope again. Hearing about the inventive ways they harness energy, grow crops, and reduce wastes, all in the spirit of egalitarianism, was truly uplifting."