Editor:

It is unfortunate that the board of directors of Sustainable Settings has chosen to abandon their laudable mission in the Crystal River Valley. True enough, the educational farm can be moved and reconstructed in some other location, but it is in our community that we need local agricultural production.

The greatest contribution that Sustainable Settings was making to the public under their non-profit charter was to ensure that 220 acres of fertile, water-rich land would remain available for growing food for local consumption. The vast majority of local agricultural land is now used to produce cattle, which are sold as a cash crop outside the valley.

There is little doubt that $11-$12 million will go a long way towards creating another “sustainable” and even more substantial spread. There is also little doubt that wherever this enterprise next surfaces, there will be difficulties and hurdles to overcome. Garfield County, for example, is huge. The distance to market and the complexion of the market might become a problem factor, as with visitors, as well. The land-use regulations for “special use permits” could be just as rigorous. And water — ah, yes, water — well, it gets spread a lot farther downvalley.

Perhaps refocusing energy into producing food on the Crystal River would reinvigorate the Sustainable Settings cause. How about rotating some irrigated land through a traditional nitrogen-fixing cycle, harvesting, on the way, some grains such as wheat, barley, rye, or oats that can be eaten by humans or ground for organic poultry, hog, and sheep feed?

How about hand milking two or three cows and making a bit of cheese, using the whey and other by-products to feed hogs and poultry? How about cooperating with local ranchers to get a better slaughter facility and refined market distribution to ensure that the meat in our local stores is locally grown and processed?

How about planting five to 10 acres of potatoes, a traditional field crop here? How about doing some good old farming, then worrying about whether other people who can’t even own land do it right? How about taking the largest single piece of excellent farmland in the valley dedicated to local food production and producing local food, rather than look a gift horse in the mouth?

If Sustainable Settings can’t do it, how about leasing the land to some young farmers with a stewardship plan, and let them struggle to produce food for the local community?

Jock Jacober
Carbondale