Plastic has invaded agriculture, plastic water pipes, plastic mulch, plastic tunnels, plastic coating on fertilizer for slow release. We need to dial it back, entire valleys are now covered with plastic completely limiting all life. We need to set property limits around 1% maximum ground covered with plastic.
Tunnels must be limited
Plastic mulch needs to be replaced real organic plant matter mulch
Drip irrigation piping is causing soil salinization issues so if it is used it must have 4 inches of organic mulch above the piping
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I think that one might fall into your local zoning I live in Alaska if we want to grow it grows under plastic otherwise it doesn’t this year my whole summer I mean my carrots got a quarter inch long because they were not in the high tunnel I’m surprised they got that long because it was well into August before we hit 60° so let’s you know I understand what you’re saying I truly do but one size fits all policies do not fit all and do a lot of harm.
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I understand you thinking State by State but the petrochemical companies have huge power. So in AK for example we have currently a few greenhouses and that’s really great. But imagine the entire Matanuska valley being covered in hoops like is happening in Italy and South Africa, and now beginning to occur in California. The farmers do not have the power to be protected from the petrochemical companies. Which look at the cost of the natural materials and undercut the prices. We all think this is great so all change how we farm. Then when we are hooked then they up their prices until the farmers are working for the oil companies.
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Now take a look at how many farms we actually have versus the amount of people that would need to be fed realize that the grocery stores only carry 3 days worth of groceries in this state and our shipping lines go down. Yes I would much rather see the Kenai Peninsula and the Matsu covered in high tunnels, then the moose population poached out, or the salmon runs any more decimated than they already are. I get you not wanting plastics and everything else in your in your food I really do, but instead of telling others to not eat because you don’t like their method of obtaining food maybe you should grow your own and you will have complete control of what is in your food.
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So is the advantage of tunnels that it stays warmer inside?
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So the question becomes plastic and micro beads in humans and fish and whales. With no wildlife or limited tunnels as in a small % of your property so that as you say you can grow your own food. I am saying restricted at federal level to prevent powerful corporations. AK hasn’t been invaded fully yet by the Corporations but it’s coming. Remember a caribou and moose feeds way more and more healthy food to a human in AK winter so does a salmon. There just isn’t enough energy in veggies to sustain life in minus 80. Trust me I was an artic warrior.
If you’re worried about plastics getting into the ocean and poisoning your fish and whales, you should be worried about the rivers of plastic trash in India dumping into the ocean, not the recycled plastic tunnels. I assume they recycle the plastic, at the least it’s disposed of in a landfill instead of left beside the road.
Actually it’s not always, big storms it washes out to sea. Also by law it becomes brittle in sunlight and breaks down, many cattle ranches surrounding veggie growers have their cattle eat the plastic that blows out the fields onto the ranches and the cattle die from eating it. It really is a problem, for farmers and ranchers but the lobby is too powerful.
So I highly doubt we’re going to see big factory farming coming to Alaska considering it is a little bit more difficult here, even if we were to fill the Kenai Peninsula and the mat Sue valley with high tunnels the plastic used and produced that would be turned into microplastics would still be less than 2 years worth of plastic packaging your food is in coming up by barge not to mention all the Petro chemicals that were used in the process of getting that food to your table and the extra ones because it had to travel so far. I say increase the amount of high tunnels in the state, and you and I both know that is not going to be an easy task considering most of our land is not farm friendly. Increase the high tunnels increase fruit production and for the love of God someone figure out how to domesticate moose, start a breeding program, observe their behaviors and if they act like a reincarnation of an angry chihuahua do not breed them.
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Yes and it’s significantly extends the growing season on both ends so at the start and at this end. It can extend our growing season in Alaska after 4 months but you know it’s colder up here, my ground was still frozen on June 6th a few years ago so yeah we kind of do need the extra heat and usually by the end of October we have a couple feet of snow on the ground but with a high tunnel you can you know start in April and May in the tunnel when they’re still 3 ft of snow on the ground and you can extend your growing season all the way through October and depending on the temperature November there may be snow on the ground but in the tunnel it can be 65
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Yes the Canadians are really good at marrying geothermal heat with homes and greenhouses very cheaply.