I can’t say that have often been called “brassy” but I sure do prefer that to some other descriptions that I have seen lately like irreverent or disingenuous or in the case of my latest Research Proposal “denied”.

So I was pleased that Andrew Leonard of Salon used that lovely word in his July 16th post in regards to my proposal that the best way to ensure a safe food supply with the least amount of damage to the environment is to integrate genetic engineering with organic farming.

Here is the good part:

… Ronald was even brassy enough to cite “Silent Spring’s” Rachel Carson as a potential muse for those who aim to merge the latest biotechnology with sustainable agriculture.

After all, in 1962 she said:

“A truly extraordinary variety of alternatives to the chemical control of insects is available. Some are already in use and have achieved brilliant success. Others are in the stage of laboratory testing. Still others are little more than ideas in the minds of imaginative scientists, waiting for the opportunity to put them to the test. All have this in common: they are biological solutions, based on understanding of the living organisms they seek to control, and of the whole fabric of life to which these organisms belong. Specialists representing various areas of the vast field of biology are contributing — entomologists, pathologists, geneticists, physiologists, biochemists, ecologists — all pouring their knowledge and their creative inspirations into the formation of a new science of biotic controls.”

….But the quote that really seemed to sum up an approach to farming (and just about everything else) that this blog can get behind also came from Ronald, quoting a farmer friend of hers:

As Mike Madison, a fellow farmer, neighbor and writer says, “In dealing with nature, to be authoritarian is almost always a mistake. In the long run, things work out better if the farmer learns to tolerate complexity and ambiguity… Having the right tools helps.”

Leonard indicates that our books have joined his “endless queue”. Does that mean he will buy them but not read them- or worse yet, just jot the names down on a long list?