Graveyard in Kabul – photo by Martien van Asseldonk

by PATRICIA McARDLE
New York Times

Many urban Americans idealize “green living” and “slow food.” But few realize that one of the most promising models for sustainable living is not to be found on organic farms in the United States, but in Afghanistan. A majority of its 30 million citizens still grow and process most of the food they consume. They are the ultimate locavores.

During the 12 months I spent as a State Department political adviser in northern Afghanistan, I was dismayed to see that instead of building on Afghanistan’s traditional, labor-intensive agricultural and construction practices, the United States is using many of its aid dollars to transform this fragile agrarian society into a consumer-oriented, mechanized, fossil-fuel-based economy.

Read the Full Article Here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/opinion/20mcardle.html

Related Stories:

The collapse of native Iraqi agriculture, and the prosper of US Biotech and GMOs in Iraq

The Real Cause of Revolution in the Middle East? Food Subsidies can no longer Provide Cheap Bread