D26-Lancaster Farming Saturday, November 18,1989
SLIPPERY ROCK (Butler
Co.) — There is still plenty of life
in the old family farm, and if a
scries of programs at Slippry Rock
University take root as expected,
new single-family farms, making
use of traditional organic farming
methods, may soon sprout across
the commonwealth and other
American farming states in a high
tech way.
The Pennsylvania Energy
Office is providing $55,000 to
allow the university’s ALTER
Project to grow, and the common
wealth’s general fund has recently
added another $5,000 in a special
one-time grant. As an adjunct to
harvesting the state funds, the uni
versity has raised another $25,000
to plow into the program to
strengthen and expand its viability
and visibility.
This seed money will fertilize
the slowly maturing campus prog
ram known as “ALTER” - Alter
native Living Technologies and
Energy Research - one of the
handful of such programs in the
country designed to make use of
high-tech technology in promot
ing traditional farming. Organic
gardening and organic farming are
the backhoe of the project which
skillfully blends high-tech data
and century-old information tow
ard a common goal; living off the
land naturally.
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Return To The Family Farm In
"It will give our program a
chance to see real growth,” says
Dr. Robert A. Macoskey, SRU
philosophy professor and long
time proponent, planner and
promoter of the ALTER program.
Macoskey, who is never at a loss
for words' in talking about the
program, was principally instru
mental ih its design nearly two
decades ago.
Slippery Rock University
became involved in the concept of
alternative farming methods, pri
marily through what is known as
"permaculturc,” when philoso
phers and agronomists saw the
need in the early 1970 s to cut
reliance on so-called petrochemi
cals - fertilizers, pesticides, fun
gicides, herbicides and weed con
trol chemicals made principally
from a refined crude oil.
Their plan was to avoid the
problems as were seen in 1988
with such farm products as apples,
which were (and in some cases
still are) under fire from both
environmentalists and consumers
in connection with the use of Alar,
DOUBLE WIDE WEAR
SHOE
a potential cancer-causing agent
used to treat the fruit.
ALTER supporters urge the use
of natural, organic methods of
agriculture. Natural chemicals -
lime, rock phosphates, etc.- can
be blended with the soil along
with natural fertilizers - animal
manure, compost and proper crop
rotation - to encourage and prom
ote natural growth.
In general, ALTER supporters
rely on “Mother Nature,” but are
willing to lend a hand to produce
maximum results. That extra hand
includes making use of high-tech
information such as computer data
and both hydro- and solar-power
technology wherever possible.
The farmhouse may have a com
puter room, but the power to run
the computer will come from the
sun or wind.
SRU is the only recognized uni
versity in the nation offering
credit-carrying course work in
“pcrmaculture design” in the regu
lar curriculum, and there are plans
on the drawing board that would
expand courses to a master of sci
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A High-Tech Way
ence in sustainable systems degree
program, explains Macoskey.
“The new funding may help make
that a reality,” he adds. Currently,
there are more than 700 qualified
permaculturists in the nation, says
the local group’s founder, leader,
financial drumbeater and guru.
“The program covers a multi
tude of sins,” he jokes, while
explaining how permaculture
attempts to make multiple use of
every facet of farming.
“We are really working to make
the small farm, the farm family,
dependent on itself. The organic
farm is designed to be petrochemi
cal free. There are lots of agricul
turists who believe the only way to
farm is by pouring on tons of
expensive, potentially air- and
water-polluting, petrochemicals.
We think, in fact, we know, there
is an alternative. And our system
is nearly free of pollution; and any
pollution it does generate is
natural.”
Macoskey, whose interests
often run to naturally-grown food,
prefers eating organically-grown
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foodstuffs Whenever possible and
sees a growing demand nation
wide for sich food items. Still, he
is not a purist in such areas. His
recent lunch at SRU’s University
Club includes whatever fare --
however grown is offered,
including a trip to the salad bar
and the buffet where pasta, ground
beef and vegetables abound
much of it grown with only lip ser
vice to “natural methods.”
The ALTER program is
designed to meet the growing
“natural” demand as part of its
overall goals. While practical in
reality, Macoskey is quick to point
out an all-naturally-grown diet is
currently a hard practice to follow
in all but the most extreme cases.
The bulk of the new funding
will go immediately toward
refurbishing and renovating a
75-year-old farmhouse, now
known as the Harmony Home
stead, that is part of the original
permaculture laboratory at Slip
pery Rock University.
The farm, located across from
(Turn to Page D2B)
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