Of Priorities and Grocery Bags

When we were struggling dairy farmers, whose world was colored by need versus want, and loving cows and land, our priorities were different.

Boots for people were important but sometimes paying feed bills and having groceries was importanter. Thus when someone's otherwise still  functional rubber barn boot sprang an unplanned leak we took action for traction rather than running to the store for new ones. After all....all that rubber in landfills and all....Sometimes boots that were darned near brand new got leaky. Frustrating indeed.

However, a plastic grocery bag placed over warm socks....or a bread wrapper....bread wrappers work too, although they are kinda weak these days....rendered the boots functional long after the leak began. Sometimes all winter. Bags used in such a manner quickly wore out but we always had new ones to replace them.

Recycling. Farmers do it every day whether it is feeding the cows good stuff, then spreading the result out on the land to grow more good stuff for them, or composting household leavings...it is taken for granted on a farm. I am not saying all farmers put bags in their boots to save them, but I know there are a lot of people hoarding them right now because they use them again and again. 

We have two sacks full in the pantry, saved against various needs. When they run out I guess we will have to buy stuff for those purposes, which I suppose may be the end goal these days...spend, spend, spend. Or maybe bread wrappers will do those jobs until they outlaw those as well.

Meanwhile, I don't think our scattershot governor, spraying new laws willy-nilly and rewriting NY in ink that he calls "Bold", ever had to worry about which bill to pay first or how to get the kitty litter to the curb. Or wet feet either. I am sure if his boots spring a leak someone sees to new ones for him. 

Oh, well, we will adapt. That is something else that farmers do quite well.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to corn based plastics? I once had a wonderful pen made of corn and at the farm shows they gave out....you guess it....bags that were made out of corn plastic rather than petroleum based plastic. Said to be biodegradable and everything.