Concerning Agriculture and Resources.

Baha'u'llah had told us that among the classes of society are two occupations, we should put our greatest energies, that of the teacher and the farmer. Look how we treated the native peoples on first entering North America. This is a quote from the book 'Faith Physics And Psychology: Rethinking Society and the Human Spirit' by John Fitzgerald Medina.

'When John Locke published his most important writings in the late seventeenth century, most societies were still largely rural and agrarian. Thus the ownership and productive use of land were paramount goals. Indeed, Francois Quesnay, the influential head of the Physiocrats, the first group to call themselves economists, stated, "Land is the only source of wealth, and... agriculture increases wealth." Thus societies were judged largely by how well they could develop and utilize their agricultural resources. In light of this, an important question arises: Were the Indians of the Americas agriculturally inept and unable to make productive use of their lands as Locke and the colonists claimed? The answer is important, because this claim provided the rationale for the seizure of Indian lands.

'Contrary to the American colonists' misinformed judgments, much evidence now exists to show that the American Indians were, in fact, quite adept at cultivating a large variety of plants in a diversity of climates, soils, and environmental conditions. They utilized the Earth's resources wisely, gently, and reverently. Over thousands of years, Indian farmers learned how to use natural herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Furthermore, through trial and error they learned how to create new plant hybrids. As the cover of Weatherford's book Indian Givers describes, "some 60 percent of the foods eaten in the world today were first harvested by the Indians of the Americas."

'Over many generations, the Indians carefully selected, domesticated, and cultivated many vegetables, fruits, nuts, and berries. They also developed grains such as amaranth and quinoa, which modern nutritionists sometimes call "miracle grains" because of their high nutritional value compared to grains such as rice and wheat. Weatherford writes, "Few cooks or gourmets... recognize the... extent to which American Indian cuisine radically changed cooking and dining in every part of the globe from Timbuktu to Tibet. Sichuan beef with chilies, German chocolate cake, curried potatoes, vanilla ice cream, Hungarian goulash, peanut brittle, and pizza all owe their primary flavorings to the American Indians... The American Indians remain the developers of the world's largest array of nutritious foods and the primary contributors to the world's varjed cuisines." ...

'The perspectives of American Indians, Bahá'ís, and modern holistic advocates all emphasize the importance of conservation of the earths resources and protection of the environment. All three perspectives promote the idea that use of the land and its resources must be grounded in the belief that nature is sacred. The following verse from the Bahá'í writings, for example, is highly consistent with the American Indian view of the sacredness of the natural environment: "Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, the Creator."[41] According to the Bahá'í writings, in the future, agriculture will be returned to its rightful place as the most important sector of the economy. This stands in direct contradiction to the current Western model, which views agriculture as necessary but inferior to the industrial sector.'