Mr BoShambles
jambiguous
We are witnessing an exponential growth in the human population globally and at the same time a steady reduction in the availability and quality of productive land.
The so-called 'Green Revolution' is an unsustainable disaster. Large-scale agriculture today is built on mono-cropping which relies almost entirely on industrial machinery and petrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) in order to function. This amounts to a dependency on cheap oil. The energy inputs necessary to maintain this system are massive, and increase over time as the soil degrades and thus more chemicals are required simply to maintain productive capacity. Forests are cleared to provide more space for mono-cropping and water systems are disrupted by mammoth irrigation projects.
Ultimately this is a fight against the principles of nature. Natural systems are chaotic; dynamic yet stable; ever more diverse; highly productive. When we try to control nature and bend these principles to create order and "efficiency", we often end up inducing instability, loss of diversity and a fall in productive output over time.
And peak oil is inevitable: the question is not if but when. This will surely signal the decline of modern agriculture as we know it today. But it's not just systems of food production that will be affected of course since modern industrial / post-industrial society depends on oil and its derivatives for just about everything: electricity, heating, transport...
It strikes me that rather than looking for macro-level changes, instead we need to build from the micro level up. I believe that permaculture - as a system of integrated design and social organisation - points the way to many sustainable solutions.
Watch this excellent documentary featuring Bill Mollison - one of the founding fathers of permaculture - to get a good overview.
And this film charts the huge successes in Cuba when permaculture principles were adopted to deal with the oil crisis which arose post the Soviet collapse.
This transcript of a radio documentary about a (genuinely) sustainable community development in the desert of Colombia is very inspiring! More info available here and here.
What do people think? Anyone got any personal experience with permaculture?
The so-called 'Green Revolution' is an unsustainable disaster. Large-scale agriculture today is built on mono-cropping which relies almost entirely on industrial machinery and petrochemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) in order to function. This amounts to a dependency on cheap oil. The energy inputs necessary to maintain this system are massive, and increase over time as the soil degrades and thus more chemicals are required simply to maintain productive capacity. Forests are cleared to provide more space for mono-cropping and water systems are disrupted by mammoth irrigation projects.
Ultimately this is a fight against the principles of nature. Natural systems are chaotic; dynamic yet stable; ever more diverse; highly productive. When we try to control nature and bend these principles to create order and "efficiency", we often end up inducing instability, loss of diversity and a fall in productive output over time.
And peak oil is inevitable: the question is not if but when. This will surely signal the decline of modern agriculture as we know it today. But it's not just systems of food production that will be affected of course since modern industrial / post-industrial society depends on oil and its derivatives for just about everything: electricity, heating, transport...
It strikes me that rather than looking for macro-level changes, instead we need to build from the micro level up. I believe that permaculture - as a system of integrated design and social organisation - points the way to many sustainable solutions.
Watch this excellent documentary featuring Bill Mollison - one of the founding fathers of permaculture - to get a good overview.
And this film charts the huge successes in Cuba when permaculture principles were adopted to deal with the oil crisis which arose post the Soviet collapse.
This transcript of a radio documentary about a (genuinely) sustainable community development in the desert of Colombia is very inspiring! More info available here and here.
What do people think? Anyone got any personal experience with permaculture?