Permaculture Now!
November 8, 2008 - 9:01am
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Permaculture presents a set of multiple solutions to replace the complex of interrelated problems the world faces today.
Just google it and read...
Go the extra step and actually try it sometime. That'll give you a better idea than a google search.
Beware fad food systems.
It's a fad? Why would you say that?
quote:Originally posted by Farmpunk:
Go the extra step and actually try it sometime. That'll give you a better idea than a google search.Beware fad food systems.
Fad food system = genetically modified food.
Permaculture is more than just a food system. Much, much more. And yeah, I'm doing more than a google search, my point in the opening post was that it is not hard to start learning about what permaculture is all about.
Certainly reading and research is important. But the gap between what's possible and what is not is in the application.
We can't even manage to reward farmers who attempt to grow field to plate "conventional" food. So now we're going to leap from no basic food delivery system to organic\biodynamic\permaculture systems because it makes us feel warm and cozy.
No slam intended. But the gap between book-web knowlege of agriculture and the reality is wide and growing rapidly as the number of farmers shrinks due to an aging farmer population and a lack of replacements in the ag community.
This is why people can be paid to write articles about permaculture, do studies on organic farming for the government, and work in whatever facet of food production they choose... but few ever grow a crop, or a series of crops, to learn what is really one of the most complex trades in North American business culture.
The progressive movement's emphasis on sustainable agriculture is a good first step. But... get the fuck out on the land and see if reality intrudes on your permaculture. Don't tell me and my fellow farmers what we should be doing. Most of us are just trying to get by at this point. And some of us have already given up the fight.
Yesterday in a meeting of progressives it was clear that a number of environmental groups were consulted on some specific environmental policies. Despite the fact that food issues were touched upon not one farm organization was consulted. When I pointed out how gobsmacking foolish that was I was told several times in essence that farmers have no interest in environmental policies and their impacts.
I agreee farmpunk. Get the hell out on the land, or maybe, just maybe, oh I don't know, talk to real farmers who are trying to make a living growing food for others. And for once, try listening to farmers, rather than telling them what they should think and be doing.
[ 09 November 2008: Message edited by: Bookish Agrarian ]
quote:Originally posted by Bookish Agrarian:
[QB]Yesterday in a meeting of progressives it was clear that a number of environmental groups were consulted on some specific environmental policies. Despite the fact that food issues were touched upon not one farm organization was consulted. When I pointed out how gobsmacking foolish that was I was told several times in essence that farmers have no interest in environmental policies and their impacts.
What the hell? That really doesn't make any sense to me. Serious disconnect here.
None the less that was what I was told by the person who presented it in the hall later in the day.
Thank you for the post above. I read it with a great deal of interest and head nods.
EQ, that was a thoughtful reply, thanks.
Again, I think I've come out swinging for the fences off the bat instead of going "reasonable."
I think permacultures and biodynamics are great systems, and with sufficient skills in the right climates, they can work on larger scales. Here I'm leaning on Micheal Pollan, who writes about Joel Salatin Omnivor's Dilemma. I then bought one of Salatin's books and did some reading up.
I ended up raising chickens using Salatin's pastured poultry model, with some success, I might add. I started that after reading Ominivor's Dilemma Those were the first chickens I'd raised since I was 14.
You're correct to mention that some farmers are often stubborn and not really that knowlegeable about plant\soil biology. I suspect a goodly percentage of farmers know more about fixing machinery than they do soil structure. I'd count myself in that group.
But I do know that you need to put back into the ground what you take out of it. That fact escapes a great deal of consumers.
I just had to include this selection from (I know, I know, Spector will frown at my weak link) Wikipedia on permacultures.
Permaculture principles draw heavily on the practical application of ecological theory to analyze the characteristics and potential relationships between design elements. Each element of a design is carefully analyzed in terms of its needs, outputs, and properties. For example a chicken needs water, moderated microclimate, food and other chickens, and produces meat, eggs, feathers and manure and can help break the soil. Design elements are then assembled in relation to one another so that the products of one element feed the needs of adjacent elements. Synergy between design elements is achieved while minimizing waste and the demand for human labour or energy. Exemplary permaculture designs evolve over time, and can become extremely complex mosaics of conventional and inventive cultural systems that produce a high density of food and materials with minimal input. While techniques and cultural systems are freely borrowed from organic agriculture, sustainable forestry, horticulture, agroforestry, and the land management systems of indigenous peoples, permaculture's fundamental contribution to the field of ecological design is the development of a concise set of broadly applicable organizing principles that can be transferred through a brief intensive training.
Indeed, very easy to learn.