[permaculture] 50 million farmers: big picture future of food

Robyn Williamson robinet at aapt.net.au
Sat Nov 18 20:52:19 EST 2006


FIFTY MILLION FARMERS
by Richard Heinberg
Published on 17 November 2006 by Energy Bulletin

This is the abbreviated text of a lecture by Richard Heinberg delivered 
to the E F Schumacher Society [US] in October 2006:

"There was a time not long ago when famine was an expected, if not 
accepted, part of life.  Until the 19th century ... food came almost 
entirely from local sources and harvests were variable.  In good years, 
there was plenty ... in bad years, starvation cut down the poorest and 
the weakest ... sometimes bad years followed one upon another, reducing 
the size of the population by several percent.  This was the normal 
condition of life in pre-industrial societies and it persisted for 
thousands of years."

" ... such a state of affairs is hard to imagine.  Food is so cheap and 
plentiful that obesity is a far more widespread concern than hunger ... 
an impressive array of exotic foods from across the globe [is available 
in supermarkets] ... even staples are typically trucked from hundreds 
of miles away ... even an hour's earnings at minimum wage will buy a 
meal or two."

We tend to assume that this abundance of inexpensive food will continue 
indefinitely, however Mr Heinberg goes on to explain his somewhat 
gloomy forecast in depth ... why "present and future generations may 
become acquainted with that old, formerly familiar but unwelcome 
houseguest - famine."

Read the whole article at:

http://www.energybulletin.net/22584.html

CONTACT DETAILS:

Robyn Williamson
Permaculture Design Consultant
Urban Horticulturist
Local Seed Network Coordinator
NORTH WESTERN SYDNEY COMMUNITY SEED SAVERS
mobile:  0409 151 435
ph/fx:  (612) 9629 3560
http://www.seedsavers.net
http://www.communityfoods.org.au
http://www.communitygarden.org.au
http://www.baulkhamhills.nsw.gov.au/Bidjiwong
http://www.permaculturesydneybasin.org.au

I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of
ignorance. *-Reuben Blades*



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