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permaculture - Re: Sustainability?

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Subject: permaculture

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "SEED PEACE" <seedpeace@hotmail.com>
  • To: permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Sustainability?
  • Date: Thu, 25 May 2000 13:20:47 PDT


using permaculture principles i.e. an ecologically sustainable productive
ecosystem. Ecological because consideration has been given to both the
biotic and abiotic components and their interelationship, sustainable
because of a reduction of external inputs and energy required to maintain
them and productive in that they provide for the needs of the inhabitants.

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples views on sustainability with
regards to permaculture.

Myk

Hello,
I also have tended to employ the term "ecologically sustainable." I do believe it makes sense to most people; however, it get's tricky when others with hidden intentions can use the same term for much different ends. I've come across a full-paged advertisement by Monsanto in the Los Angeles Times promoting genetic engineering as the only
"ecologically sustainable" solution. They have also coopted the term "socially responsible" in their description of g.e., because "there's no other way we're going to feed billions of people unless we engineer faster growing, more nutritious, pest-resistant, etc. rice, wheat, corn . . ." (paraphrased).
My conclusion: Permaculture teachers must cultivate diverse explanations & descriptions with multiple functional inter-relationships in order to create a resilient conceptual system that can not be wiped out by mono-meaning pestilence and concept-coopting predators. Thank goodness Permaculture is a copy-righted term, otherwise it could be going down the same route as "sustainable" and "organic" agriculture... All in all, I believe we should design our concepts in similar ways we would ideally design the land... then we would never depend on any one crop (term). If we ONLY use "sustainable" then we're as weak as mono-agriculture!
Diversify the mind...

Marco
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