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  • From: "E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point
  • Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 05:53:00 -0500

Please provide further comments on this section of your reply:

"And for the Central Texas Jeavons model, 4,000 SF per head: Mollison always
mocked double digging and the like. To quote his (sometimes made-up)
statistics, one large tree has 17 acres of leaf area. Figure tree crops,
mixed horticulture, animals in the landscape, ponds, call it Permaculture if
you must, versus Jeavons-style gardens and vegetarianism (as religion), and
I'll bet the numbers come a lot closer to doable, even in Central Texas,
unless you can't stand the heat."

I've heard of Jaevons, but not read or heard of about "Central Texas Jeavons
model, 4,000 SF per head". What is "4000 SF per head"? And did he do
something specific regarding Central Texas? Thanks.


E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz
----- Original Message -----
From: Gene Monaco
To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2006 8:56 PM
Subject: [permaculture] Global Food Supply Near the Breaking Point


There are mounds in southern Ohio and other areas in the eastern woodlands
(as well as other places) that are evidence of prehistoric cultures creating
cities. Quinn postulates that they just walked away from them (back to the
woods) because life there basically sucked.
I have theorized that transportation was the limiting factor. It just cost
too much to transport the food from the bleeding edges to the cultural
centers, so they collapsed. Until oil. Yet, I think advances in
transportation technology will continue making it less of a problem; and
that locally produced organics (as was said) will continue to increase,
offsetting the costs of oil. I also think that the transportation thing is
far worse in every other area than just agriculture. EVERYTHING comes in on
trucks, and most of it in ships from Asia returning empty through the Panama
Canal. Locally produced stuff of all forms is in order. I saw a political
cartoon that showed tomatoes in the supermarket at $20 a pound grown and
picked by union-waged American workers (related to the immigration thing,
which is a joke--trying to stop migrant workers from flowing to the work is
like trying to stop the birds from flying south--yet we persist--450 miles
of new fence in the southwest).
$75/barrel oil, $3/gal gas were unthinkable 10 years ago. With tomatoes at
$20 per pound, folks will go back to the small farms, or if you prefer,
horticultural sites (we love you Toby).
And for the Central Texas Jeavons model, 4,000 SF per head: Mollison always
mocked double digging and the like. To quote his (sometimes made-up)
statistics, one large tree has 17 acres of leaf area. Figure tree crops,
mixed horticulture, animals in the landscape, ponds, call it Permaculture if
you must, versus Jeavons-style gardens and vegetarianism (as religion), and
I'll bet the numbers come a lot closer to doable, even in Central Texas,
unless you can't stand the heat.

-Gene Monaco
in East Tennessee





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