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  • From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc: Jim <ashevillecurrencyproject@gmail.com>, Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>, "Heather C." <foodnotlawns@yahoo.com>, Peter Bane <pcactivist@mindspring.com>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Food Not Lawns book
  • Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:41:46 -0400

I clearly have more apologizing to do. I already did on the list and in person to Jim, but I'm not done yet.

Toby, and Heather,

The internet brings to crystalline clarity the concept of instant karma. Feedback is very instantaneous...my public venting very powerfully came back and kicked me in the ass. So now I'm kicking my own. The line forms here. (Humility, I'm finding, is something that requires learning and relearning.)

I truly wish for Heather's book to succeed and sell many copies if it gets people gardening. I'm disappointed, naturally, that permaculture got dismissed by her so publicly, but hopefully most readers will get to the meat of the book and actually replace their lawns with food. That would be a HUGE blessing to the planet. If mass numbers of people DON'T do this, we're in deep trouble. I've tried my best to do that in every place I've lived and it's what I want to see happen in my own neighborhood. That's why I'm undoing my own newly acquired lawn here in Bloomington.

As far as the certificate, I'm reminded that George W said of the Constitution of the US, that, "it's just fucking piece of paper", and so is the supremely less literate Permaculture certificate. Nevertheless that little piece of paper recognizes the sacrifice (to make sacred) of time, energy, and money that thousands of people have invested to immerse themselves in the remarkable experience that is the design course. It has deeply changed my own and many people's lives in profound ways. I don't think most of us who have taught it, or attended it, would argue with that (even though a very small number of my own students might have different opinions, I still bless them and wish them happiness and a good life.)

I'm certain that if I were to join Heather in the garden, we'd have a glorious time together despite our differences of opinion, because the things we agree upon FAR outweigh the things we disagree upon. I suspect, too, that we'd each be forgiving of the other and have a good time anyway since our motives, intention, and love correspond.

Heather's love and dedication to food abundance and healthy communities far outshine her attitude toward permaculture. (I'm reminded here of Akiva Werbalowsky who, in the war ravaged middle East and with missiles overhead, struggles to be heard on the listservs AND maintain his sense of humor while doing the best he can to regreen Israel.)

When it comes right down to it, Heather's book IS about permaculture, reflecting to no insignificant degree Toby's effectiveness and commitment as a teacher and mentor. For that I am profoundly grateful. May you both go on to inspire many, many more.

Let me personally and publicly offer praise and thanks to Heather for all the good work she has done. Treading on people's toes is the risk we all take when we step out and stand up for our principles. If one of my own students wrote her book, my pride would certainly overbalance my annoyance.

Please pardon me. Your blessings would be much appreciated.

I apologize, too, to the rest of the list for so casually, and uninformedly dissing someone who's intent is simply to serve (it takes one to know one). There are times when it's better to remain silent and to reserve one's comment and opinion. This was one of them.

Humbly,
Keith



Toby Hemenway wrote:
On 10/13/06 8:57 AM, "Keith Johnson" <keithdj@mindspring.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I'm getting a review copy, courtesy of Michael Weaver. I hope I don't
find the same thing as you, but have a nervousness that I might. Don't
quote me.

Ethics check! Mass-forwarding something when the author has said, "don't
quote me." And why? To bad-mouth someone. Keith, since you've gone public
with this, I'm forwarding my reply to Heather, too, since I'd hate for it to
be behind her back.
One thing I've learned about being an author is that by freezing your
thoughts in printed words, it makes you a target for everyone who has a
different opinion or experience, people who in a more conscious world would
take the effort to see beyond their own viewpoint.

Sure, I read the book. I didn't see the point in quibbling about 2
paragraphs I didn't like, since they were opinion rather than factual error.
She's got a lot of company in believing that the PDC is expensive and
exclusive, even if I don't share those beliefs. It's up to us to prove that
she's wrong. She supports her case in her own way by offering low-cost
classes, which is hard to argue with. I disagree with Heather's opinions
about permaculture relative to financial gain, and I know she's going to
take a lot of flack about them. She's from the anarchist community and I
think most of us understand that some anarchists have strong reactions to
charging money for things; that somehow it corrupts the things being charged
for. But she's got a right to her opinion. I think the rest of the book,
outside of those two paragraphs, is good.

And I do agree with her that the permaculture certificate, at least in the
US, is a fairly worthless piece of paper. What percentage of PDC grads have
actually used it to get a job or for other real benefit, compared to, say, a
bachelor's degree or even a massage license? No one has ever asked about
mine. When PDC grads claim it makes them a "certified permaculture
designer," they are mistaken. All it certifies is that you took a PDC. Read
the thing! Mollison and the Institute say it makes you a "permaculture
design trainee," not a designer, and that two years of further work are
needed. We've been incredibly negligent and not of service to our students
by failing to take the time to make the certificate worth something through
accreditation or creating a teaching body the way thousands of other
certifying organizations have. With no accreditation or functional
permaculture organizations behind the certificate (in the US), its only
value is to those who are blindly impressed with pieces of paper, or as
proof that you took your PDC, if your were lucky enough, from a well-known
teacher. And only the permaculture cognoscenti are going to recognize the
instructors' names, anyway. The PDC itself is of immense value, but the
certificate doesn't mean much to those outside our community. Heather's just
pointing out an obvious truth there. And those who point out the emperor's
nakedness are never popular.

Let me correct Keith's speculations about Heather's character and experience
and try to balance the selective use of quotes from her book. (Disclaimer: I
know Heather quite well and have a very high opinion of her.)

Heather took a PDC from me and Jude Hobbs about 7 years ago. She organized
the course herself and arranged a grant from the city to fund all 25
students, who were from a low-income neighborhood. She founded Food Not
Lawns in Eugene, Oregon, a group that transformed many lawns into
food-producing polycultures, and created a great permaculture site in a city
park. They had held workshops, seed and plant sales, and built demonstration
sites. She spent several years living on a large commercial organic farm
outside of Eugene, developing some pretty sophisticated systems on the farm
and elsewhere. She's done cutting-edge work on integrating dance, music, and
movement into permaculture design. She's one of the most vigorous and
successful activists I know and has a deeper understanding of permaculture
than many I encounter. She walks her talk by making courses available for
very little money, and does a huge amount of free work as well. So she's got
plenty of experience. She's also one of those people who pops out about 15
ideas a minute, and I suppose that may strike some people as being "spacey."
As for being young, I think she's about 30. She has guest-taught my
university permaculture class and was roundly loved by my grad students. I
can highly recommend her as an instructor; she's also a blast to be around.

She is very strongly opinionated and has tread on few toes. That's the price
of having a clear vision. Mollison isn't exactly a sweet little old guy,
either. Keith, it sounds like you've discouraged someone from having Heather
teach, recommending instead one of your buddies, when you don't know
anything about Heather beyond a couple of paragraphs you disagree with.
Sure, some of what's in her book is available elsewhere if you want to dig
through a couple of dozen other sources, but you could make the same claim
about some of my book too. So let's not go black-balling people because they
don't share our ideas about how much the PDC should cost.

For others, get the book and decide for yourself.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com

On 10/13/06 8:57 AM, "Keith Johnson" <keithdj@mindspring.com> wrote:

Jim wrote:
Hmmm. I've gotten some red flags when talking with Heather-- a little
bit of spaciness that worried me.
I'm getting a review copy, courtesy of Michael Weaver. I hope I don't
find the same thing as you, but have a nervousness that I might. Don't
quote me.
Our impression was that she was very young and inexperienced, overly
opinionated, and depended almost entirely on OTHER people's work. We all
rest on the shoulders of those who have gone before, but....

To quote her, "...much of the Permaculture movement is based on a desire
for personal gain, rather than a deep ecological altruism".

Also, " ...while Permaculture /teaches/ a whole-system approach that
includes the larger ecological community, the permaculture I have seen
in /practice/ tended to lack emphasis on taking designs beyond the
suburban homestead."

Also, "...the term /permaculture/ has become something of a commodity,
used to entice people into paying exorbitant prices for "certification
courses" when such important information should be made accessible to
any who would choose to learn it....most of those high-priced
certificates are just photocopied pieces of paper, signed by the
instructors themselves. "

Clearly she hasn't SEEN much permaculture. Like the folks Toby talked
about, who, when they didn't see many annual vegetable gardens at the Pc
Inst in Hawaii, and overlooked the hundreds of perennial food plants all
around them, concluded that application of permaculture was failing.

And Toby endorsed the book! I wonder if he read those parts.

So, I ask you all, IS that all permaculture is? I don't think so.

Despite the rest of the book being useful and practical, even sounding
like what Permaculture recommends, most is available elsewhere and
already in print.
If the book is not up to snuff, then I'll withdraw my invite to her.
It would be a shame if Chelsea chose the wrong author to invest their
time and money with. Thanks for the heads up.
Have Chuck Marsh teach it, or one of the many good gardeners in Asheville.
Best,
Jim Barton

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--
Keith Johnson
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
also APPLE-Bloomington (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy)
It's a small world after oil.



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