permaculture

[seaseal <seaseal@got.net>]

Dear Scott,

Thinking that mono-crops, GM crops, food subsidies, and a flawed food  
distribution system aren't relevant to permaculture is akin to saying,  
"Well, that's not political."

I believe everything in our lives is political, and along that line,  
anything, such as government-directed mono-cropping, that falsely  
deflates the costs of food and manipulates the buying public, is  
definitely a permaculture issue.

If we are participants in a country that does things like that, we  
must take action. Permaculture demands it.

Whether this action is to plant and grow our own food or something  
else, it is an action that involves permaculture thinking.

To carry permaculture ideals one step further, we may need to raise  
awareness about the dangers of petroleum-based fertilizers,  
genetically modified crops, low-nutrition fillers in much of our food,  
and the resultant contamination of our water systems by pesticides,  
herbicides, and fertilizers. Or we may respond by moving to another  
less cynical and greedy country.

Our community's health--no matter where we live--depends on those with  
awareness spreading the word. One of my favorite phrases "by thought,  
word, and deed" truly applies here.

Cecile
Revival Food Recycling
seaseal@got.net
on Facebook

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs -
ask yourself what makes you come alive,
and then go do it. Because what the
world needs is people who have come alive."

  – Harold Thurman Whitman


To my mind this discussion is at the heart of permaculture both visible
structures and invisible ones.  If soy is a product that has been  
foisted
off on consumers and farmers to increase the profits of the huge middle
organizations like Archer Daniels Midland, and Monsanto, as I believe  
it is,
then we are looking at a monocrop of distribution and sales as well as a
method of farming.  This is not sustainable and deserves the design  
skills
of permaculturalists to expose the destructive process and offer a  
design
that is more sustainable.

Scott Pittman
Director
Permaculture Institute
www.permaculture.org