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  • From: Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] more on growing food
  • Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 12:37:41 -0700 (PDT)


I hate how discussions on this list (and everywhere else, I guess) get
polarized, as I've mentioned before, and I think Toby contributes to this.  I
know he wants to stimulate discussion, but he doesn't have to make the issues
sound so black and white (and I just got done reading all the wonderful essay
on your site, so I know you can do better).  On the other hand, I do
appreciate Lawrence's restraint in the tone of his responses.
 
I feel the question about how much land it takes to grow one person's food
has been framed in a way that unnecessarily encourages this debate.  A more
interesting question, for me, would be, "How much area in food forest is
reasonable per person, given a certain climate and available gardening time?" 
Cities can probably typically grow 50% of their food.  If urban areas were
planted in food forest, a lot of the heavier food could be easily obtained
just outside your doorstep, reducing transport fuel needs.  New aquaponics
techniques also have potential for urban areas.  Growing food doesn't have to
be a grueling enterprise for the specialized farmers.  And this leads to
questions of social equity and justice:  if you don't grow a substantial
portion of your own food, who is going to do it?  This whole debate has taken
place with the apparent assumption that we are all equals who can freely
choose our work.  Not so.  Most of the people on this
list are probably white middle class people who would be buying their food
from poor brown immigrants if they didn't grow it themselves.  According to
David Holmgren, the peasant class is only going to get bigger as fossil fuels
become more scarce.  Growing more of your own food is a slap in the face to
class specialization and the stigmatization of doing such "lowly" work.
 
Maybe, as the Land Institute is attempting, it will be possible for
mechanized agriculture (hopefully agroecology) to continue using biofuels
grown on site.  Then it would certainly be more efficient to have foods (like
grains and nuts) processed in central locations and Holmgren's dire
predictions may be overstated.  But I like what Lawrence said, "The goal of
total food self-sufficiency may be difficult to achieve but it is a necessary
carrot held in front of them for inspiration and guidance."  In order for a
more just and sustainable society to emerge, most of us need to grow more of
our own food.  Who cares if it is 25%, 50%, or 90%?  Just moving in this
direction and trying it out teaches us loads.  I spent way too much of my
time trying to move the communities I've lived in towards sustainability with
little to show for it and I know others who have spent big chunks of their
lives attending meeting after meeting with big dreams that never
materialized.  I'm not saying that collaborative enterprises aren't vital to
cultural change, I'm just leaning towards starting at Zone Zero.  I am
totally saturated with environmentalists and permaculturists who think that
their work is so vital that they can't afford to spend time on their own
carbon footprints.  Be the change, people!
 
Rain
 



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Rain,

Well said....'here here'!

All the best,

Darren

On 14 May 2010 05:37, Rain Tenaqiya <raincascadia@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> I hate how discussions on this list (and everywhere else, I guess) get
> polarized, as I've mentioned before, and I think Toby contributes to this.
> I know he wants to stimulate discussion, but he doesn't have to make the
> issues sound so black and white (and I just got done reading all the
> wonderful essay on your site, so I know you can do better). On the other
> hand, I do appreciate Lawrence's restraint in the tone of his responses.
>
> I feel the question about how much land it takes to grow one person's food
> has been framed in a way that unnecessarily encourages this debate. A more
> interesting question, for me, would be, "How much area in food forest is
> reasonable per person, given a certain climate and available gardening
> time?" Cities can probably typically grow 50% of their food. If urban
> areas were planted in food forest, a lot of the heavier food could be easily
> obtained just outside your doorstep, reducing transport fuel needs. New
> aquaponics techniques also have potential for urban areas. Growing food
> doesn't have to be a grueling enterprise for the specialized farmers. And
> this leads to questions of social equity and justice: if you don't grow a
> substantial portion of your own food, who is going to do it? This whole
> debate has taken place with the apparent assumption that we are all equals
> who can freely choose our work. Not so. Most of the people on this
> list are probably white middle class people who would be buying their food
> from poor brown immigrants if they didn't grow it themselves. According to
> David Holmgren, the peasant class is only going to get bigger as fossil
> fuels become more scarce. Growing more of your own food is a slap in the
> face to class specialization and the stigmatization of doing such "lowly"
> work.
>
> Maybe, as the Land Institute is attempting, it will be possible for
> mechanized agriculture (hopefully agroecology) to continue using biofuels
> grown on site. Then it would certainly be more efficient to have foods
> (like grains and nuts) processed in central locations and Holmgren's dire
> predictions may be overstated. But I like what Lawrence said, "The goal of
> total food self-sufficiency may be difficult to achieve but it is a
> necessary
> carrot held in front of them for inspiration and guidance." In order for a
> more just and sustainable society to emerge, most of us need to grow more of
> our own food. Who cares if it is 25%, 50%, or 90%? Just moving in this
> direction and trying it out teaches us loads. I spent way too much of my
> time trying to move the communities I've lived in towards sustainability
> with little to show for it and I know others who have spent big chunks of
> their lives attending meeting after meeting with big dreams that never
> materialized. I'm not saying that collaborative enterprises aren't vital to
> cultural change, I'm just leaning towards starting at Zone Zero. I am
> totally saturated with environmentalists and permaculturists who think that
> their work is so vital that they can't afford to spend time on their own
> carbon footprints. Be the change, people!
>
> Rain
>
>
>
>
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> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subscribe or unsubscribe here:
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> More information:
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> And: http://www.richsoil.com
>



--
Hooroo,
Darren J. Doherty

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