permaculture

[SArjuna@aol.com]

John Feeney has written a great article, "AGRICULTURE:   The end of the 
workd as we know it,"   found at: 

www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/newzephyr/august-september2010/html/aug10-21.htm/.
 

He has also posted the following afterthought in his blog at: his blog at: 
www.johnfeeney.net/blog/

 "One point I'd like to have covered more thoroughly in the article is the 
notion that a horticultural alternative such as large scale 
permaculture-based food growing could simply replace agriculture. The text of 
a footnote to 
a previous blog post (see below) adds a worthwhile clarification:

 On a large enough scale, even a major improvement such as permaculture 
would seem to suffer from a similar problem of turning the land excessively 
to 
human consumption. As I understand it, however, it is structured to be 
practiced on a scale small enough -- and with ethical constraints against 
large 
populations -- that it might prove sustainable under conditions of a much 
smaller human population. This is not to suggest it as an "alternative" to 
agriculture, without which humans did quite well for most of our history. As 
an 
approach to small-scale gardening -- something practiced by many 
hunter-gatherers -- it makes great sense. Once we begin to depend, though, on 
growing 
food as our primary means of subsistence, upping the scale by altering large 
tracts of habitat, taking control of our food supply by creating and storing 
unnecessary surpluses, the problems start. (I am aware of nothing concrete, 
by the way, built into the practice of permaculture which would prevent 
population growth. I welcome information to the contrary.)
 That said, there will surely be a transitional period, post-civilization, 
when permaculture and related approaches to food production will be 
essential to many of those shifting toward true sustinability, even prior to 
a full 
move into hunting and gathering."

I'd like to add a note of my own regards the photos that accompany the 
article.   The photo that looks like a strange quilt is an aerial view of 
crop 
fields that must be irrigated in order to produce.  The circles and squares 
are the crop areas covered by the watering systems.   The photo of humans is 
of people and their water toys so jammed together in the ocean that no 
actual ocean is visible. I've seen a similar photo of humans blanketing a 
beach.  
 How this kind of day at the beach can be enjoyed, I cannot imagine.   Then 
there is an aerial view of a strip mine.

Shivani Arjuna, WI, USA





.