Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] The US is no longer food self-reliant?

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Toby Hemenway <toby@patternliteracy.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] The US is no longer food self-reliant?
  • Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:20:39 -0700

On Aug 17, 2012, at 7:13 AM, Marjory wrote:

> Toby,
>
> The US is NOT food self-reliant. It take IMPORTERD oil to grow all the
> food the US produces. Currency collapse means no way to buy feul, means
> the combines quit rolling, and the shelves go bare.

We trade for that imported oil; there's linkage there. The people who sell it
to us are dependent on the food, and everything else, we trade them for it
(the dollars are just markers--it's goods that trade). Trade is a stabilizing
force, not destabilizing. The "oil independence" position is no more rational
than "I have to grow all my food by myself." And, almost half of our imported
oil and LNG (for fertilizer) comes from Mexico and Canada, our most stable
trading partners, with whom we have immense political leverage, even in a
currency collapse. Canada and Mexico need to trade oil even more badly than
we need to get it.

Look at the numbers: In 2011 we imported 45% of our oil. Our food--growing,
processing, shipping, cooking--uses about 17% of our oil consumption. We
produce 4200 calories per day per person in the US, delivered. If we lost
half our oil (really unlikely!), we could cut food production in half and
still deliver 2000 calories a day. Diverting that amount of oil use--8% if
needed--to food will be a critical priority; gov'ts know that hungry people
topple regimes. Yes, it could happen, but food is really the simplest need to
take care of after shelter. I can see short term shocks, and they would be
followed by martial law to deliver food and payments to corporate farmers to
produce; the plans are in place (we're not the only ones who know this!). And
rapid conversion to local food production has been demonstrated countless
times: Cuba, Russia, Argentina, Victory Gardens, etc, etc. Food is too simple
to fix, compared to finance, health care, insurance, law enforcement,
education, and the rest that is far more ready to collapse. They are far more
complex systems; they'll go first. I'm much more worried that my fire
department will fail than I am of running out of food.

Obviously we need to be putting a lot of effort into food security. And funny
thing is, we are already. That's why everyone, from the USDA and Homeland
Security on down, talks about it so much. I'm grateful to all the food
activists who have put the issue on the radar screen. I think it's taking
care of itself at just about the right pace. To me, food looks like a
problem, which is solvable and being solved, unlike a predicament, like Peak
Oil, which is not.

The obvious problems--and food is very, very obvious--and are rarely the ones
that get you.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page