permaculture

["John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>]

It is at least 20 years ago that I read a then to me new definition of 
agriculture and food production and it is not US specific but rather world 
wide :

"Agriculture is the conversion of oil into food through the use of land!" 
And as a further thought, it is only because oil was/is cheap that we could 
spend ten times more units of energy in oil to produce one energy unit as 
food. And thus, when the flow of oil stops, food production stops.

And imo this is one great reason the US was a top food producer for so many 
decades. Oil prices have been very much higher in most all other parts of 
the globe. In Europe we have been paying over $2 per liter of petrol and 
only a little less for diesel for at least a decade. This made it more 
economical in many ways to import American grain into Europe instead of more 
oil.

Similarly in the Middle East it was always much cheaper to import food than 
to desalinize more sea water needed for food production at home.

Things are a-changing and there are interesting times coming.

John


> 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.
>
> With the just-in-time food delivery system we have in the US, a 'few
> months to sort things out' means starvation for most Americans.
>
> The US is the largest exporter of grain in the world - yet we only
> export about 10% to 15% of what we grow.  I agree there is plenty of
> food - if you consider gmo crops food (I don't).   Ethanol and wastage
> are two huge areas we 'could' improve in - and where is the politcal
> will for that?  The one positive thing to come of this severe drought
> will be the pressure to get rid of the ethonal madate.
>
> I have no problem acknolegding fear and taking appropriate action.
>
> Marjory Wildcraft
>
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