Every place on earth is going to have to be more self-sustaining (0.00 / 0)

and we are no exception, even though our seasons and climate are not as good as other places.  We have to end factory farms.  There were farms all over the place here once, and then we entered the era of industrial petroleum-based farming and Massachusetts embraced suburbia and consumerism and our special brand of manifest destiny.  We shouldn't be spending our stimulus on more suburbia, bridges, interchanges, we should be preparing for the end of academic suburbia and the return of effort and work, even though it's not as efficient as getting other people to truck it to us.

This is straight James Howard Kunstler, of course, with some Jonathan Safron Foer and Micheal Pollan mixed in.  We are going to need local food production, both because of Peak Oil, and because of public health.  Sustainability is the new goal, not efficiency.  Efficiency usually builds on layers of complexity that can tumble down fast and wear down slow, and becomes less efficient when the full cost is taken into account.

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by: John Howard @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 13:43:44 PM CST

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Land Of Stone Walls (0.00 / 0)

History is a fine place to look for many things and maybe this is a good example. Indeed, there were farms all over the place once upon a time as evidenced by all those cool stone walls you see everyplace. I once read someplace that something around 70% of the entire state was actualy operationable fields at one point. A lot of that has grown back into woods.
But back to the point, ever notice how big of a spread a typical family farm was? Took something like 20-30 acres to support a typical family and there just isnt that much land around to support all of us at that yield rate.
Thats why efficiencies developed, it wasnt a choice, it was a requirement. People tend to adapt to what needs doing.
Right now one thing that doesnt need doing is converting the food chain into ethanol. Its ludicrous, it depletes the soil and the only way it can continue is to require the use of a whole lot of petrolium based fertilizer.
IMO there are just too many people on this planet. Thats whats going to catch up to us. But there is no reason to let stupidity speed up the matter and thats what any of these government initiatives inevitably are.

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by: nomad943 @ Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 14:08:32 PM CST

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