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Prospects. Problems Valuing Context: Wendell Berry Context Sensitive Agriculture Rebuilding Connections Political Relations. Set Discussion Question Week 12.
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Prospects • Problems • Valuing Context: Wendell Berry • Context Sensitive Agriculture • Rebuilding Connections • Political Relations
Set Discussion Question Week 12 • On the surface, it appears that Scott sees complexity as a good thing whereas Pollan sees it as a problem. Is this true? What sort of complexities do they discuss and in what ways are their positions actually similar?
Problems • Separation of production from consumption • Centralization/specialization/monocultures • Processing – human and food system health • High environmental impact diets • Security of the food supply • Separation of people from the land and from their surroundings • Too much food in the Global North, food insecurity in the Global South • Climate Change
Wendell Berry • “The Farm is an infinite form” • “The earth is what we all have in common.”
The Land Institute Perennial polyculture
Context Sensitive Agriculture • Institute Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science & Technology • Livelihood security • Food security • Environmental sustainability • Human health and nutrition • Equity • The Context Test • Local • Mimicking biodiversity & ecosystems • Designed for ecological & social contexts • Historical • Vaclav Smil
Can sustainable/organic feed the world? • 2,641 kilocalories/person/day organic • Vs 2,786 for indus’l system • We need: 2200-2500 kcal/person/day • Produce enough N? • 140 million Mg of N p.a. • Vs 82 million Mg from synthetic fertilizer (2001) • Small farms more efficient per acre
Rebuilding Connections • Local food/CSA’s/Buying Clubs/Farmer’s markets • Mixed farming • Return to the land • Issues of Infrastructure • Urban Agriculture
Organic Farming in Nairobi • “Organic Farming in Nairobi’s Biggest Slum,” BBC Radio World Service, first broadcast Feb 1, 2009, http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/01/090130_nairobi_organic_sl.shtml, retrieved Feb 1, 2009.
Eating for a Better World Slow Food Community Gardens Near North Locavores Artan Gardens Piebird Bed & Breakfast
Political Relations • Protest – Monsanto Quit India! • “GM corn as well as herbicides are known to cause several adverse health and environmental effects. Another fundamental concern is about herbicides displacing the agricultural employment potential for farm women. We are here to assert that we do not need such technologies. As consumers, our right to safe food cannot be violated and we cannot be made into lab rats in this experiment” - Col. Vikram Bokey, Chairperson of MOFF • Political Relationships vs Bureaucratic Relationships