'Soil degradation' - is that a thing? See, with the advent of spray-on fertilizers the state of the soil is nearly irrelevant to crop yield. The best corn grows on eroded clay hillsides at present (because it doesn't saturate and has better sun). Soil is just a medium for holding the roots at present. Look at hydroponic farms -they grow plants in a gravel medium.
Yes, organic farming will kill us all
211–220 of 260 posts
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#212> we should be TERRIFIED that fewer than 1 in 100 Americans actually knows how to grow enough food to feed a family or more.
This seems rather besides the point. If we all had to live in economically and technologically isolated families the amount of people that can be sustained by the earth would be allot lower ... and the quality of life of each of those families will likely be worse than any person living today.
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't understand the question. Can you help me understand why the idea that raising animals cannot be sustainable, when clearly grazing animals can live perfectly well on their own with no care whatsoever from humans (as they have for millennia) on areas of land that are not suitable for farming? I think the direct answer to your question is that clearly carnivorism is environmentally sustainable, as it has been pr…
Name two examples of sustainable ranching. In the USA. If it's hypothetically possible, surely someone somewhere is doing it. What I like to call an existence proof.
Try the one made famous through "The Omnivores Dilemma":
But apart from that, just read the comment you replied to. Human history as well as nature itself are the examples. There used to be millions of grazing animals (probably even an understatement).
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#214"It pretends that vanishing institutional knowledge of growing food isn’t a problem; we should be TERRIFIED that fewer than 1 in 100 Americans actually knows how to grow enough food to feed a family or more."
Why? There are many other vital survival tasks that the overwhelming majority of the world's population cannot perform. This is merely the consequence of living in modern society; such efforts are abstracted away from the consumer. People will educate themselves when such information becomes necessary.
Also, fabricating dramatic statistics doesn't help anyone. I can quote a Farm and Dairy article from three years ago which stated, "One in 3 households are now growing food — the highest overall participation and spending levels seen in a decade." And that, "Households with incomes under $35,000 participating in food gardening grew to 11 million — up 38 percent from 2008."
Should I be less "TERRIFIED" now?
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#215> global soil deterioration I learned something new and important today. For some reason, I thought this was a solved problem since Haber–Bosch process was invented. Apparently it isn't so.
Seriously, try this:
https://www.edx.org/course/sustainable-soil-management-soil-...
Sustainable Soil Management: Soil for life
Learn why soil is so important, how it’s being threatened and what we can do to protect this natural resource so vital to our lives.
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not a simple issue. A proper argument would require a few hours.
I for one would happily read it. Do you know of any?
I just posted this above, try
https://www.edx.org/course/sustainable-soil-management-soil-...
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#217Robotics will revolutionize farming and make organic sustainable. Weed and pest killing robots will obviate the need for chemical herbicides and pesticides as well as Genetic alterations.
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#218Here's a nice thread with some debate on the subject:
https://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/comments/1h9hye/i_beli...
Worth reading for those looking for both sides of the story.
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#219"It pretends that vanishing institutional knowledge of growing food isn’t a problem; we should be TERRIFIED that fewer than 1 in 100 Americans actually knows how to grow enough food to feed a family or more." Why? There are many other vital survival tasks that the overwhelming majority of the world's population cannot perform. This is merely the consequence of living in modern society; such efforts are abstracted awa…
> Why? There are many other vital survival tasks that the overwhelming majority of the world's population cannot perform. This is merely the consequence of living in modern society; such efforts are abstracted away from the consumer. People will educate themselves when such information becomes necessary.
Depending on your climate, food is one of the most pressing thing to acquire if you don't have it. Our human system right now is becoming fragile, because having such a large apparatus around food production and such a small number of people who practice it, a disruption could cause massive starvation. I personally would prefer not to see our species decimated as a result of insufficient latent food production ability not dependent on a massive industrialized base. It is not sufficient for people to learn how to grow in the event of an emergency; you need practice, growing food is not as easy as it seems.
In addition to making our species less fragile, it forces people to eat better, encourages diversity of life, and done properly it makes the environment more attractive.
Would you rather have more people trying to sell you shit?
Re: Yes, organic farming will kill us all
#220"It pretends that vanishing institutional knowledge of growing food isn’t a problem; we should be TERRIFIED that fewer than 1 in 100 Americans actually knows how to grow enough food to feed a family or more." Why? There are many other vital survival tasks that the overwhelming majority of the world's population cannot perform. This is merely the consequence of living in modern society; such efforts are abstracted awa…
> Why? There are many other vital survival tasks that the overwhelming majority of the world's population cannot perform. This is merely the consequence of living in modern society; such efforts are abstracted away from the consumer. People will educate themselves when such information becomes necessary. Depending on your climate, food is one of the most pressing thing to acquire if you don't have it. Our human syste…
You can apply the same argument to fresh water access. Urbanization is not conducive to individualized sustainability. You either come to terms with that or move out to the sticks and adopt a DIY attitude toward survial.