[SustainableTompkins] Fifty Million Farmers

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

Great article, Jon.  Heinberg's pulled together a lot of interesting 
points. The emphasis on and merits of planning in spite of mass 
denial/inaction re: energy descent is appropriate, I think.  Hopefully, 
there will be a viable rural eco-system and a way to transfer 
sustainable horticultural know-how when the migration out of the cities 
begins. 

The comparisons with Cuba during the Special Period and our peak oil 
future aren't just ones of scale and climate, but also ideology and 
timing.  For all its shortcomings, the Cuban government under Castro 
derives its legitimacy from being a system that serves the people who 
live on the island. The erosion of collective and cooperative skills in 
the "winner takes all" corporate society that we've incubated over the 
past 30 years isn't going to be in sync with the level of sharing and 
caring that will be required to make a sustainable future.  Given the 
socio-economic climate here, it would be foolish to look for top-down 
solutions, as the dismantling of the New Deal social contract that is 
already underway makes plain.  The shift will have to come from a 
different direction in our case: the grassroots relocalization and 
sustainability mov'ts.

Part of what made the Special Period work in terms of food production 
and distribution was the flexibility of the Cuban gov't, which allowed 
for a variety of organizational solutions along the capitalist - 
collective continuum.  There were nine different agricultural production 
categories ranging from private farms to coops to rent-free farms on 
public land.  This diversity allowed for personal choice; people 
gravitated toward the solutions that made the most sense to them as 
individuals.

Regarding timing, the Cubans had essentially no notice to prepare for 
the Special Period, but we do.  Let's hope Heinberg's suggestion that 
archeology and ecology can make a difference in how the societal 
overshoot plays out this time around is correct.

-- Katie Q-J





Tony Del Plato wrote:

>Wow. What a tale & vision. Almost sounds like how to create a soft landing
>as we abandon the corporate pyramids of energy & agriculture. Perhaps
>similar to the Maya abandonment of their highly developed centralized
>civilizations. Back to the land...again.
>Tony Del Plato
>
>On 11/19/06, bosak at ibiblio.org <bosak at ibiblio.org> wrote:
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>>CATEGORY: Agriculture and Energy Descent
>>
>>In this recent lecture before the E. F. Schumacher Society,
>>Richard Heinberg, a leading figure in the Peak Oil movement,
>>describes a key outcome of energy descent -- the restoration of
>>the small farmer to a position of respect and relative affluence
>>and the return of the American population to a largely rural
>>existence.  These developments will have consequences for Tompkins
>>County that we need to start planning for.
>>
>>Jon Bosak
>>Chair, TCLocal
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