Diet for a smaller planet

A review of Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future

…He begins with a short chapter reviewing the last few centuries of economic strategies that have operated under the assumption the human condition will improve by growing the pie. McKibben reminds us of growth’s darker side, diminishing our well-being as economies consume unsustainable quantities of fossil fuels, minerals, water and other resources, pollute the air and transform the atmosphere to one untenable for human survival, and create more inequality than prosperity.

Most significantly, excessive prosperity hasn’t made us happier. His paradigm of “deep economy” proposes human satisfaction and societal durability as its indicators, rather than economic measures of growth, profit, market share, trade or efficiency. Its scale is local rather than global: Buy food, generate energy, enjoy entertainment and build community close to home.

The bulk of Deep Economy focuses on vignettes and glimpses into locally lived lives that are successfully generating deep economies. Appropriately, he focuses much of his book near his home in Middlebury, Vt., seamlessly extending local examples of deep economy to others around the planet. He argues that global economics produces cheap goods, but side-effects on climate and diminished resource abundance make contemporary economics unaffordable.

In contrast, McKibben describes small-scale, local initiatives such as Intervale, a 200-acre urban farm in Burlington, Vt., a member-driven co-operative producing 8 per cent of Burlington’s fresh food. Intervale converts composted local waste into vegetables, dairy products, chickens and fruit, and encourages new generations of deep economists through courses and training programs. Further, it employs 50 local residents in addition to an extensive network of volunteers who trade work for food.

Surprisingly, one-third of Shanghai’s food is grown locally, on urban farms, including 60 per cent of its vegetables and 90 per cent of its milk and eggs. Even Detroit, considered among the worst of U.S. urban wastelands, has a seven-acre farm producing hay, alfalfa, honey, eggs, goat’s milk and beef.

Globe & Mail