[eastbay]

.... by Lierre Keith. WOW! This book explains in precise terms exactly why there is no hope for feeding humanity in the coming years. It points out that cheap plentiful energy is responsible for the recent explosion in the worlds population (which we all know), but lays the blame squarely on the prime trigger event which was the advent of grain cultivation 10,000 years ago.

She explains the basics of top soil sterility and destruction, water overuse and destruction, fauna and fauna destruction, the horror of very recent advances in modern agriculture in general and with grain cultivation in particular. She stitches it all together describing how the coming post peak oil years will carry the worlds population to considerably less than 600m in ways she doesn't want to witness. And yes, Catton is quoted quite a few times.

This book is a must read for all of those aware of PO and here it is in its entirety:


http://books.google.com/books?id=_KGWcP ... &q&f=false

[efarmer]

So the upshot of the book is that we lost our way when we deviated from being Hunter Gatherer types and the resulting damage as augmented by technology is too great to mitigate and simply requires a crash with possibly a residual Hunter Gatherer remnant of Humanity left at some point?

I think it would be more honest in keeping with the author's thoughts to precede agriculture as the point of errant branching in human behavior and go back to the use of fire, which allowed us to cook things we could not eat raw.

I see the points and find them fascinating but I find it entirely useless to apply to anything in the here and now that makes any difference to myself or those in my circle. If the author is right we have been dead ending for 12,000 years at an increasing rate of speed until we broke the sound barrier with fossil fuel exploitation and went exponentially naughty and prolific in our numbers.

I am glad it didn't cost me anything.

So if we went wrong when we started growing grains (or using fire as I added to the author's Genesis of Doom) it almost makes it a death ritual and explains why so many of us are drawn to making popcorn in response to doom on the big screen of life. I may also save back some Sno-Caps in honor of global warming.

I suppose the Neanderthals were brilliant to check out on the weird little new people before they got the chance to really start growing on them.

As for me, this kudzu ape is shooting for a few more bananas, some laughs, working at the life at hand, and not being poisoned by the knowledge that life is impermanent.

[Ayame]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', ' ')lays the blame squarely on the prime trigger event which was the advent of grain cultivation 10,000 years ago.

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '.')... by Lierre Keith. WOW! This book explains in precise terms exactly why there is no hope for feeding humanity in the coming years. It points out that cheap plentiful energy is responsible for the recent explosion in the worlds population (which we all know), but lays the blame squarely on the prime trigger event which was the advent of grain cultivation 10,000 years ago.

She explains the basics of top soil sterility and destruction, water overuse and destruction, fauna and fauna destruction, the horror of very recent advances in modern agriculture in general and with grain cultivation in particular. She stitches it all together describing how the coming post peak oil years will carry the worlds population to considerably less than 600m in ways she doesn't want to witness. And yes, Catton is quoted quite a few times.

This book is a must read for all of those aware of PO and here it is in its entirety:


http://books.google.com/books?id=_KGWcP ... &q&f=false

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'O')ver here we eat BLT's (bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches.) Fry six strips until they are just crisping so you don't to loose to much of the fat with overcooking. Then to rehydrate the bacon (after the shock of cooking) slather on Hellman's brand (or Best Food, on the West Coast) mayonnaise on toasty bread. The lettuce and tomato is an afterthought to make you feel healthy and smug but honestly---probably isn't necessary.

[Pretorian]

u actually dont have to cook that thing.. its already salted and smoked u know... But I love cooked bacon as well. Raw ham is absolutely delicious.

Anyway, I was always saying that to give a quick death to one fat cow is better than grinding alive ten thousands bunnies,birds, lizards, frogs, insects and spiders and poisoning another million for the heck of a hypocritical diet.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'u')

Anyway, I was always saying that to give a quick death to one fat cow is better than grinding alive ten thousands bunnies,birds, lizards, frogs, insects and spiders and poisoning another million...

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '[')b]What do you cook it on? Does it makes less mess than in a frying pan? Man I love BLT's That and chocolate chips cookies are my favorite foods.

[eastbay]

Yes, these animals and others are killed as a result of mechanized farming practices today. There is no doubt about it and we all know this is true.

But the amount if wildlife ground up in vast industrial-scale farming operations is today nowhere near what it was 75 and 100 years ago when farm mechanization took off. It's just a fraction of what it was. Today, groundhog (since you mentioned groundhogs) damage to corn and soy is limited to periferal areas immediately adjacent to forested land because these creatures do not generally live in the corn fields but are primarily located in increasingly scarce wooded areas next to these vast fields.

I could have been more specific, but I'm talking about the vast overwhelming industrial corn and other grain farms in which these grain staples are today planted and harvested in nearly sterile sponge-like matter we once called 'soil'. Unlike in decades past, today soil in these vast industrial-scale monoculture operations is tilled with nowhere near past levels of wildlife killing. Why? Because the soil is dead.

[Maddog78]

Ha, this thread made me hungry for a BLT.
I'm making one now.