Funny Farms

…Ironically, the family farm may become of vital importance just as it sings its swan song. In 1956, geologist M. King Hubbert correctly anticipated that US oil production would peak in the early 1970s. In his recent book, Hubbert


This will mean not only a major shift in resources, but a shift in the way we think about everything from land use to labour. Instead of about 2.6 percent of the population engaged in farming, 16 percent of whom are right on the doorstep of suburbia, Kunstler envisages the revival of a native-born farm-labouring class in a distinctly rural setting.

He also imagines a return to small farms that feed ten people using traditional methods of agriculture in place of the agribusinesses, which currently feed about 125 on average.