Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

SUSTENANCE:
FOOD, WATER, WASTE & HEALTH CARE
“Sustenance” can be understood as the maintenance and nurturance of health and life. The
elements of sustenance include: food, water, waste handling, and health care. At present,
these elements are centrally provided by private companies, government, and publicly‐
owned corporations and are entirely dependent on petroleum. In a medical model,
Bloomington is on “life‐support,” with the well‐being of its residents largely dependent on a
source of energy that is widely expected to contract within the next five to 15 years.
To prepare for this contraction, sustenance for Bloomington's citizens in a low‐energy
future must derive significantly from the resources of the household and from forests and
farms within the city and its surrounding region. The distance most food travels from field
to table will shrink dramatically. The distribution of food for sale must also move closer to
consumers who can be expected to travel less by car and more on foot, bicycle, and public
transit in the future. The process of providing for our own daily needs while reducing our
reliance on fossil fuels is the essence of building community resilience.
We expect that it will take decades to achieve levels of self‐reliance comparable to those
enjoyed by Indiana communities a century ago, so we must outline and prioritize those
actions which will address our greatest vulnerabilities first. The path to community self‐
reliance will require the recovery of old skills, the propagation of new skills, and the
reorganization of public and private infrastructure within the Bloomington community.
Public agencies have an important role to play in catalyzing and nurturing this
transformation.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force 172