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

fertility inputs and yields of surplus biomass would need to be harvested from non‐
croplands throughout the region. Assuming that most of the 60 percent of the region's land
area not in prime farmland is wooded or could be sown to compost crops, it is likely that a
regenerative agricultural system for the region could be designed and implemented given
sufficient cooperation and willingness. Of course, the best innovative techniques for soil
fertility management and biointensive production should be employed. Yet, even without
these potential improvements to productivity, it seems likely that the region could feed
itself if other factors of production could be mobilized.
Factors Which Moderate Food Demand
While we’ve determined that the agricultural land base of Bloomington’s seven‐county
region is sufficient to provide Bloomington and its neighbors with a healthy diet, we’ve
come to this conclusion in light of the following factors which moderate local food demand.
1. Many students at Indiana University and other area colleges depart the region for
travel, study, or to return home to family during breaks, reducing by several
percentage points the food requirements of the area. In the event that food
shortages emerge as a chronic social condition, the resident population may be
reduced as students seek refuge with their families in other parts of the state or the
nation.
2. The American diet is widely acknowledged to be excessive and most people could
live better and longer on somewhat less food. Sugars and bad fats could be reduced
with an expected increase in health, and perhaps less hunger, as these empty
calories often strip the body of nutrients and leave it craving even more food.
3. Much less meat and dairy in the diet could be anticipated in the event of extreme
conditions. Price increases for these energy‐ and land‐intensive foods will tend to
reduce consumption, even absent shortages. This change alone would dramatically
reduce the amount of land required to feed the regional population of 350,000.
4. Conventional American agriculture uses little labor but much land, energy, and
capital. Home gardening produces 2‐7 times as much food per acre as commercial
farming. Jeavons' biointensive gardening methods produce 11 times the fruits and
vegetables per unit of land as conventional American agriculture. (Indeed, using
Jeavons’ method, Jules Dervaes and his family raise 6,000 lbs. of food annually on
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