Passages Sustainable Food and Farming Systems - PASA

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Former GMC student Evan Dale cultivating our version of the three sisters — squash and corn with an undersown pea cover crop. By Kenneth Mulder 1 , Green Mountain College Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two part series on human-powered agriculture. Production details of their system will be provided in the companion article to this one, to appear in the March/April issue of this newsletter. The Case for Human-Powered Agriculture Figure 1. Total Energy Inputs into the US Food System.10.3 quads in to get 1.4 quads in food energy out. (Heller 2000) The early warning bells regarding the potential collapse of our agricultural system centered on the loss of our top soil. Later, there emerged concerns regarding the use of toxic chemicals, perhaps the leading factor in the birth of the modern organic movement. Starting in the 1970s, further unease arose regarding our reliance upon non-renewable resources, most notably petroleum. This led to a flurry of research on energy issues with scientists such as David Pimentel clearly demonstrating the heavy reliance of our agricultural system upon fossil fuels. Two decades later, such fears have been augmented by a changing climate, yet our food system is more energy and carbon intensive than ever. Although agriculture is no different than many other sectors of our economy in this regard, eating is less optional than most of our other consumptive endeavors. The fix will not be easy. Figure 1 shows recent levels of fossil inputs into the US food system. 2 The current system is grossly energy inefficient with 7.4 calories of energy going in per calorie of food energy produced. Agricultural production alone operates at an energy loss meaning more useable energy enters the farm boundaries than leaves them. Of the 2.2 quadrillion BTUs (quads) of energy used annually for agricultural production, approximately one third is utilized Energy Intensity of Nutrients Based on data in Biocycle magazine, commercial compost requires 1097–8878 MJ per ton depending on process. This implies that for us to cover one 100’ bed with ½” of compost requires a minimum of 450 MJ of energy. According to our research, the total energy for a season to manage 20100’ beds was only approximately 350 MJ, meaning we would increase our energy budget 2500% to apply compost to all of our areas at that rate. just to produce fertilizers. 3 The problem is clearly systematic, and the solution will require fundamental changes in how we farm. Thinkers such as Richard Heinberg and Miguel Altieri have argued that at a minimum we will see a shift toward smaller farms managed by a greater number of farmers with a heavier reliance on natural systems. However, much of the current impetus on this issue is not concerned so much with reducing the amount of energy going into agriculture as it is with 1) making agriculture a producer of nonfood energy and 2) switching over to renewable energy sources. Thus, we see significant funds coming from the USDA for biofuels and wind farms as well as the development of solar and biomass systems to run farms. But none of these efforts address the systematic nature of the problem, leaving the conventional paradigm largely untouched. It is also arguable that modern organic agriculture also fails to address the systemic roots of the problem. Although it uses up to 50% less energy for crop production 4 , it generally features a heavy reliance on energyintensive machinery and imported nutrients. Indeed, any reliance on machine-intensive inputs such as seeds or manure comes at a significant energy cost (see below). The problem is a familiar one to organic farmers, and we hear about it frequently from our critiques. How do we feed an increasingly hungry world and yet be sustainable We are running out of land and farmers. Just forgoing chemicals Brinton, W.F., 2008. What’s your compost energy index. Biocycle, Jan/Feb 2008, pp. 53–54. 24
and GMOs makes us idealists at best and even villains to some. Despite such constraints, I would argue that at least a part of the solution lies in converting much of our agricultural production to human powered production and that this can be done efficiently 5 . Human labor is frequently seen as a move backward, to a time when we were less knowledgeable, less secure, and physically discomfited. However, human power has several advantages, and thanks to the work in this country of pioneers like John Jeavons of Ecology Action and Eliot Coleman, we have the tools and knowledge to grow vegetables with human power in ways that are not laborious and have the potential to break our addiction to oil. Indeed, our production experience and research with human-powered vegetable production at Green Mountain College demonstrate that not only are such systems not arduous, but that they can be economically, energetically and land efficient. The Green Mountain College System Green Mountain College (GMC) is a private liberal arts college in Vermont nationally recognized for its curricular and institutional endeavors in sustainability. Cerridwen Farm at GMC is a diverse educational and research farm with a strong focus on renewable- and low-energy production systems. Humanpowered vegetable production is the primary production system utilized at the farm though we are also conducting research in oxen-powered vegetable and hay production and renewably-poweredseason extension systems. In particular, the Long Term Ecological Assessment of Farming Systems (LEAFS) research project is collecting data assessing the land, labor and energy efficiency of human-, animal-, and machine-powered vegetable production. Our vegetable production system has several guiding values. Besides being human powered, it is important to note that our vegetable production system is also very low input in order to conserve the energy embodied in such purchased amendments as compost (see side box). Minimal tillage, permanent beds, high planting density, and high diversity are other key characteristics. Our guiding values are as follows: • Make use of appropriate and efficient technologies: Most data on human-powered production come from agricultural systems utilizing tools similar to those developed hundreds of years earlier. My grandma’s multipurpose hoe does not make the cut in our operation. My goal for each job is to find the right tool that lets me achieve my goals efficiently and pleasurably, and these tools exist in increasing diversity and specialization. • Maximize diversity: Our number one advantage in using human power is the flexibility needed to maximize diversity. In a quarter acre plot, I would hope to continued on page 30 A D V E R T I S E M E N T A D V E R T I S E M E N T 25
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