Industrial Agriculture, Peak Oil and Truly Sustainable Living

I have followed with interest the recent dialogue about "organic agriculture." When I read Lynn Miller's editorial, "Back to Basics - We know these things," (SFJ Fall 2005) I felt compelled to respond. As someone who has lived 18 years without running water and electricity and grows and raises 70% of the food our family eats, I feel I know a bit about basic living and sustainable agriculture.

Our country, and indeed our world is on the brink of a chasm so wide and so deep only a tiny minority can fathom how it ever could be possible to get across without falling into the abyss. On the side we are on now, we have a society that embraces materialism, consumer­ism, selfishness, money, power, short-sighted use, anger, stress, and unhappiness. On the other side, you have sustainable agriculture, close-knit caring communities, wise, sustainable use of resources, friends, family, health, and happiness. "Hey, wait a minute," you say, "didn't we used to be on that side a long time ago? How the heck did we get over here?" Yes, how the heck did we get over here. Let's start at the beginning and see where we went wrong.

The early history of agriculture throughout the millennia has been a mixture of responsible sustainable farming on the one hand and irresponsible, short-sighted use on the other. Until recently, irresponsible use would degrade the farmland to the point where it would not sustain the society any longer and the population would crash, then the earth would commence to heal.

Once men started traveling in ships and using horses for transportation, they found they could transport fertility from one place to another. Examples of early fertilizers are: manure, rotting compost, decaying fish, ground bones, wood ashes, bird and bat guano, chalk, wool remnants, seaweed, river and canal mud, and saltpeter. Being able to import fertility caused the carrying capacity of one area to artificially increase freeing a portion of the populace for other labor.

The industrial revolution in Europe during the mid-19th century required more and more food for larger populations that produced manufactured goods, but not enough food. Europe solved this problem by importing fertility in two ways; first through food imports from the U.S. (causing fertility deficits there) and second through massive shipments of guano from South America for her worn out farms. Soon the U.S. was in a similar fertility deficit situation and started massive importation of guano itself. By 1860 imported guano made up 45% of commercial fertilizer in the U.S. By the end of the 1860's, guano supplies began running low so another source of fertility had to be found.

Caliche, a Chilean nitrate product, had been known for years but, due to its remote inland location, had not been exploited. With the supply of easily accessible guano almost exhausted, Chilean caliche became the only commercial source of nitrates in the world. Nitrates were not only the raw material for fertilizer but also explosives. As populations increased and wars became more deadly, demand increased rapidly. In the early 20'th century, the last large commercial source of nitrates was being depleted at an alarming rate, raising the specter of widespread famine.

Against this backdrop, the race was on to invent an artificial nitrogen fertilizer. In 1909 Fritz Huber demonstrated the practicality of creating artificial fertilizer from coal using his process. Later natural gas was substituted for a feedstock and also provided the tremendous energy required for the process. Huber's discovery was to usher in a new age of bounty; a flourishing of agriculture crops that was believed would avert the impending food crisis and end world hunger. But what synthetic nitrogen production caused, through the "green revolution," was a rise in the earth's population from 1.6 billion in 1920 to 6 billion today, all as the result of another finite, non-sustainable, temporary, outside fertility source. Synthetic nitrogen use is now so pervasive it accounts for about half of the nutrient input into the world's crops.

All societies are subject to the king of diminishing returns. Greater use of resources (beyond sustainable levels) corresponds with greater population growth, which then causes greater pressure on non-depleted resources. If new resources are not found, the population will crash. Instead of populations crashing, since the middle ages, western civilization has had two great growth surges due to its ability to find and exploit new energy resources at critical moments. The takeover of the Americas, Africa, India, and the Pacific islands offered subsidies of slave labor, metal ores, timber, and agricultural products which all combined to fuel the beginning of industrialism. The discovery and harnessing of fossil fuels, the greatest energy subsidy ever, enabled the second huge growth surge which led to an astronomical population of 6 billion. World wide resource use and depletion, and environmental degradation was also pushed to a level that never before would have seemed possible.

If food production efficiency is measured by the ratio between the amount of energy input required to produce a given amount of food and the energy contained in that food, then industrial agriculture is by far the least efficient form of food production ever practiced. Traditional forms of agriculture produced a small solar surplus each pound of food contained somewhat more stored energy from sunlight than humans, often with the help of animals, had to expend growing it. Today from farm to plate, depending on the degree of processing, a typical food item requires between ten and 300 times its actual food value to produce. This energy defeat can only be maintained because of the temporary availability of cheap fossil fuels.

Modern industrial agriculture has become energy intensive in every respect. Tractors and other farm machinery burn diesel fuel or gasoline; nitrogen fertilizers are produced from natural gas; pesticides and herbicides are synthesized from oil; seeds, chemicals and crops are transported long distances by trucks; grain and prepared foods are processed or dried with natural gas; and food products are packaged in oil derived plastics before reaching consumers.

Modern agriculture is not only extremely energy wasteful, but has ruined formerly fertile and productive soil for any use except continuation of the abuse. It is a well documented fact that chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides are highly toxic to earth worms, all important soil micro-life, and contribute to greater pest susceptibility. Modern mono-culture farming also has removed a high percentage of our topsoil through erosion. In a word, modem agriculture has the worlds' eco-systems headed for disaster!

True sustainability in agriculture is living on the interest that nature gives us, not drawing down resources faster than can be replenished; recycling materials that are non-renewable such as metals, and glass; and returning all organic material to the soil. Maintaining fertility of soil is the good farmers’ foremost concern.. Soil amendments for the farm should come from on the farm, in the form of manures from animals, decayed organic material (compost), or green manures; thereby preserving "The wheel of life."

Fertility and resources cannot be mined from one area to provide short-sighted and temporary returns. Policies like this lead to the devastation of both areas in the long run. When resources are drawn down faster than nature can rebuild, dire conse­quences always follow, such as: deforestation, erosion, and desertification. We only have to look to lands that were productive, fertile, and diverse in Biblical times and through resource mining are now desert wastelands. The advanced cultures collapsed when their agricultural base literally blew away.                                 

The fossil fuel age, which started in earnest in the beginning of the 19th century, is coming to a close. The availability of cheap energy, especially with the discovery and use of oil, has not only increased our population from one billion to over six billion, but has transformed our world from a wide variety of sustainable cultures to a homog­enous mega-culture. The planets energy use is so enormous it is almost impossible to fathom. If you add together all the energy use intrinsic to modern American lifestyle it would require the energy equivalent of 50 humans laboring 24 hours a day, for each person in America.

The trappings of modern life are all made possible by the availability of cheap energy. Fossil fuels exist in finite, non-renewable supplies and are starting to become in short supply; the prelude for running out. As fossil fuel resources become in shorter and shorter supply, the effects on the so called "modern world," which rely on them, will be catastrophic. The coming decades are ones of impending famine, disease, and economic collapse, despotism, and resource wars. This is inevitable as our population is so artificially large and resource base so damaged and depleted when the temporary fossil fuel energy gift is taken away, our house of cards will come tumbling down. The fabric of modern society and exorbitant oil use are inseparable, couple this with the cornerstone of our economic system being perpetual growth, and you have a recipe for disaster. Neither growth not our lifestyle can be maintained without cheap energy. Even energy shortages, which will happen long before we run out of oil, will be enough to send our country, and the world, into an economic tailspin and onto the road of economic collapse.

 "Impossible," you say, "not in the U.S." Consider this: Our country is not only the largest debtor nation in the world; we also have the largest trade deficit in the world. "But we export tons and tons of grain right?" True, but overall, we import 60% of the food consumed in this country. We depend on many other nations to feed us. Also consider this: the U.S. government not only borrows trillions and trillions of dollars every year to finance the interest on our massive accumulated debt, but is also borrowing 500 billion dollars per year, short term, just to pay the day to day bills. All this borrowing is coming from foreign countries, with China responsible for a large percentage of these loans.

Now, let's look at personal finances of average Americans. Personal debt is at an all time high; savings rate is at an ' all time low; credit card industry is bigger than ever, financing the perpetual consumer orgy that feeds the economy. Bankruptcy filings are at an all time high. What we have is a population that is living paycheck to paycheck (through embracing the materialis­tic mantra one step away from bankruptcy. All that has to happen is gas hitting $5/ gal, which it will soon, and all these people who are on the edge will start to default on their loans. Keep in mind a doubling in the price of gas will also cause the cost of all other consumer goods and services to skyrocket also.

When enough people default on their loans, banks, thanks to banking deregulation, will begin to fail. Once enough banks fail, a domino effect will be set into motion, causing the complete collapse of the financial industry, including the stock market. The FDIC will not be able to back up a large number of failures, as it is only a symbol of security, not true security. Once this occurs, foreign nations holding U.S. paper will get nervous and want to pull out and get paid. The problem is we can't pay. So either the government prints worthless dollars to pay, causing run away hyperinflation, or defaults on its loans. Either way it will result in the collapse of the U.S. currency.

A similar scenario will unfold for the electrical power grid. People forced to choose between food and power will stop paying. When enough people are not able to pay, the utilities, caught between skyrocketing costs and plummeting income, will massively cut back on the scope of the electrical grid. Ultimately only small pockets that can be profitable will remain and eventually even these will be shut down as large industry winds down for good due to consumer base being non-existent. Nobody knows for sure what exactly will happen next, but the great depression will seem like the good `ol days in comparison!

So what do we do? First of all, we need to get back to basics. The endless growth materialistic binge is over. We need to live sustainable lives. Not just in one area of our lives, but complete sustainability in all facets of our lives, or human civilization will not survive in any form.

What will a sustainable human civilization look like? It will most certainly be intensely rural with the huge majority of the population involved in farming. The primary power source for sustainable farms will be humans in partnership with draft animals. Soil fertility will be maintained by judicious management of animal manure and green manures. Ninety percent of all foods will be locally grown. Only a few necessary items such as salt and spices will be brought in from outside. What manufacturing there is will be small scale and pro­duced locally as well, such as clothing, furniture, lumber, shoes, wagons, nails and iron parts to mostly wooden items. What little heavy manufacturer there is (horse farming equipment, wood stoves, pipes) will be done where there is a large natural water power resource and will also be headquarters for trading and commerce.

Communities will once again be close-knit with neighbors joining together to get big jobs done such as haying, harvesting grains, ice cutting, barn and house building, materials for building, furniture, wagons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, fencing and tools will be produced right on the farm or nearby (wood, flax, cotton, wool, leather). Energy also will be locally secured mostly in the form of wood or charcoal, and animal fat, beeswax, or alcohol for lighting. As far as transportation, people will either use horsepower, walk, or in some cases utilize waterways.

I don't know about you folks, but I would rather live in this sustainable community of the future than the self-centered, money-hungry, materialistic world we live in now. For now we are stuck here, but we folks who love farming, simple living, and commu­nity have a special job to do. We need to be beacons to the lost masses and show them the way to a meaningful, rewarding and sustainable future. How can we do this? Leading by example, we must live as if we are already in this sustainable future to show people not only is it possible, but actually enjoyable and preferable to their crazy rat race.

Truly sustainable living for the long haul must necessarily entail major wholesale changes we need to adopt now, not when major crises are knocking on your door. If you wait until then, it will be too late to implement them.

The following are skills necessary to live in a sustainable future:

• Living without electricity in all facets of our lives, electricity pre-supposes an industrial base that will no longer exist.

• Farming with no outside inputs to maintain the health and fertility of the soil.

• For power: using hand tools, horse power, or in some cases water power.

• Using basic, non-motorized, farm machinery that can be repaired by you in your own shop.

• Growing all of your own feed for your animals and food for your family.

• Storing and preserving food for yourself and your animals.

• Have a supply of fresh water that is obtainable for you and your animals using only hand power or gravity.

• Saving seeds for everything you grow.

• Living without using gasoline, kerosene, propane, natural gas, diesel, acetylene or products that are made from oil.

• Have a complete line of hand tools for your shop and actually use them.

• Learn a traditional trade such as: tanning leather, shoemaking, harness making, coopering, candle making, bread baking in an outdoor oven, blacksmith, etc.
• Encour­age other friends, relatives and neighbors to adopt one different from yours.

Small subsistence farms used to be the norm in this country and were not only the foundation for multi-generational families but also the mystic for close-knit communi­ties and the cornerstone of our nation. Let's get back to basics and become self­-sufficient in every way possible. Encourage your friends, neighbors, and relatives to do the same and revitalize our rural communities. Help lead our nation back to its senses!

Original printed in the Small Farmer’s Journal, Spring 2006. Reprinted with permission of the author.

Author

Rich Douglass is Vice-President of the Titanic Lifeboat Academy Board. We've republished his article in this special edition Food newsletter because it is even more valuable at this critical time.  ~ Ed.

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