After the Permaculture Break…
Not long after I decided to learn line upon line everything there is to know about permaculture, I became somewhat disillusioned with permaculture. I am still very much in favor of the concept of simple, sustainable living. But so much of what I’ve read feels like hype, propaganda, and fads to me. Even the “hands on, practical” transfer of information often relies on traveling to a remote location where students pay upwards of $1K for a training course that seems unlikely to be practical for anything other than eventually certifying and teaching the same course to others. Permaculture Design Courses in many ways seem like a hippie’s answer to multi-level marketing.
I read two articles today about sustainable farms (the first one being a poorly executed summary of the second) suggesting that both organic and local farms are “unsustainable,” mainly because neither approach to agriculture is the perfect solution to the world’s food crisis. After detailing the increased costs involved in raising sustainable (grass fed) cattle, the author of the better article asks:
Does that matter? Most Americans could afford to spend more for their food—or could afford to eat less of the resource-intensive foods… But in many other parts of the world, spending more on food or cutting back on meat aren’t practical or ethical options; nor are investing in vertical farms, store-top produce, or many of the other more Earth-friendly but more capital-intensive farming technologies.
This statement brilliantly illustrates perhaps my biggest problem with the permaculture movement, this ridiculous notion that if a responsible choice, scaled globally, does not save the planet, it is actually part of the problem. Such logic brings us gems like “eating locally is bad for the environment” (because it does not inherently answer all the demands of sustainable food) and “livestock is more energy-efficient than grains” (because in hilly pockets of South America, goats are easier to raise than crops).
The very valid argument from the above paragraph–that there is much that Americans can be doing to increase sustainable practices–was presented and instantly negated with the idea that the same practices, applied to other regions with different problems, would not produce the same results. The insistence that we must “broaden our definitions of sustainable practices”– certainly not unique to these articles–serves to undermine the merits of local, working solutions.
Despite how we’d like to see ourselves, we aren’t actually part of a “uni-culture.” What we need are solutions that are relevant to our environment, our culture, and our problems. Innovations and practices that serve an overfed first world nation might NOT be the same as those that benefit impoverished developing countries. And why would then need to be? Being part of a “global solution” doesn’t mean that every positive step will be universally applicable to all of “globe.”
Of course, my concern with how permaculture is sometimes presented does not take into account the many, many benefits that come from individuals and communities working to put into practice and teach to others principles of responsible living. That such a movement exists is a blessing, and were I to reject permaculture because some people occasionally miss the mark, I’d be no better than those who reject the benefits of organic farming on the grounds that it does not allow for judicious application of herbicides.
So where do we go from here? I think for my part, I need to resume my effort to learn about permaculture, with appropriate attention being given to practical and relevant solutions to my specific situation. Yes, I’m a bit reluctant to try to learn how to turn city living into a permaculture success story when everything in me is screaming “get thee to the country.” But, without extinguishing my bigger dreams and pursuits thereof, I’m going to do as my grandma says and bloom where I’m planted. Which, for now, happens to be on the third floor of a Harlem walkup where five varieties of fruits and vegetables fight for window sill sun.
