International Conference on Vertical Farming and Urban Agriculture 2014
http://vfua.org/
A technology orientated conference on urban farming. Lowering our food miles and increasing self sufficiency is something I am extremely interested in. However, I wonder if the increased mechanisation, complication & industrialisation of growing things is a self defeating aim when it comes to attempting to lower the environmental cost of agriculture. I also think that for the small scale grower, happiness and an enjoyment of this pastime are important considerations, not just productivity and profit.
This book:
the One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
sums up the opposite of the high-technology, high effort approach to growing things. A great read for anyone interested in permaculture, I certainly found his low impact 'slow farming' approach inspiring.
Masanobu Fukuoka in his high-yielding rice field,
grown using a very low-tech approach inspired by carefully observing nature.
It explains one Japanese farmer's highly successful 65 year experiment with low-tech permaculture.
These two approaches are seemingly at odds with each other, but maybe there's a place for both in our world? The appliance of science could well help reduce the environmental impact of traditional factory salad farming, and technological wizardry/growing gadgets certainly have their own appeal. As a gardener, rather than a commercial farmer, this range of choices enables us to weigh up our own environmental impact when making decisions about what we grow and how, as well as providing us with more options to play with and more fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment