4 ms·

I love this idea, its something I've thought a lot about. Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant. Nature it full of complex systems of i

by ghthor 8y ago

I love this idea, its something I've thought a lot about. Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant. Nature it full of complex systems of independence that we should be using directly in our farming strategies. I'm particularly interested in fungi to support the nutrient and immune systems of my farms. See the work of Paul Staments using fungi to treat bee colony collapse.

flavor8 8y ago
> Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant. For a great example of this, check out: http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/herbicide-is-whats-for-dinner http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/herbicide-is-whats-for-d...
- ghthor 8y ago
  Wow, that is such an anti earth practice. How can we change this type of insanity? How can we protect our own guts?
  - fyfy18 8y ago
    Voting with your wallet is a good start. In the EU there are strict requirements on what can be labeled ecological, including the use of the EU ecolabel. I believe the US has similar labelling. If you local supermarket doesn't have a suitable stock of ecological supplies, write to them and ask for some, or start shopping at an organic shop.
    - stareatgoats 8y ago
      Tangential: what corresponding labels or certifications are there in the US and are they in any way government backed like the EU Ecolabel?
    - black-tea 8y ago
      Oh yeah? And what about restaurants takeaways, canteens etc. which people consume about as much as they do home cooked food? Those places will always be buying the cheapest, most unethical food possible.
      - seszett 8y ago
        Here (Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium) it is quite easy to find restaurants, takeaways, food trucks, etc, that offer food made from either locally sourced, organic or ethical ingredients, or all of those at the same time.
        steve_adams_86 8y ago
        Likewise in Victoria, BC, Canada. I have no excuse not to eat ethically and sustainably because the options are never more than a short walk or drive away. Not all people have this luxury though. On one hand, I have to make the choice to eat ethically but also spend more money. When I lived up north, options were a lot more scarce, and the average income was a lot lower. The community I lived in heavily relied on the cheapest options available.
      - fyfy18 8y ago
        Not sure why you were down voted as you make a very good point, at least in the UK that is very much the case. You can find organic food restaurants if you look hard, but almost all high street brands have very limited or no organic food - even brands that advertise themselves as healthy such as Pret or EAT.
    - jsilence 8y ago
      At least in Germany since 2015 desiccation with Glyphosat is strictly regulated and only allowed in rare circumstances. Not sure about EU global situation, tho.
jlawson 8y ago
Big farm machines are dumb. If we could instead build swarms of self-maintaining intelligent human-scale robots, perhaps working with genetically engineered work animals (monkeys?), they could hand-plant, hand-till, and hand-harvest crops at a far greater efficiency with far less disruption to the ecosystem. Picture ten thousand dog-sized robots going individually planting and caring for and harvesting millions of plants in a big forest, or a field (with different plants shading each other). An individual dollop of manure on each plant. Weeds removed by "hand" without chemicals. Basically an automated version of the extremely-efficient overlapping-crop style of farming that was often used in medieval Japan and other places with a lot of labor and know-how but without much flat land and without modern mechanization.
- analog31 8y ago
  I've read that in colonial times, people simply let pigs loose in the woods, then hunted them down later on when they were fattened up.
  - geekagirl 8y ago
    People still do that but it’s generally not a good idea for many reasons. Feral hogs destroy crops, are dangerous to people, and eat foods that native species rely on to survive. In colonial times, it made a lot of sense to do that, but not so much now. https://mdc.mo.gov/wildlife/nuisance-problem-species/invasive-species/feral-hogs-missouri https://mdc.mo.gov/wildlife/nuisance-problem-species/invasiv...
  - lyime 8y ago
    This won’t give you predictable yields. Though a combination of that idea and automation could work.
- TaylorAlexander 8y ago
  Well I’m developing a dog sized robot platform that’s totally open source! It’s CC0. https://youtu.be/cU_0M1_TvD0 https://youtu.be/cU_0M1_TvD0
- misterprime 8y ago
gnopgnip 8y ago
The cost of land(and really property tax+financing costs or opportunity cost, because land can be resold) is only a small part of the overall cost of producing food. Even if you reduce the land cost by a third, if you increase the other costs it can outweigh any gains from the new system.

by ghthor 8y ago

flavor8 8y ago

> Our large scale farming strategies seem fundamentally ignorant. For a great example of this, check out: http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/herbicide-is-whats-for-dinner http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockwork/herbicide-is-whats-for-d...

ghthor 8y ago
Wow, that is such an anti earth practice. How can we change this type of insanity? How can we protect our own guts?
- fyfy18 8y ago
  Voting with your wallet is a good start. In the EU there are strict requirements on what can be labeled ecological, including the use of the EU ecolabel. I believe the US has similar labelling. If you local supermarket doesn't have a suitable stock of ecological supplies, write to them and ask for some, or start shopping at an organic shop.
  - stareatgoats 8y ago
    Tangential: what corresponding labels or certifications are there in the US and are they in any way government backed like the EU Ecolabel?
  - black-tea 8y ago
    Oh yeah? And what about restaurants takeaways, canteens etc. which people consume about as much as they do home cooked food? Those places will always be buying the cheapest, most unethical food possible.
    - seszett 8y ago
      Here (Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium) it is quite easy to find restaurants, takeaways, food trucks, etc, that offer food made from either locally sourced, organic or ethical ingredients, or all of those at the same time.
      - steve_adams_86 8y ago
        Likewise in Victoria, BC, Canada. I have no excuse not to eat ethically and sustainably because the options are never more than a short walk or drive away. Not all people have this luxury though. On one hand, I have to make the choice to eat ethically but also spend more money. When I lived up north, options were a lot more scarce, and the average income was a lot lower. The community I lived in heavily relied on the cheapest options available.
    - fyfy18 8y ago
      Not sure why you were down voted as you make a very good point, at least in the UK that is very much the case. You can find organic food restaurants if you look hard, but almost all high street brands have very limited or no organic food - even brands that advertise themselves as healthy such as Pret or EAT.
  - jsilence 8y ago
    At least in Germany since 2015 desiccation with Glyphosat is strictly regulated and only allowed in rare circumstances. Not sure about EU global situation, tho.

jlawson 8y ago

Big farm machines are dumb. If we could instead build swarms of self-maintaining intelligent human-scale robots, perhaps working with genetically engineered work animals (monkeys?), they could hand-plant, hand-till, and hand-harvest crops at a far greater efficiency with far less disruption to the ecosystem. Picture ten thousand dog-sized robots going individually planting and caring for and harvesting millions of plants in a big forest, or a field (with different plants shading each other). An individual dollop of manure on each plant. Weeds removed by "hand" without chemicals. Basically an automated version of the extremely-efficient overlapping-crop style of farming that was often used in medieval Japan and other places with a lot of labor and know-how but without much flat land and without modern mechanization.

analog31 8y ago
I've read that in colonial times, people simply let pigs loose in the woods, then hunted them down later on when they were fattened up.
- geekagirl 8y ago
  People still do that but it’s generally not a good idea for many reasons. Feral hogs destroy crops, are dangerous to people, and eat foods that native species rely on to survive. In colonial times, it made a lot of sense to do that, but not so much now. https://mdc.mo.gov/wildlife/nuisance-problem-species/invasive-species/feral-hogs-missouri https://mdc.mo.gov/wildlife/nuisance-problem-species/invasiv...
- lyime 8y ago
  This won’t give you predictable yields. Though a combination of that idea and automation could work.
TaylorAlexander 8y ago
Well I’m developing a dog sized robot platform that’s totally open source! It’s CC0. https://youtu.be/cU_0M1_TvD0 https://youtu.be/cU_0M1_TvD0
misterprime 8y ago

gnopgnip 8y ago

The cost of land(and really property tax+financing costs or opportunity cost, because land can be resold) is only a small part of the overall cost of producing food. Even if you reduce the land cost by a third, if you increase the other costs it can outweigh any gains from the new system.