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Well ... notill is something that some indigenous people had as a practice. I think we lost a lot more in our shift to modernity. We've been living on this narr

by hosh 5y ago

Well ... notill is something that some indigenous people had as a practice. I think we lost a lot more in our shift to modernity. We've been living on this narrative that what comes next is necessarily better than what came before, and while there are some progress, that narrative doesn't hold up to be universally true. https://www.atnesa.org/contil/contil-shetto-indigenous.pdf https://www.atnesa.org/contil/contil-shetto-indigenous.pdf If folks thought notill is so revolutionary, wait 'til they see perennial food forests and agroforestry. Those also have indigenous roots.

xyzzyz 5y ago
> Well ... notill is something that some indigenous people had as a practice. Okay, what were their yields per acre? Or is the plan to go back to population levels of indigenous people?
- hosh 5y ago
  It’s less about yields and more about ways of viewing and experiencing the world, which in turn changes the kind of questions people ask. “What are the yield numbers for practice X?” “How can we maximize yields?” “How can we supply population size Y?” “How do we grow food to standards that are sellable in grocery markets?” “How can we keep grown produce fresh enough to transport them thousands of miles away?” In contrast to things like: “What makes for a healthy ecosystem (which includes plants, animals, fungi, and humans)?” (A farm as an ecosystem rather than a machine that produces food) “How do we incorporate waste as an input to another living system within the ecosystem?” “What can we grow locally that would support the community and reduce dependency on long-haul transported food?” “What are the feedback cycles in our ecosystem and how can I design in a way to add more of such processes?” “What small changes I can make to those feedback cycles that would create larger effects in the ecosystem?” “What yields are we not incorporating into the design of our ecosystem?” “How can I turn the margins into productive land?”

by hosh 5y ago

xyzzyz 5y ago

> Well ... notill is something that some indigenous people had as a practice. Okay, what were their yields per acre? Or is the plan to go back to population levels of indigenous people?

hosh 5y ago
It’s less about yields and more about ways of viewing and experiencing the world, which in turn changes the kind of questions people ask. “What are the yield numbers for practice X?” “How can we maximize yields?” “How can we supply population size Y?” “How do we grow food to standards that are sellable in grocery markets?” “How can we keep grown produce fresh enough to transport them thousands of miles away?” In contrast to things like: “What makes for a healthy ecosystem (which includes plants, animals, fungi, and humans)?” (A farm as an ecosystem rather than a machine that produces food) “How do we incorporate waste as an input to another living system within the ecosystem?” “What can we grow locally that would support the community and reduce dependency on long-haul transported food?” “What are the feedback cycles in our ecosystem and how can I design in a way to add more of such processes?” “What small changes I can make to those feedback cycles that would create larger effects in the ecosystem?” “What yields are we not incorporating into the design of our ecosystem?” “How can I turn the margins into productive land?”