Comments on The Art of Engineering: Facing the food crisis

Energy crisis has a great impact on rising food pr...

2008-09-20T07:14:00.000+02:00

Energy crisis has a great impact on rising food prices. It is a global issue that, most of the harvesters are poor and they cannot afford modern harvesting techniques. Due to lack of knowledge there decrease in production.

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I agree growing your own food is fun (and with inc...

2008-08-05T03:36:00.000+02:00

I agree growing your own food is fun (and with increasing prices now may also save you serious money. Another food idea: urban farms.

Duncan, good post. There was an interesting overv...

2008-05-21T20:53:00.000+02:00

Duncan, good post. There was an interesting overview of the grain dilemma in the

http://forensies.com

newsletter recently.

I bought myself some tomato-seeds this week, and my little avo-pip is starting to show roots. We have to start somewhere :)

@Pieter

You might want to check out this br...

2008-05-06T10:22:00.000+02:00

@Pieter

You might want to check out this brief summary on the costs and impact of organic farming. Because it does not rely on chemical fertilizers organic farming actually has lower inputs (water, energy, pesticides) for the same yield.

I agree -- organic methods help. It is usually mor...

2008-05-06T10:14:00.000+02:00

I agree -- organic methods help. It is usually more expensive than traditional methods though (causing even higher food prices).

About earth's sustainability: I hope we figure it out quickly. My very unscientific way of reasoning is that the human population in relation to other species and their impact seem to me to be out of control. Anyway, if we don't figure it out, nature will take appropriate action. :-o

@Pieter

Just a quick off the bat thought on...

2008-05-06T10:01:00.000+02:00

@Pieter

Just a quick off the bat thought on this...

Soil depletion is closely linked to farming methods. With the Green Revolution there has been a wide scale move towards synthetic fertilisers (the typical NPK combos).

There are other techniques though, such as organic farming, no till, and on dig. Also read about how to make a no dig vegetable garden.

There are definitely socio-economic-political issues that also need addressing. I have a friend who always raises that point.

I don't know what our planet can sustain - I think that is a part of what we are currently trying to figure out.

I always enjoy reading your posts. :-) I have a bi...

2008-05-06T09:46:00.000+02:00

I always enjoy reading your posts. :-) I have a bit of a problem with the idea of everyone starting to grow crops in their backyard: soil depletion. It comes down to responsible farming practices. I have three uncles that are farmers and you simply can't practice intensive farming ad infinitum. I dare to say that I believe the earth simply can't sustain this massive number of human beings. Isn't this a socio-economic issue?