Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Food Security and Sustainability, By Andrew Williams, Gabrielle Dame,…
Food Security and Sustainability
Protected Cultures Structures (Reading 13)
Greenhouses as Sustainable Alternative to Industrial Agriculture
The technology for off the grid solar powered geothermal greenhouses with net zero carbon emissons already exists.Which will eliminate the pressure that farmers feel to keep up.
Unheated Greenhouses ''Cold Houses'' (reading 11)
Use less energy (no heating)
The soil itself is the heat-storage medium
Extend production all year long
Low-cost and user-friendly
Mobility
Use of the same greenhouse for summer vegetables and winter vegetables (reduction of costs)
Avoids the expense of having to cool the house
Avoidance of the buildup of pests, diseases, and excess soil nutrients
Efficient use of water
Low water lost in evaporation
Benefits of Protected Agriculture
Extending the season in which they can plant certain crops
Weather and season are key issues to farmers because they can only grow one thing for so long.Greenhouses allow things to be grown practically all year if properly maintained.
First to market with a given crop
Insure wholesale and market accounts
Advanced greenhouse techniques (AGT)
Agricultural Outputs Results (e.g.)
Fertilizer
Produce
Economic stability
Help small scale farms thrive as much as they help large scale farms without affecting sustainability
Allows them to compete with industrial sized farms
Techniques (Dutch)
Spacing
Climate
Plant husbandry
Variety
Structure
Efficiency
Treats to Food Security (Reading 12)
Food Preservation
Food preservation techniques (AGR 303 - Lecture)
Cold spot storage
Canning
Dehydrating
Drying
Cooking
Curing
Smoking
Pickling
Sharing knowledge is essential
Cities are centers of food cultures : food trends arise from urban areas
Increases the ability to face and resist to sudden perturbations (when food is available in limited quantities)
Food Availability and Scarcity
Changes according to
Seasons
Specific climates around the world
Political or economical situations
Sudden perturbations
Mitigation
Growing produce that thrives during colder months (e.g. spinach or lettuce). (Reading 11)
Food storage
Food preservation
Sudden Perturbations
Climate hazards (e.g. hurricanes)
Employment lost
Disruption of energy supplies
Disruption of markets supplies
Food contamination
Introducing the Ecological Garden (Reading 10)
Typical Gardening
Definition
Gardening characterized by single purpose elements that provide no habitat for native or rare species; struggling plants on intensive care that rely on chemicals ; a need for constant and laborious intervention to prevent decline in garden's health, yield and beauty.
Example
Planting one single tree to cast shade.
Drawback
Providing for people, while disturbing wildlife and ecosystem balances
Ecological Gardening
Definition
Gardening characterized by multiple purpose elements that both look and work the way nature does ; strong connections built among plants, soil life, beneficial insects, other animals and the gardener ; a self-sufficient, resilient, natural network that requires few human intervention.
Example
Planting a cluster of several tree varieties that will provide shade, offer nuts or other food for both people and wildlife and attract pollinators that will later help fruit trees bear more heavily.
Benefit
Providing for people, while restoring the natural cycles that have been broken by conventional landscape design and agriculture.
Natural Gardening
Definition
Gardening characterized by almost exclusively native plants ; an intention to create and restore habitat ; a small and limited capacity to offer for people.
Example
Planting native trees in the home landscape.
Drawback
Less disturbing to wildlife and ecosystems, while having no effect on owner's habitat loss elsewhere, out of sight.
Native vs Exotic Species Debate
A limited time frame controversy
Wind, animals, sea currents and continental drift have always dispersed species into new environments.
A misleading and futile yanking
Many restorations projects fail when funding or labor pool runs out, as nonnatives quickly reestablish thereafter
A need for a change of approach
Creating ecologically mature landscapes : The best long-term hope for eliminating most opportunistic species lies in avoiding soil disturbance, restoring intact forest and shading the newcomers out with other species.
Permaculture as part of Ecological Gardening
Landscape design approach
Focus on relationships and interconnections of elements within the system
Permaculture Principles in Ecological Gardening
Core Principles
1.Observe
2.Connect
3.Catch and store energy and materials
Each element performs multiple functions
5.Each function is supported by many elements
6.Make the least change for the greatest effect
Use small-scale, intensive systems
8.Optimize edge
9.Collaborate with succession
10.Use biological and renewable resources
Principles Based on Attitudes
Turn problems into solutions
12.Get a yield
The biggest limit to abundance is creativity
Mistakes are tools for learning
The Theory of Anyway (Reading 12)
Claiming
95% of what is needed to resolve the coming crisis is what we should do anyway
Aim
Ethical living : making choices contributing to the repair of the world rather than its destruction
Down to earth living : modestly and simply living connected to our food and community.
Reflective living : making conscious choices regarding its impact on climate change and resource availability. Reflecting on consumption habits.
Altruistic living : Caring for the security of others, rather than only your own.
Sustainable living : Reducing waste, restoring lands and habitats, protecting ecosystems and its wildlife, sharing resources fairly.
Food Autonomy (Reading 12)
Aim
Respect of sowing, growing, harvesting and resting processes
Eating directly from soil (consuming more vegetables)
Purchasing and/or consuming food closer to where it is produced in order to reduce environmental impacts related to consumption
Reducing our dependency to exportations/markets
Benefits
Reduced overconsumption and waste
Reduced financial cost related to food consumption
Healthier, tastier, safer food (knowing where food comes from)
Methods
Growing on private properties, purchasing local food, purchasing CSA baskets, purchasing from farmer's markets or small-scale organic farms
By Andrew Williams, Gabrielle Dame, Èvemarie Durant
& Isabelle Quimper
MIND MAP 3