[Pil-pc-oceania] ABC Opinion - Can we live with zero emissions?

[Kerry Dawborn]

I am very fortunate where I live - within my general area, working with 
fellow permies and others, I can fill a good part of my everyday food 
needs, through in-kind  exchanges or buying, from local sources. I get 
my honey from a local beekeeper or from friends, my fruit and veg from 
my own garden when I have it, as gifts or exchanges from friends and 
neighbours, from the local organic farmer's market run by my 
permaculture group, from the local box coop scheme (partly supplied by 
locals and growing), my eggs from my own chickens, my goat milk, pork, 
beef or goat meat, from a friend/local grower in exchange for money or 
work. It is the nicest thing, as I've no doubt many permies will agree, 
to sit down to a meal where you can say you know almost every person who 
has contributed to it - Rob's honey, Caroline's apples, joe's figs, 
Chris's milk, my salad greens..... It just makes the meal taste and feel 
different. Even better than if I'd produced it all myself (for a start 
I'd probably be exhausted if I did every last bit myself, and have no 
time for anything else!). For me there is profound satisfaction and a 
sense of community, in such a meal. And in return, I and those other 
people get additional income, produce they don't grow themselves, help 
with a job, or whatever, plus in many cases, friendship, and a sense of 
being part of a community. Realistically, the way I look at it, whatever 
society might tell me, it's not all about me, and my life is much richer 
when I cooperate with others to help us all meet our needs, rather than 
focusing solely on meeting my own needs. Many of my relationships work 
on multiple levels - my social life melds with my livelihood, melds with 
my activism, melds with meeting my material needs....  I think it makes 
for a stronger basis than if those relationships where only 
uni-dimensional - if I earned my money/livelihood with these people, 
spent it with those people, socialised with a whole different bunch of 
people.... I think it's much more reflective of the connectedness of all 
things, and I have noticed I feel quite secure this way - different to 
before. I can often obtain what I need with or without money, offer help 
when it's needed knowing i can ask for help in return. Actually I think 
it's reflective also, of how we humans function naturally in groups - 
when we aren't being told to compete... Families do it; if communities 
do it too, then they are the better for it....

To me this is 'invisible structure' permaculture in action - getting 
many needs met efficiently - and mutually - in mulitiple directions.... 
and it's a beautiful thing!

cheers Dan!

Kerry

Dan Rossi wrote:
> I like your way of thinking thats how it should be, for suburbs, 
> pockets of community gardens, or on each block a house is demolished 
> to make space for one, one or the other :)
>
> On 17/03/2008, at 6:13 PM, Kerry Dawborn wrote:
>
>> I'd like to agree with Fern on this, with the addition that while eating
>> al ot from one's own backyard is clearly the way to go, eating from
>> neighbour's backyards, or from local growers as well, through local
>> exchanges (involving money or other things), can do great things in
>> terms of building community connectedness, social safety-nets (people
>> being able to work together and rely on each other), and overall
>> individual and group well-being. It's just fun, and can have a big
>> impact helping people to know their neighbours and others in their
>> communities, giving, sharing, helping, trusting... Sorry if this seems
>> obvious, which to most I'm sure it is, but at the same time I think we
>> can become very focused on doing everything for ourselves, when perhaps
>> it's just as or even more beneficial to work cooperatively with others -
>> so that we don't as individual households, necessarily, need to do
>> everything....
>>
>> Mutual exchanges of different kinds can be the glue that bind people
>> together, whatever margaret thatcher believed (she said, 'There is no
>> society, only individuals...'). Poor thing, believing that - it's a
>> scary thought.....
>>
>> cheers,
>>
>> Kerry
>>
>> permaculture at apollobay.org.au <mailto:permaculture at apollobay.org.au> 
>> wrote:
>>> Original Message:
>>> -----------------
>>> From: Dan Rossi spam at electroteque.org <mailto:spam at electroteque.org>
>>>
>>> I believe Bill tries to validate that carnivore diets is more ideal  
>>> and efficient than vegeterian diets maybe its wrong. I see alot of  
>>> uproar from the vegan communities about some ideals he has.
>>>
>>>
>>> hi dan,
>>> being an oriental medicinal practitioner and permaculturist, i can
>>> confidently say that the best diet, for your own health and the 
>>> health of
>>> the planet, is a permaculture "locavore" diet; eating what you grow 
>>> in your
>>> backyard (including animals).  This is a diet with diversity, that's in
>>> season, that's fresh, that has the lowest transport miles, the lowest
>>> energy and water usage, the lowest impact upon the earth.  Meat is 
>>> the most
>>> easily assimilated protein (as long as it's in small amounts and well
>>> cooked, preferably in a stew).  And how many vegans make their own 
>>> tofu or
>>> tempeh?  If a study was done of the embodied energy of the diet of a
>>> permaculturist who eats from their backyard, compared to a vegan who 
>>> eats
>>> from the stupermarket, which diet do you think would have less embodied
>>> energy?  I'd put my money on the permaculturist... i fully support Bill.
>>> cheers
>>> Fern
>>> PS.  Yes, oriental medicine (OM) can help with "asthma", which has
>>> different aetiology and diagnosis in OM according to your symptoms.  Not
>>> just the herbal modality of OM is beneficial; shiatsu, acupunture 
>>> and other
>>> OM modalities are also beneficial
>>>
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