Governments will be forced to bring in some kind of rationing system, but every sector will plead that they are a special case and cannot manage with less, so a cut across the board will probably be the outcome with each business receiving a proportion of their normal consumption.
So where does the farmer cut consumption? Does he cultivate the soil less, apply less fertiliser, less pesticides, or leave the grain undried? He can’t do less harvesting or transporting the grain to storage so he will have to decide between cutting inputs and therefore yield across all his land or leaving some land uncropped. Whatever he does will mean less output and food shortages. Under our present system, less oil and gas is bound to mean less food. For those unfamiliar with how a modern farm functions Farming Friends gives an excellent insight .
At such a time of crisis, energy rationing is bound to be followed by food rationing, and a “Dig for Victory” type campaign similar to the one in WWII where people were encouraged to dig up their lawns to grow vegetables is likely. This type of small scale production has the big advantage of needing almost no fossil fuel inputs. Solar energy in the form of human muscle does the work and the fertility of the soil is maintained by growing legume crops such as peas and beans in the rotation and the use of compost.
Unfortunately, the skills needed to successfully grow vegetables are not now widespread, so for many people, starting to grow now would be a good idea. One place to find out more about how to do this is at Topveg.
Tags:
Comments
Leave a Reply