Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
culture and the vegan movements. These movements are more influential than they might
appear, and tend to influence the mainstream with their ideas through a sort of intellectual
osmosis long before they are eventually accepted into the mainstream in their own right.
The influence of vegans and vegetarians can be detected in an overall decline in meat con-
sumption, and a shift to a more balanced diet; similarly, the current public interest in trees
probably owes something to the permaculture approach. Both these trends are very wel-
come - it is when they become obsessive or absolutist that I worry.
The Gentlemen's Agreement
Permaculture, or permanent agriculture, was first formulated by Bill Mollison and
David Holgrem in Australia in the 1970s, and until recently most of its important texts have
been written with tropical countries in mind. It is important to bear in mind that the discus-
sion in this section focuses primarily on the UK and to a lesser extent on other countries
enjoying temperate climates.
Patrick White field's
The Earth Care Manual
is a long awaited assessment of the value
of the permaculture approach to farmers and growers in temperate zones. The fact that I use
it to question certain aspects of the UK permaculture movement does not diminish my re-
spect for Whitefield's work, or for his book, which is full of shrewd advice, and which I use
as a teaching aid. I don't know of any other book in the UK which covers the same issues
in anywhere near as much detail. There is not a lot to be gained from subjecting to scrutiny
a work which is not the best in its field, which
Th
e
Earth Care Manual
undoubtedly is.
Permaculture means different things to different people', says Whitefield in the opening
paragraph of his first chapter, 'but at root it means taking natural ecosystems as the model
for our own human habitats. Natural ecosystems are, almost by definition, sustainable, and
if we can understand the way they work we can use that understanding to make our own
lives more sustainable.'
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You might think at this point that any sensible vegan would decide: 'Permaculture is not
for me'. All natural ecosystems have animals that eat the vegetation as well as one anoth-
er, and are integral to the ecological balance, so an agricultural economy which eschewed
animals would seem to be inherently inconsistent with permaculture. But bizarrely a great
many vegans are interested in permaculture, and a considerable number of permaculturists
are vegan or vegetarian. I have just keyed the words 'vegan permaculture' into Google and
have got 516,000 results; when I key in 'livestock permaculture', I get 78,200.
You might also think that the author of this opening sentence would be reluctant to ex-
punge the animal kingdom from his vision, and here you would be right. If you read all of
Whitefield's book you will see that he shares broadly similar opinions about the relative
value of animals and grass and trees to those I express here. He warns prospective pioneers
about the danger of buying land for tree-planting which is obviously more suitable left as
