Written by Kevin Bayuk | 07 October 2010

If it is the case that fossil fuels are scarce and not renewable on human time scales, then it follows that any sustainable or permanent culture must develop a food system that is independent from the use of fossil fuels. If one were to focus in on just agriculture, food production, in the context of no fossil fuels, what would it look like? It seems clear that production would be decentralized, intensive and predominantly local (probably more fresh, mineral rich and less wasteful, too). Is it too much to say that ideally the amount of food produced in any definable region would be at least equal to the amount of food consumed in that place (obviously, surplus would be needed for storage for resilience in times of poor production, and potentially for minor export from a place of optimal climate and soil)? In other words, might we need to produce as much food as we can as close to where we live as possible.

So, how much food should we grow in San Francisco? Aware of the fossil fuel situation above, many urban agriculture enthusiasts in the city say, "as much as we can?" Which begets the question, how much food can we grow in San Francisco? Let's examine that question...

Written by Kevin Bayuk | 01 October 2010

So often when speaking to urbanites in the Bay Area and beyond about growing food, I hear the resigned, nearly mantric lament, “my apartment does not have any access to any gardening space.” How frustratingly true for so many of us metro dwellers, or, perhaps not. Perhaps there is more space available than is obvious. What may be needed are concrete actions…

City sidewalks seem to be one of the great overlooked and marginalized opportunities for the Bay Area Sustainability Movement to create immediate impact through direct action.

Transforming concrete, impervious, grossly oversized sidewalks into beautiful, edible “green walks” while maintaining, indeed enhancing, adequate pedestrian pathways might just be the most radical acts any one of us can take while creating a myriad of benefits for the community.

That’s a bold statement, so I’d like to offer a quick problem/solution analysis, using San Francisco as an example urban environment, and an inspirational story of one of our sustainability heroines, Jane Martin of Plant*SF, to support this possibility.

Written by John Valenzuela | 06 October 2010

Practical Guidance on the Use of Urine in Crop Production: A Review

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), a non-profit research institute based in Sweden, launched it's latest publication September, 2010: Practical Guidance on the Use of Urine in Crop Production, SEI EcoSanRes Series, 2010-11, Authors: Richert, A., Gensch, R., Jönsson, H., Stenström, T-A., Dagerskog, L., produced by the Ecological Sanitation Research Programme (EcoSanRes) of SEI.

Download the complete 54 page publication here (1.66MB)

The authors, researchers from Europe, Africa and Philippines, have presented the guide in three parts:

Part 1 introduces generic information and recommendations for the use of urine in crop production, dealing with the biological, physical, and some of the social issues, with examples of various vegetable, grain or fruit crops grown in Europe, Africa, India, or Central America, strategies regarding application, treatment and sanitation, handling systems, gender aspects, institutional aspects, how to conduct crop experiments, and web-based calculation tools.

Written by Rachel Buddeberg | 01 October 2010

My first permaculture task? Mix equal parts of manure with mulch and spread it out! We did this - sort of because it was rather hot - at one of the urban eatable gardens. It is the active part of an urban permaculture design course I am embarking on as part of my transition. Most of the time in the garden, we spent walking around to learn about the interaction between plants and to taste some of the fruits of the labor of others. Even though it is still a young plot - only two years old - and the dry summer presented a new challenge, there is quite a bit growing. And tasty stuff, too!

Before we ventured out to the garden, we learned the basics of permaculture ethics and design principles. Permaculture ethics are summarized in the slogan "Earth Care. People Care. Fair Share." Earth care includes vigilance of cycles, including their regularity and stability, and creating biodiversity. Biodiversity is not limited to native plants. Permaculture integrates all plants, including so called "invasive species." There really are no invasive species because a new plant to a healthy ecosystem either integrates or dies. The rampant problems we have with non-native species is due to human destruction of the ecosystem. A functioning ecosystem cannot be invaded. Also, the immigration status does not matter: Whether a plant just arrived to an ecosystem or has been there for millennia does not matter. What matters is its potential contribution to the system. This is important to remember for people, too! Which could be part of people care, which more generally includes our happiness and health. We would like to design societies so that all of our needs are met. Fair share is a part of that because it asks us to set limits to our consumption. Let us only consume what we really need, which will probably be much less for most of us in the rich World. Fair Share includes distribution and access - global justice, really, something I will be learning more about later this semester in the political philosophy seminar I am taking.