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The Ecology of Money
The introduction of fossil fuels into agriculture reduced much human suffering — but it also created a massive spike in global population, creating an ever-growing need for more food. While our population continues to grow exponentially, our resources for growing food — from oil (for fuel) and natural gas (for fertilizer) to freshwater and topsoil — are rapidly depleting around the world.
Eating organic and eating local are only part of the solution. How do we reform global industrial agriculture so that we can feed nearly seven billion people (and rising) without wasting precious resources needed for at least the rest of the century? How do we build the food resilience of communities which have grown dependent on food supply chains built for a world of cheap oil?
Stephanie Mills returns with another of her colleagues from the Post Carbon Institute, Michael Shuman. Shuman is author of a number of books on developing local economies, including The Small-Mart Revolution and Going Local, and the forthcoming book Local Dollars Local Sense. the Research & Economic Development Director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). The discussion outlines the new economic era we are entering and why it is likely that local economies will win out over the globalized and fragile world economy. The period of transition will not be easy. Here in Michigan especially we need to learn a new way of investment so that local investors can invest in their local economy. As Shuman points out, little help can be expected from Lansing or Washington as government is still looking to the old economic order for answers.
Recorded in 2011.
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Economists insist that recovery is at hand, yet unemployment remains high, real estate values continue to sink, and governments stagger under record deficits. Richard Heinberg proposes a startling diagnosis: humanity has reached a fundamental turning point in its economic history.
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meet our fellowsPCI has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
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what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
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