Friday 29th July 2005 AD
POSTMODERN AGRARIANISM

The world was changing and the speed of this change was accelerating. The era of agriculture, what has been known as the Agrarian Age" had now yielded to the "Industrial Age". 

As the Steam Engine made possible for the first time manufacturing communities in the 1700's, now in the 1800's, the Industrial Revolution was picking up pace, fueled by new discoveries, invention and refinement in all manner of fields. 

This change continued to accelerate in the 1900's with the discovery of the vast oil deposits of Persia and the invention of the internal combustion engine. Living with the telephone, radio, X-ray, automobiles and even television, the age of agriculture was all but forgotten. Progressively now the Industrial Age was giving way to the High-Tech/Computer/Information Age. 

While during the Agrarian Age it had been estimated that 4 out of 5 were living on the land, now 19 out of 20 were living in densely populated cities. But how much had really changed? Was the Agrarian Age finished or had it simply taken on another form? 

We have contended that alterations in the availability and harnessing-methods of energy have resulted in the tipping of the delicate scales of social and economic balance in society. 

Of all the discoveries of the 20th century, arguably the greatest was the discovery and harnessing of the vast deposits of oil and gas trapped below the earth's surface. The seemingly incalculable amounts of crude oil and the ease and relatively low cost of recovery, transportation and refining lulled the world into an era of "cheap energy". 

Many claim that modern agriculture is the "use of land to convert oil to food." It is argued that without petroleum we would not be able to feed anywhere near the current global population. "Oil-based agriculture is primarily responsible for the world's population exploding from 1.5 billion at the middle of the 19th century to 6.4 billion at the beginning of the 21st" claims author Matt Savinar, "as oil production went up, so did food production. As food production went up, so did the population. As the population went up, the demand for food went up, which increased the demand for oil."

Savinar makes a valid point. It is estimated that it takes about 10 calories of fossil fuels to produce every 1-calorie of food eaten in our modern world. While the harnessed horse powered the former agrarian age, so today's "postmodern agrarian age" is entirely dependent on fossil fuels and petrochemicals; 

1. Pesticides are made from oil;
2. Commercial fertilizers are made from ammonia, made from natural gas;
3. Farming machinery such as tractors and trailers are constructed and powered using fossil fuels;
4. Food storage systems such as refrigerators usually run on electricity, which most often comes from natural gas or coal;
5. Food distribution networks are entirely dependant on oil. Most of the food at your local super market is packaged in plastic, which comes from petroleum. In the US, the average piece of food is transported almost 1,400 miles before it gets to the dinner plate;

What does this mean to you and I? The modern human being has morphed into a 2-legged gas-guzzler. For 19 out of 20 of us living in a Postmodern Agrarian age, our next meal is entirely dependent on the steady and affordable supply of oil and gas. But what of future "steady and affordable supply of oil and gas" ? More good questions for us to dig into in the days ahead. 

As Individuals - our job is to equip ourselves with the knowledge that will help us survive and prosper in our changing world. At Daily Dig - our job is to dig up the relevant information that will provide you, our valued readers, with this knowledge.

Best Regards - Philip Judge pjudge@anglofareast.com