Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Category Archives: Food issues
Ten Things that Change without Fossil Fuels
If losing fossil fuels completely, or nearly completely, is a risk for some of the world’s population, it might be useful to think through some of the things that go wrong. The following are some of my ideas about things that change, mostly for the worse, in a fossil fuel-deprived economy. Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications, Food issues
Tagged fossil fuel prices, grid electricity, solar energy, wind energy
3,384 Comments
An Energy-Related Reason Why US Healthcare Outcomes are Awful
Back in January 2013, the US Institute of Medicine published a report called U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health. This poor health outcome for US citizens is in spite of the US spending twice as much as … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications, Food issues
Tagged life expectancy, morbidity rates, mortality rates, processed food
658 Comments
2013: Beginning of Long-Term Recession?
We have been hearing a lot about escaping the fiscal cliff, but our problem isn’t solved. The fixes to date have been partial and temporary. There are many painful decisions ahead. Based on what I can see, the most likely … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications, Food issues, Planning for the Future
Tagged debt default, economic growth, electricity demand, Food prices, forecast for 2013, government spending, high oil prices, oil exporter, oil importer, oil prices, oil shale, Peter Turchin, recession, renewable energy, Secular Cycles, Social Security, tight oil
158 Comments
Is Sustainable Agriculture an Oxymoron?
This is a guest post by Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden, a Guide to Home Scale Permaculture. It is being republished with the author’s permission. It was previously published on his blog, Pattern Literacy. Jared Diamond calls it “the worst mistake … Continue reading
Posted in Food issues, Guest post, Planning for the Future
Tagged agriculture, permaculture, sustainability, Toby Hemenway
143 Comments
Why Malthus Got His Forecast Wrong
Most of us have heard that Thomas Malthus made a forecast in 1798 that the world would run short of food. He expected that this would happen because in a world with limited agricultural land, food supply would fail to rise … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Implications, Food issues
Tagged coal, energy consumption, food supply, Malthus, oil, oil price, peak oil, technology
160 Comments
