Except for the comment above, I agree with a lot of what you have to
say, Dale. But, please consider that yeast in a tub of grape juice appear
to be doing "pretty well", too, as their population burgeons.
Unfortunately, they eventually consume their finite resource base and/or
poison themselves with their waste products. The analogy is not trivial.
Our agricultural system in North America and Europe is very heavily
dependent on non-renewable and, in many cases, toxic inputs.
Evidence is growing that catastrophe may, indeed, be looming. If, in 15
years, oil prices double or triple over a few short years, what will be the
impact on production? I suspect that smaller scale producers who are
close to their clientele will then come into their own. The big, distant
producers (including international exporters) will be disadvantaged by
rising transportation costs.
We will, indeed, need a lot of tools to deal with the challenges of the next
century. It would be a mistake to focus heavily on tools linked to
continued dependence on and heavy use of fossil fuels.
BOB
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