Chris Smaje Profile picture
Sep 11 8 tweets 2 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Interesting review of my book #NOtoFarmFree from @Jeremy_Williams. A few remarks:

Maybe it’s premature to dismiss a technology that "doesn’t exist yet beyond a single experimental company" but time isn't on our side. What’s clear is that this technology will *always* use... 1/6
...more supplied primary energy than cultivated plants

Given that per acre yields from agroecological production aren't less than from industrial production, there’s no need to ‘prove’ the former can feed the world... 2/6
...but it’s true it might not mesh with the kind of high-energy supply chains required by cities like Tokyo. Given impending energy constraints, the likelihood is therefore future ruralization. I think the onus is on the ecomodernists to explain how this can be avoided... 3/6
...I explain at length in my book why there’s a kind of Gresham’s law in ag tech, where high-capital/tech/energy approaches chase out low-capital/tech/energy ones... 4/6
...No doubt it’s nice to “reserve the right to say both” low & hi-tech, local & global etc. But just saying it won’t stop the sharp political conflicts now emerging over land & food around the differences between Monbiot’s position & mine, which will likely not yield both... 5/6
I get why some people criticise my ‘No to farm-free’ title, but I stand by it. I explain why in my book & @ . IMO the drive of his book is toward Ch 7 (‘Farmfree’) & its title doesn't lie. I don’t think it will bring the results he hopes for 6/6chrissmaje.com/2023/06/saying…
...to clarify, 'his book' = George Monbiot's 'Regenesis'
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More from @csmaje

Jul 30
My writing on ag localism to meet present crises is influenced by ecosocialism but more by distributism, civic republicanism & ag populism. I’ve had good engagement from ppl on the left – we share much – but also some nonsense. Long 🧵to try to lay out overlaps & divergences 1/27
Basic structure of many small farm societies of the past & (I suspect) the future: households usually comprising a small kin-related group as unit of production & consumption with exclusive access to a small area of land, set within wider commons & community relationships 2/27
The ‘exclusive access’ (=private property) bit troubles some on the left. The main problem with private property is its tendency to accumulate in few hands & thence to generate monopoly rent that excludes most people from livelihood autonomy 3/27
Read 27 tweets
May 25, 2022
A thread on farming livestock in answer to @helioscomm regarding @GeorgeMonbiot's arguments:

1. With cheap & abundant (fossil) energy for fertilizer, traction etc, plants can produce more protein & energy per acre or per energy input than livestock...
2. But without cheap energy you usually need to build fertility with grass/legume leys & rotate between ley & cropland. In this situation, livestock are all but essential - and it’s not meaningful to ask whether plants or livestock produce the most nutrition per unit input...
3. ...they’re both part of a larger system where they have different jobs to do. And where the key role of livestock is as farm labourers/nutrient cyclers, not as food producers – although the specialist food & fibre they do produce is important
Read 10 tweets
Apr 28, 2021
1/10 The forces driving potential 'collapse' aren’t only climate related, but are independently driven by political economy, energy, water, soils, ecosystems etc.
2/10 There's already plenty of 'collapse' in modern society: nutrition, employment, health, social welfare, social linkage, violence. Social structures are failing many, many people & climate change is making it worse. So this isn’t just an abstract debate about the future
Read 11 tweets

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