You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Permaculture Principles: Observe and Interact and Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Years ago, I learned at an ECHO conference (https://www.echonet.org/) that sustainable agriculture needed to be integrated. For example, rabid folks, for decades, have claimed that cattle are a waste of the land. That's a high stack of bovine manure. Kine and even more goats can graze on rocky lands. Regardless, they maintain the health of prairie lands which would need a substantial movement of organic materials and work to convert into intense vegetable production. By moving chickens (via tractors) into the lastly grazed areas, the land heals quicker. Such pairie lands are a vital part of a macro-eco-system. These lands then facilitate the possibility of maximizing of nearby crop production.
I agree, it's usually not the species that causes harm (including us evil humans), but the way they are kept. One such great example happened at the farm in Nicaragua I was volunteering, where the owner was talking about getting oil-palm trees and all the hippy volunteers literally cried out: "Noooo! What a horrible tree." Until the guy explained that he wanted a tree for each family in the community, so they can locally make their own cooking oil, not a huge plantation. Generalizations are generally to be avoided.