The Future of Urban Permaculture Retrofitting Is Here! Welcome to The Plant
I’ve been mulling around different business plans for retrofitting older buildings with whole systems that include integrated aquaponics, renewable energy, and waste recycling. Well, to my great surprise and delight it turns out that a coalition of students, urban farmers, scientist, designers, and green entrepreneurs are currently underway developing such a place in Chicago! Rather than pie in sky expensive “farmscaper” schemes the Plant is a efficient vertical farm with in an existing building that will provide cost savings, innovation, and jobs for new tenants and the community. Cost savings, innovation, and jobs, why that sounds exactly like what the US desperately needs right now. Check out the amazing flow diagram below to get a picture of all the systems being deployed and support this upcoming series of webisodes on the Plant via this kickstarter campaign. I hope to see first hand the Plant and other amazing projects in the Chicago area when I arrive there with the Green Living Project mobile tour. If you know any sweet sustainability projects in Chicago that could use some more exposure please feel free to contact me via mobiletour(at)greenlivingproject.com
keep innovating,
@gaiapunk
Join the Crispy permaculture movement
I have this joke with my crew in Olympia that many of my closest friends aren’t quite completely punks, or aren’t quite completely hippies, they’re kind of crusty-punk-hippies, or as I like to say they’re “crispies”. Crispies obviosly know how to keep it fresh and thus are naturally attracted to permaculture and alternative, even eccentric modes of living. I think this intro to the CrIc house is perhaps also a decent intro to some downright wholesome crispy culture.
~@gaiapunk would like to thank Lamp Leee Walker for sending in this video
Lost Valley, Sol Trekker, and the Green Living Project Mobile Tour
Gaiapunk is going on the road!
@Gaiapunk standing happily by his freshly double dug garden bed
Hey folks,
Here is some is exciting news folks, I @gaiapunk (Evan Schoepke), the editor of punk rock permaculture e-zine may be coming to your town soon. I’m happy to announce that I just recently accepted a position as the mobile tour lead with the Green Living Project and I will be traveling the country documenting the most exciting sustainability stories and regenerative projects I can find, as well as, doing environment education presentations in schools along the way. And if this wasn’t exciting enough I will be riding (and living) in the colorful Sol Trekker an incredible retro-fitted RV which you can learn about below. The Green Living Project is a one of a kind sustainable media production company that truly cares about promoting the best ecological projects in the world. They have some amazing non-profit partners such as the famed Lost Valley Permaculture Education Center which I was fortunate enough to vist recently for the first time. I’m currently in the Portland, OR area for the next 3 weeks and will be posting my rough calendar shortly (if you want to meet up just tweet a message to @gaiapunk). I would love to connect with people on the road or on the web as the tour progresses. If you know of a exciting project that we should capture on our route we would love to here about it. I also would like to give a shout out to all my supporters here at PRP e-zine, as well as my friends and family, and I promise I will to continue to provide some of the most interesting content documenting the permaculture movement to be found on the web, thank you all!
~gaiapunk
Permaculture, Sacred geometry, and natural forms
Being a permaculture nerd I love learning about the pattern language of our natural world, and so it’s no wonder that I’m also very fascinated by sacred geometry and it’s relationships to natural forms. The flow forms pictured at left are based on the Von Kramen Vortices below and are used for water purification. I hope you enjoy these amazing short films the first is called Nature by Numbers and second is about Garrett Lisi’s E8 theory for unified physics which I found astoundingly beautiful and I hope he eventually wins the Noble Prize for his awesome contribution to science. If you would like to learn more about sacred geometry, pattern language, and natural forms I would highly suggest the work of Aidrian O’Connor called the Geometry of Life. I hope to do more posts on sacred geometry and different ways in which people have incorporated it into permaculture designs in future posts.
~@gaiapunk
A Little Punk Break
I just read a very funny interview with Steve Ignorant of Crass, a great permaculture oriented punk band, and so I wanted to do a little post in their honor as a break in the ridiculous amount of coverage generated by the “royal” wedding. Why does the UK spend so much money on protecting and promoting an antiquated wealthy monarchy, why does the US not have universal health care, will these questions every be answered? I don’t know but here is a crass video to make you feel bit better about it all and a link to a post about their permaculture efforts at the Dial House in Essex, UK.
Great Intro To Permaculture Concepts
My good friend Craid Sadur who is currently kickin’ it tough in the Chicago area just published this excellent articlethat gives a great introduction to permaculture concepts:
Permaculture is a new system of thought that is gradually becoming popular. It is a philosophy that works with nature, instead of against nature. “Traditional agriculture” has relied upon conquering nature with artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Permaculture is attempting to escape from this dependence on chemicals in agriculture.
Permaculture is also a design method that studies patterns from nature. Then those patterns are mixed with modern technology to design sustainable systems. The key is to not compete with nature, but work with it.
Many popular concepts are already included in Permaculture and Permaculture design. These concepts are: organic gardening, rainwater harvesting, composting, sustainable building, gray water recycling, and the utilization of natural energy sources. All of these are important aspects for a sustainable future. These concepts have observed what nature gives us. They are using a form of technology to create sustainable solutions.
See the rest of the article here:
Eveergreen Co-operative Initiative and the Permaculture Unconference
Permaculture News:
Permaculture and Co-ops
I want to take a moment and highlight something very amazing happening in the US and around the globe which is the beneficial merging of the permaculture and co-operative movements. This makes a lot of sense because both movements are in line with ideas and ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share. Although it’s not yet advertised, Punk Rock Permaculture E-zine is even part of a bigger Permaculture Media Co-op which includes Permaculture.tv and other sites.
In previous posts we’ve emphasized how the combination of cooperatives, permaculture, and community land trust are winning combination to bring ecological, social, and environmental regeneration to affected communities. Please take a minute and educate yourself about the innovative Evergreen Co-operative Initiative in Ohio, and then if you want to learn more about the cutting edge nexus of the permaculture and co-operative movements please follow the upcoming spring Permaculture Unconference in the SF bay area.
How the Internets just got Flattr…
Flattr leaves invite only BETA go get it!
<<<< Flattr punk rock permaculture e-zine,
if you love us… 
Flattr, a new social nanopayments dontion platform already popular in Europe, and currently being used by Wikileaks has left invite only BETA which means it’s open to all content creators/users to enjoy. Check out this video of Peter Sunde (formerly of The Pirate Bay) explaining the formation of flattr and why it’s such a simple revolution! The Social Media Times, The Financial Times Tech blog, Read Write Web, Mathaba and Tech Dirt have all written excellent articles about this service.
The Hail Seizures new album review and 3 country tour!
For the Ruin…
back cover
Just when you thought they had their last transmission (big pun) my best friends in the Hail Seizures from my homebase in Olympia, Wa just released a new album and are about to embark on a epic 3 country tour! Folk punk fusion bands such as The Hail Seizures, Blackbird Raum, Black Oak, and others constitute a type of gritty acoustic blend that I believe is best described as “hard wood music”. If you hear the lyrics of these guys you’ll find a deep ecological awareness, a bit of rage, but a light hearted joyfulness as well. Some possible joyful influences may be that every member is a avid gardener, defends the heart of their community, cares about community oriented art, and knows the true meaning of solidarity and friendship. Honestly, you need to see these folks live to really appreciate the authenticity of their sound which is why you should catch them on tour this July and August. Here is my official review:
If someone were to take a big rusty chainsaw,stick it in your ear, and then light that shit on fire while it was still running like it was No Bigggie™, it wouldn’t even compare to the shear exquisite rawness and intricate passion of this album. Wicked fuckin’ awesome good, great job friends!
Justseeds releases radical art history masterpiece!
As a print maker, street artist, and permaculture activist working on ecological and social justice and transformation I take a lot of inspiration from Justseeds. Based loosely in NYC, PDX and now Pittsburgh PA these folks are heroes of art that makes a impact that is why I’m happy to promote their new book in Our Little Store.
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative
Firebrands:Portraits from the Americas
$10
Our new book published by Microcosm Publishing,Firebrands is “full of art, American history, and dangerous information. These beautifully illustrated mini-poster pages showcase radicals, dissidents, folk singers, and rabble-rousers, from Emma Goldman to Tupac, Pablo Neruda to Fred Hampton. As say editors Shaun Slifer and Bec Young in the introduction, the book is for “anyone who has sat trembling with frustration and disappointment in a history class that was neither stimulating nor inclusive. It’s for those tired of hauling to classes heavy textbooks that have been carefully removed of anything interesting or useful. It’s for all our ancestors, especially those misrepresented in those textbooks, left out because they were too brown, too female, too poor, too queer, too uneducated, too disabled, or because they daydreamed too much.” This is a real people’s history, a book packed with dynamite, desire, and above all, courage.”
Justseeds contributors include:Alec “Icky” Dunn, Mary Tremonte, Colin Matthes, Chris Stain, Melanie Cervantes, Josh MacPhee, Meredith Stern, Kevin Caplicki, Kristine Virsis, Roger Peet, Molly Fair, Erik Ruin,Favianna Rodriguez, Jesus Barraza, Nicolas Lampert, Fernando Marti, Jesse Purcell,Dylan Miner, Pete Yahnke,Shaun Slifer, and Bec Young.
book
192 pages (178 pages with page numbers)
78 illustrations
5.5″x7″
A Radical Relocalization Manifesto
For a while now I’ve been meaning to type up a great radical permaculture manifesto, which I still hope to finish soon. But until then, please enjoy this amazing “radical relocalization manifesto” from Radical Relocaliztion.com
A Relocalizer’s
Manifesto!
by Andrew MacDonald
I declare it’s obvious as hell
we can take care of our ourselves,
we the neighbors, we the friends,
we the face-to-face people.
We can grow our own food
and enough for others too
- if we work our asses off.
We can make our foolery and finery
- make our own bedevilment and divinery.
We can work close by and make the neighborhood ring.
There’s no army to shoot us when we don’t buy a car,
no knock on the door if we plant a cabbage
where the driveway was.
No tax on the burgeoning compost pile.
Most every one will like the fruit trees
and the fish in the fresh dug pool.
Because it is so
I declare our collective smarts
brighter than our solitary darks.
I acknowledge our collective intelligence
past the laments
and the governments.
The road’s not far,
and we’ll be glad we went.
Don’t need our country uber alles
and mine’s not strong or free.
But we can take care of it
pretty much locally.
(A radical relocalization map photo credit– The Public Amateur )
How Sustainable Bamboo will Help Haiti and the World
Humanitarian and Sustainable Bamboo for Haiti and beyond!
Hey Folks Gaia Punk here,
New Developments
I haven’t had much time to post because I’ve been working pretty much non-stop on a Permaculture Relief Corps mission call Perma Corps for Haiti, which has been getting a LOT of support from here and also here . Which brings me to my next subject sustainable bamboo production! I absolutely love bamboo, in fact, I currently live in cozy and locally sourced bamboo framed yurt. I wish to bring up the subject because RIGHT NOW there are currently around two million people homeless in Haiti, 1 million or so in Port Au Prince and another million scattered throughout the countryside. It is very likely that in couple of weeks when when the seasonal rains begin in full force (not to mention Hurricanes) many of the tents and encampments where displaced Haitians are housed will be completely washed out. Haiti desperately needs cheap, permanent, sustainable housing that is hurricane and earthquake resistant ASAP and bamboo combined with Cob is the ideal locally sourced combination. Below is a wonderful manual about Humanitarian Bamboo from the amazing IDEP foundation, as well as, my top 5 reasons bamboo rocks. This list comes with the best and most up to date links you could ever hope to find on the web regarding sustainable bamboo. If you have any bamboo resources such as connections with bamboo plantations or builders or can offer help in anyway please email thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com as Perma Corps for Haiti is looking to have teams on the ground shortly and then building structures right away.
TOP 5 Reasons That Bamboo Rocks!!!
1.) Bamboo is a very strong, very cheap, natural, quickly renewable, highly flexible and adaptable, building material.
To see just what Bamboo can do just take a peak at this link and especially these great e-books below:
2.) Bamboo is a ideal perennial and beneficially plant for Permaculture Design applications:
- Bamboo in Permaculture Design
- Bamboo in emergency housing
- Permaculture Bamboo farming
- Expert Permaculture educator Robyn Francis shows off some of the amazing Bamboo varieties at Djanbung Gardens (video)
3.) Bamboo can sequester TONS of carbon while still being regularly harvested and can drastically improve soil fertility when used as biochar!
- Detailed description of the potential for large scale bamboo carbon sequestration projects
- Bamboo used as biochar (large pdf)
Biochar from bamboo has a unique pore structure, making it a perfect soil structure for beneficial aerobic bacteria and fungi, resulting in crop yield gains of as much as 800-percent. It is important to mix the biochar with well-prepared compost inoculated with bacteria from undisturbed (usually nearby forest) local soils.
4.) You can eat it and it tastes amazing!
How to grow edible bamboo shoots
5.) In Permaculture there is a saying, “Unity through intergration, intergration through diversity!” and the world of Bamboo is full of diversity. Due to bamboo’s amazing diversity of both products and species it will be a key economic factor in helping the 2/3rds (developing) world out of poverty especially in heavily deforested regions such as Haiti.
Haiti update from Permaculture relief expert Andrew Jones
Permacorps and Haiti by the numbers
My instructor Scott Pittman of the US permaculture Institute on the need for a Permcorps from permaculture.tv
Gaia punk here,
Update: Permaculture Relief Corps in Haiti!
Below is a great update from Nika Boyce (@nika7k) I want to thank everyone who has expressed interest and I am inspired that this idea IS HAPPENING! Stuart Leiderman (Lakou Permaculture) is on the ground in Haiti right now calling out for help stateside with coordinating a long term Permaculture Relief Corps effort. People working in Haiti have asks that folks do not send goods just yet as you can see from the photos the port is a total mess! Below is a email list of key coordinators by region:
Stuart Leiderman —Currently in Haiti right now was working on the Lakou-Permaculture project
leiderman(at)mindspring.com
Joni Zweig –Currently in Haiti works with AMURTEL disaster relief
info(at)amurtel.org
Cory Brenna—Currently in FL coordinating funds and people in FL works with permacultureguild.us which has a donation site up now for the creation of a Permaculture Relief Corps
cory8570(at)yahoo.com
Kevin —-Currently in Hudson Valley NY coordinating fundraising
regenerationcsa(at)gmail.com
Rhonda—- Coordinating in the Bloomington IN region
rk.baird(at)yahoo.com
Marvin Warren —Coordinating for the Ithaca Finger lakes area
greenmansinger(at)gmail.com
If your not on this list and want to be or on this list and don’t want to be….
Evan Schoepke (@gaiapunk) Currently coordinating for the Olympia WA and Seattle area
thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com
From Nika Boyce (nika7k):
Like you, I have been simply swept away by the brutal earthquake that has subsumed Haiti into a hell that gets worse by the day.
I have been mostly learning about it via CNN and on twitter. I have been pouring over the satellite images of the destruction as seen in Google Earth.
As I write, Reuters says that more than 200,000 people have died and as of this evening, they have buried 40,000 dead. MANY more bodies lay in the streets and under endless tons of ruined buildings.
Thank goodness for twitter and the permaculture people I have gotten to know there because that is the only thing that is keeping me from feeling utterly lost in desolation over this apocalypse.
It is through @gaiapunk, who is something of a one-man permaculture media empire, that I have begun to learn about and really love the idea of Permaculture First Responders.
He posted several links to projects already either training Permaculture First Responders or projects on the ground in Haiti and other disaster struck places.
Permaculture First Responder – Permie Disaster Relief Training Course
Cegrane Camp Permaculture Rehabilitation Project
Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange
I have been wondering how I might be able to help nurture this idea here, tucked away in my small part of the world without actually going to Haiti myself.
I have been chatting with Cory at Permaculture.org and am happy to share this link that is very constructive in terms of the next steps.
Help for Haiti from Permaculture
(UPDATE: @gaiapunk will also be posting a Long term Permaculture Relief Corps project on kickstarter.com a crowd funding site look for that in the next day or two)
From that site you will see:
Some of the projects which permaculturists can design and implement are:
Short Term:
Building sewage systems, composting toilets, compost and recyclying centers, rocket and solar stoves, temporary shelters (perma-yurts), water catchment and filtering, and plant nurseries.
Rocket and solar stoves are key because the major ecological problem in Haiti which causes huge hardships from many angles is deforestation for fuel. Solar stoves use no wood and rocket stoves, which can be made out of old cans and pipes laying around, use almost no fuel and can cook with twigs.
Correct diversion of sewage, human waste, and water can substantially contribute to rebuilding farm land in the area – the idea is to create the conditions for long term self-sufficiency and abundance with even our short term handlings.
Long Term:
Permanent, low cost, earthquake resistant natural buildings, water storage, earth works, renewable energy, permaculture food forests, broad-scale reforestation, farms, aquaculture systems, and community buildings such as schools and health centers.
We are currently working via a worldwide network of permaculturists to bring resources to Haiti, and several permaculturists are interested in traveling to Haiti to help with the rescue and relief efforts, but need funding to do so. We are in contact with disaster handlers in the area who they can coordinate with for maximum effectiveness. There is a permaculture project existing in Haiti that we are working to connect with as well. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me – I am also willing to meet with potential funders to answer questions personally.
If you want to donate now, please use the “Haiti Donations – Donate” Paypal button on the right hand side of this web page. For past projects we’ve funded, please see the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation article under “Projects.” We will use initial funding to get people there on the ground and most needed resources such as equipment for building the short term items needed. Whenever possible, we use existing resources in the area that are free or very inexpensive – permaculture is very effective at getting the maximum return for energy invested, so you will know your money is going to a good cause.
I know that the idea of surviving this disaster is like a miracle and then the idea of Haiti being able to climb up from a place so dark seems too distant to contemplate.
To this end, I have been graphing out what the needs would be over time for people living through such overwhelming disasters.
I think its extremely important to do this now and for Haitians, now, because these same ideas and strategies will be needed again and again as climate change progresses.
In the graphic above, I try to illustrate the needs of a person immediately after surviving a catastrophe (earthquake, fire, flood, etc). The needs are pretty basic but inelastic in their being absolutely needed.
Once the person is out of immediate danger and is left standing with nothing, no assets, nothing but other survivors around them, they need to find a way to rebuild, regenerate, and boost their resilience so that they become embedded in a community that provides current and future needs.
In this next graphic, I extend on the specific needs outlined in the second graphic with permaculture and no/lo-carbon and low cost strategies for coping and rebuilding.
Please take some time and explore these graphics and tell me what you think, whats missing? What would you add?
Please consider becoming involved in helping the Haitians, using permaculture or by other means, as where the Haitians are right now, that hell, could easily be ours, any of us.
We are, in many ways, their community.
We are each other’s community and it is through us banding together that we build resilience in every place.
Permaculture Relief Corps Forming For Haiti Earthquake Response?
The Remarkable History (and Possible Future) Of Permaculture Disaster Relief
Devastation in Port Au Prince photo: Carel Pedre via twitter
Devastation in Port Au Prince photo: Carel Pedre via twitter
1/13/09
Yesterday the island of Hispanola was hit with a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake near Port-Au-Prince the capital of Haiti . Many multiple story buildings have completely collapsed including the major Hospital in the region. Thousands may be killed or trapped in the rubble and aid is being mobilized from around the world. With little to no backup power, sewage, water, housing, or food aid systems in place, Haiti, which is currently the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, is in a VERY DIRE SITUATION. Without a doubt resources and expertise are moving en mass to Haiti, but beyond this temporary relief, what will sustain this nation of 10 million people when it’s left in an even poorer position than ever before? This is where permaculture design comes in, with an adaptable and ever evolving tool kit that can be of vital assistance in disaster relief and the long recovery period to follow.
During the war in Kozovo back in 1999 when displaced refugees flooded into Macedonia Geoff Lawton and a crack team of eager permaculturalists secured international aid to design and implement the master plan for the Cegrane Camp Permaculture Rehabilitation Project, a large refugee camp that provided relief for over 43,000 people.
Permaculture Disaster Relief
Geoff created the design around water capture and storage. The final design called for 7.2 km of swales, with an estimated water holding capacity of 30 million liters, greatly reducing the flood potential. Many passive solar strawbale buildings were constructed by trained locals who quickly grasped the simplicity and efficiency of this natural building technique. Large gardens, composting toliets, and chicken tractors all came together in a very short time span. The skills and systems thinking acquired during this process may help secure sustainable employment and economic development for the entire region for years to come.
Another successful implementation of permaculture relief took place in Cuba during the early 90′s when Cuba was suffering from a crippling petroleum embargo. Working with a grant from the Cuban government Austrailian permaculturalists, including Robyn Francis, traveled to Cuba to work with hundreds of Cubans on sustainable food systems design. Robyn, a well traveled expert in permaculture education in the 2/3rds (developing) world, helped local organizers use permaculture design prinicpals and techniques in their urban agriculture efforts. During this time, worker cooperatives were set up, market gardens and public transportation flourished, little to no pesticides or fertilizers were employed, and catastrophic famine was avoided. This partnership has continued to be highly successful and now some of the most experienced urban permaculture experts in the world come from Cuba because of the courageous spirit of the Cuban citizenry. Currently, the Cuba-Australia Permaculture Exchange (CAPE) is working on sustainable housing developments using natural building to compliment the work they began together with urban agriculture
Water Harvesting
There are numerous ways in which a full-time Permaculture Relief Corps could operate in Haiti in short and long-term time frames.
Short Term:
Building sewage systems, composting toilets, compost and recyclying centers, rocket and solar stoves, temporary shelters (perma-yurts), water catchment, and plant nurseries.
Long Term:
Permanent natural buildings, water storage, earth works, renewable energy, permaculture food forests, broad-scale reforestation, farms, aquaculture systems, health centers and schools.
In 2003 following a intense hurricane, a team including Eric Davenport, an American architect, and David Doherty, a Peace Corps Volunteer, worked for several months with the local community to rebuild a rural village after severe flooding. This team was then joined by Frederique Mangones, a renowned Haitian architect, and engineer Frantz Severe of ORE draw to the challenge of designing low-cost housing adapted to Haitian rural family activities. In the fall of 2003, a team of permiculturalists also offered their expertise to the village project.
Design for a new village
| Today their team in collaboration with the local community and the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment ORE is working on: | |
– Low cost relief from floods - Waste management & recycling to protect the environment - Hygienic toilets to improve family health - A community center to bring people together - Privacy to reduce stress within families - Green spaces to enhance quality of life - Fruit trees to generate income - Utilizing daily wind patterns, heat and cooling cycles - Covenants to protect their community Haiti is in desperate need of our assistance which can not come soon enough. 8 out of 10 Haitians live in abject poverty and need the long term commitment of folks working for a sustainable and abundant future. Please check out the links below of organizations doing great work in this field. If you are interested in the formation of a Permaculture Relief Corps like the one I’m proposing please email thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com and I will keep you up to date on the latest developments. My heart goes out to all those working and living in Haiti right now, Sincerly, Evan Schoepke (@gaiapunk) *CORRECTION*: I had previously mixed up David Doherty (peace core volunteer with Darren Doherty (broad scale permaculture designer), sorry about the confusion. Principal of Gaia Punk Designs Chi’Bagoda (bambitat perma-yurts |
|
Can Permaculture Save Detroit?
Detroit Permaculture
Here is some completely heretical news in for the world of eco-capitalist dreamers; no silly white multi-million dollar media men will ever solve the worlds ecological or social problems. Yeah I know what your thinking blasphemous right? Specifically, I am referring to the uber opportunistic and freshly greenwashed faces of Al gore, Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Richard Rainwater, and now John Hantz. Hantz, a big time financial investor and longtime Detroit resident is proposing to put 30 million down of his own money to build a high tech farming operation that will be coupled with “green” estates. In Fortune Magazine’s limited interview Hantz said that Detroit is suffering from a lack of scarcity and that the only way to save housing prices is by taking as much property off the market as possible, hence the massive farm and real estate combo. But, couple this seemingly benign idea with a one track profit motive and instead of community revitalization one gets rampant community gentrification that pushes out the very people (the poorer residents of Detroit) that one is purporting to be “helping”. The team Hantz has assembled thus far is glaringly white in a city that is over 80% black which is highly suspicious to say the least not to mention naming the entire operation Hantz Farm doesn’t inspire thoughts of “community”. Rather than going to the folks who have already spent immense amounts of effort to bring local organic food to their communities and bring jobs in their neighborhoods, and then offer to assist financially in their efforts, thus far Hantz is developing a hierarchal strategy that may put those very folks out of business. Hantz’s preliminary proposals have garnered lots of unwarranted media attention even though very few details have emerged about how this farming project will be managed and who exactly will manage it.
The Hantz Farm site is just a collection of stock photos that to me seem as hollow as their message. Okay perhaps I’m being too cynical but right now important questions remain around what exact types of technology the farm will employ (already energy expensive technologies like hydroponics and large scale harvesters have been mentioned) , if there is even a viable market in the region, and most importantly, who will this for profit enterprize benefit the most. ”I’m concerned about the corporate takeover of the urban agriculture movement in Detroit,” says Malik Yakini, a charter school principal and founder of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, which operates D-Town Farm on Detroit’s west side. (from CNN)
Organic farming is enjoying a nice trendy resurgence as a solution to urban, rural, and ecological ills. Unfortunately, farming no mattter how popular can only do so much. It is well known that various economic events some deliberate and some unexpected have cost the United States and urban manufacturing centers like Detroit obscene amounts of jobs. What is not well known, is that neither local organic farming, or any green high tech green wizardry, is likely to bring these jobs back in the near future. But, never fear, there are three simple solutions to this whole mess we’re all in along with Detroit.
ONE: Permaculture
Detroit honestly doesn’t need anymore scarcity (though real estate barons may see it differently) it desperately needs abundance, and permaculture is a complete system that designs for abundance. If the polluted landscape of Detroit is going to be regenerated then organic farming is just not enough.
TWO: Cooperatives
The entire history of Detroit is one of total abandonment by the world of capital and a complete lack of responsibility or loyalty to the local community. Cooperatives by their very nature encourage horizontal investment, diversity, democracy, and local responsibility.
THREE: Community Land Trusts
Community Land Trusts are set up in such a way as to encourage low income buyers into positions of ownership and avoid volatility in housing prices. There are few communities in the the US that have suffered worse volatility in housing prices than Detroit. What Hantz is proposing is just green veiled gentrification while the real solution for the people of Detroit lies in Community Land Trusts. Burlington VT has many successful examples of how and why CLT’s can close the gaps of classism.
Note, I did not mention 30 million dollars from some rich white guy! Now if that 30 million was invested in those 3 things I would surely change my tune, but if it’s invested in anything else, I really wouldn’t get my hopes up. Currently, Detroit will likely be the venue for the 2010 US social forum and I plan on being there purposing real solutions based on living permaculture and cooperative principals not on selfish, dead, capitalist oriented ones.
Organizations doing the real work in Detroit:
Evolve Detroit http://detroitevolution.com/
Detroit Agriculture Network http://www.detroitagriculture.org/
Detroit Summer http://www.detroitsummer.org/
Midwest Permaculture http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/
Permaculture Knowledge Ecosystem!
How we can and must open permaculture knowledge up to hundreds languages and people all over the world and bring it from the digital dark ages! Publishing on demand will cut out the middle men, save money, and open up content!
recommended sites working in this direction appropedia.org
Punk Rock Permaculture turns 1 year old!
Wow a whole year!
Yep, it has been roughly about a year now since PRP e-zine swung into full gear and we’re pretty happy with what has been accomplished thus far. This e-zine was conceived as a place to highlight inspiring radical permaculture and eco-city projects and the many incredible folks behind them. Part of the impetus behind this project was to attract more radicals towards permaculture and more permaculturalist towards radicalism if that makes any sense? Radicalism in terms of the fix shit up variety as opposed to the fuck shit up (not discounting the validity of the latter it’s just there is plenty of that on net already). Punk is a representation of the culture we carry and recreate along the journey. What is next for PRP-e zine?
- A new upgraded worpress.org site that is easier to read is in the works in the next few months!
- We are always recruiting more writers of diverse backgrounds for the zine so if you’ve been camping on something you would like to put out there we welcome you to submit just email thejulianeffect(at)gmail.com with the subject “gaia punks”.
- I am currently hashing out the framework for a permaculture media co-op with the editor of Permaculture.tv if your interested in affiliating your site or work and would like to discuss more about that project also just email me with subject “media co-op”.
- Once the site is revamped I will set about crafting a up to the second permaculture job /worktrade board and course listing that could be automatically updated via twitter for convenience.
- More design tools, more technical knowhow, more eco street art and music!
- Thank you all for coming and if you could please leave a bit about who you are, where your from, and suggestions for what you would like to see on this site in the future or anything else in the comments of this post. We do this for you folks and for the health of the planet thank you again for all the great support.
- This is just the beginning!
Sincerely,
Gaia punk
Rob Hopkins Transition Guru at TED
This is a really innovative and inspiring talk by Rob Hopkins a key thinker in the the Transition Movement. For a great transition resource check this ebook by the Trapese Collective
Radical Mycology film featuring the S.L.F
On the liberation of spores:
For more stuff by the Spore Liberation Front check out this amazing zine.
CRASS! and Permaculture
There is no authority but youself
!
Here is a great dutch documentary about one of my favorite punk bands of all time CRASS!. It features great archival footage of their permaculture farm the Dial House in Essex, UK and how and why operates in the beautiful way that it does. Featuring urban permie punk instructor Graham Burnett from Spiralseed.
COLLAPSE!
Who is Michael Ruppert and why is his perspective on peak oil and social collapse so very relevant. Mike Ruppert is the former LAPD narcotics officer who blew the whistle on the CIA selling literally tons of drugs to finance illegal counter-revolutionary forces and black ops (which they’re still doing). He also accurately predicted our current economic decline years in advance and if he is right about peak oil well then we all are in BIG trouble. Besides believing in the power of radical dissent journalism Ruppert is also a very serious advocate of permaculture! If you only have the time to see one apocalyptic doom and gloom film don’t see 2012 go and watch COLLAPSE and then go home and learn organize how to make your community more resilient, much more….
The Rocky Road To Transition
This e-booklet with newly updated preface is a great analysis of the Transition Movement for anyone new who to it’s concepts or well versed. It was created by the incredible Popular Education Trapese Collective loosely based in Europe. This collective is also associated with the amazing radical Escanda community in Spain. Here is a link to their book the DIY guide: to changing the world which if you would like the printed version you could order it from their site
