Researching food production for an eco-village operating manual, I came across these factoids, mostly in a book by John Jeavons, called How to Grow More Vegetables than You Ever Thought Possible:
The world has about one human lifetime of soil left, assuming industrial farming practices;
The world has about nine thousand square feet of arable land per person;
Nineteenth century Chinese practices allowed production for one person on four thousand square feet;
Jeavons and his colleagues at Ecology Action in Willits, California, can grow one person’s entire diet on five thousand square feet, with a six month growing season, and winters that allow them to grow grain over the winter;
Jeavons’ practices build soil rather than deplete it;
These practices require fifteen minutes (or less) per day, per one hundred square feet, translating to ten hours (or less) per day, per person, assuming the Chinese level of production.
The world has about one human lifetime of soil left, assuming industrial farming practices;
The world has about nine thousand square feet of arable land per person;
Nineteenth century Chinese practices allowed production for one person on four thousand square feet;
Jeavons and his colleagues at Ecology Action in Willits, California, can grow one person’s entire diet on five thousand square feet, with a six month growing season, and winters that allow them to grow grain over the winter;
Jeavons’ practices build soil rather than deplete it;
These practices require fifteen minutes (or less) per day, per one hundred square feet, translating to ten hours (or less) per day, per person, assuming the Chinese level of production.
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