Food/Intro

The decentralization of food production is becoming more and more possible as know-how increases. Decentralized food production would mean a reduction in transport costs and would preserve the freshness and nutritional value of our food and eliminate the need for harmful preservatives, energy-expensive refrigeration and food storage. Most importantly, it would create resilience; no one would starve due to the inefficiency and injustice of the distribution of our food-resources.

However, traditional methods of decentralized food production are rather labour-intensive. For many people, growing their own food is a very enjoyable and rewarding sort of labour that they willingly devote their energies to. Others would like the option of avoiding this labour. For those folk, it is now possible to automate food production (see below).

If food production is to be decentralized, there is a question of where city-dwellers would find the space to grow their food. Estimates of how much land is required to grow a person's food vary, but 60-100 square metres seems reasonable, if modern techniques of organic permaculture are used. (That means you could grow enough food for 4-7 people on an area the size of a basketball court. So much for the argument that overpopulation is about to lead to mass starvation.) This is fine for rural and semi-rural people, but in cities with high population densities, it would be desirable to reduce this even further.